flevyblog

Flevy Blog is an online business magazine covering Business Strategies, Business Theories, & Business Stories.
MANAGEMENT & LEADERSHIP STRATEGY, MARKETING, SALES OPERATIONS & SUPPLY CHAIN ORGANIZATION & CHANGE IT/MIS Other

Protecting Your Intellectual Property: A Guide

Editor's Note: Take a look at our featured best practice, Sample Consulting Contract (2-page Word document). A basic consulting agreement as a Word form - simply fill in your name, client's name, rate of pay, and effective dates. This basic document will protect both you and your client legally and be a binding agreement. Feel free to modify and add to this to suit your needs. (Note: I am not a lawyer, [read more]

* * * *

Before you go ahead and scream about your company’s latest invention from the rooftops, you have to consider all the ways you’re going to protect it. This is because, unfortunately, the world is full of individuals who will happily claim that your idea is theirs so that they can reap the financial rewards of its success.

A guide on the matter of protecting your intellectual property can be found below.

Partner up with an intellectual property lawyer

The best thing you can do to protect your latest invention is to align yourself with a lawyer that deals specifically with intellectual property theft. With a patent attorney by your side, you will be able to ensure that no stone will be left unturned — if there’s something more that can be done to strengthen the hold you have on your intellectual property, this professional will soon unearth it. As a result, even before your idea is threatened, you will be able to be sure that it will remain protected no matter what trouble befalls it.

When it comes to finding a patent attorney that will provide your intellectual property with the protection it needs and deserves, look no further than The Patent Professor. As stated at their website, www.thepatentprofessor.com, this law firm has completed 1,200 patent’s over 20 years. With this kind of experience by your side, you won’t have to worry about your intellectual property being plagiarised or stolen any time soon.

Compile a list of the intellectual property assets that you own

A major part of protecting your intellectual property is proving that you actually own it in the first place. If you don’t officially lay claim to your property, anybody could quite easily come along and say it is theirs instead. No matter how unfair or unjust this would be, if it were to happen, there would be little you could do to prove the authenticity of your claim.

To give your claim the authenticity it unfortunately needs, you need to compile a list of the intellectual property assets that you own. This means ensuring that your trademarks, copyrights, patents, and domain names are accounted for in official documentation.

Record evidence of your development process

What better way to prove that you created your intellectual property than to have evidence of its development process? The next time you create something, then, you should:

  • Keep a log, either written or via video (or both), of everything you do to bring your idea to life.
  • Keep receipts of the materials or services you use.
  • Record any meetings you sit in on.
  • Sign and file copies of drawings and drafts that you create.

To stop somebody from riding the coattails of the product or service that you worked so hard to develop for your business, be sure to heed all of the above advice. By partnering up with a patent attorney, compiling a list of your assets, and recording evidence of any development process you embark on going forward, you will be sure to give your intellectual property the best protection possible.

16-page Word document
This Sample is a consulting job arrangement letter template used by a global consulting firm. It contains: - Business Consulting Job Arrangement Letter A ABC Job Arrangement Letter is to be used on all ABC engagements worldwide. This specific form of Job Arrangement Letter is to be used in [read more]

Do You Want to Implement Business Best Practices?

You can download in-depth presentations on Proposal Development and 100s of management topics from the FlevyPro Library. FlevyPro is trusted and utilized by 1000s of management consultants and corporate executives.

For even more best practices available on Flevy, have a look at our top 100 lists:

These best practices are of the same as those leveraged by top-tier management consulting firms, like McKinsey, BCG, Bain, and Accenture. Improve the growth and efficiency of your organization by utilizing these best practice frameworks, templates, and tools. Most were developed by seasoned executives and consultants with over 20+ years of experience.

Readers of This Article Are Interested in These Resources


19-page PDF document
As we all know, developing effective, convincing and competitive client proposals is crucial to our firm's ability to sell our services to our clients. Since our clients will often rely upon the content of these proposals in making their decisions as to whether they should hire XYZ, these documents [read more]


 
17-page Word document
 
 
65-page Word document

About Shane Avron

Shane Avron is a freelance writer, specializing in business, general management, enterprise software, and digital technologies. In addition to Flevy, Shane's articles have appeared in Huffington Post, Forbes Magazine, among other business journals.


Complimentary Business Training Guides


Many companies develop robust strategies, but struggle with operationalizing their strategies into implementable steps. This presentation from flevy introduces 12 powerful business frameworks spanning both Strategy Development and Strategy Execution. [Learn more]

  This 48-page whitepaper, authored by consultancy Envisioning, provides the frameworks, tools, and insights needed to manage serious Change—under the backdrop of the business lifecycle. These lifecycle stages are each marked by distinct attributes, challenges, and behaviors. [Learn more]

We've developed a very comprehensive collection of Strategy & Transformation PowerPoint templates for you to use in your own business presentations, spanning topics from Growth Strategy to Brand Development to Innovation to Customer Experience to Strategic Management. [Learn more]

  We have compiled a collection of 10 Lean Six Sigma templates (Excel) and Operational Excellence guides (PowerPoint) by a multitude of LSS experts. These tools cover topics including 8 Disciplines (8D), 5 Why's, 7 Wastes, Value Stream Mapping (VSM), and DMAIC. [Learn more]
Recent Articles by Corporate Function

  

  

  

  

  

The Flevy Business Blog (https://flevy.com/blog) is a leading source of information on business strategies, business theories, and business stories. Most of our articles are authored by management consultants and industry executives with over 20 years of experience.

Flevy (https://flevy.com) is the marketplace for business best practices, such as management frameworks, presentation templates, and financial models. Our best practice documents are of the same caliber as those produced by top-tier consulting firms (like McKinsey, Bain, Accenture, BCG, and Deloitte) and used by Fortune 100 organizations. Learn more about Flevy here.
  


OUR CORE OFFERINGS
Flevy Marketplace: Top 100
· Strategy & Transformation
· Digital Transformation
· Operational Excellence
· Organization & Change
· Financial Models
· Consulting Frameworks
· PowerPoint Templates
FlevyPro (Subscription Service)
KPI Library
Streams (Functional Bundles)
Flevy Executive Learning (FEL)
PowerPoint Services

FREE Resources

About Flevy
Management Topics
Marcus (AI-Powered Consultant)
Partner Program
LinkedIn Influencer Marketing
FAQ / Terms / Privacy / Blog
Contact Us: support@flevy.com



CONNECT WITH US!
       
TOP 100 TRENDING TOPICS
Acquisition Strategy
Agile
Analytics
Artificial Intelligence
Balanced Scorecard
Best Practices
Big Data
Breakout Strategy
Business Continuity Planning
Business Plan Financial Model
Business Transformation
CMMI
COBIT
Change Management
Cloud
Communications Strategy
Company Financial Model
Competitive Advantage
Competitive Analysis
Consulting Frameworks
Continuous Improvement
Core Competencies
Corporate Culture
Cost Reduction Assessment
Customer Experience

BROWSE BY FUNCTION
Strategy, Transformation, & Innovation
Digital Transformation
Operational Excellence and LSS
Organization, Change, & HR
Management Consulting

Customer Journey
Customer Service
Cyber Security
Data Privacy
Decision Making
Digital Marketing Strategy
Digital Transformation
Digital Transformation Strategy
Due Diligence
ESG
Employee Engagement
Employee Training
Enterprise Architecture
Growth Strategy
HR Strategy
Hiring
Hoshin Kanri
ISO 27001
ITIL
Information Technology
Innovation Management
Integrated Financial Model
Kaizen
Kanban
Key Performance Indicators

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES
Business Strategy Frameworks
Case Studies
Consulting Training Guides
COVID-19 Trend Data
Digital Transformation
Financial Advising Services (FAS)

Knowledge Management
Leadership
Lean
Lean Manufacturing
Logistics
M&A (Mergers & Acquisitions)
Manufacturing
Market Research
Marketing Plan Development
Maturity Model
McKinsey PowerPoint
McKinsey Templates
Operational Excellence
Organizational Change
Organizational Design
Performance Management
Post-merger Integration
Pricing Strategy
Process Improvement
Process Maps
Procurement Strategy
Product Launch Strategy
Product Strategy
Project Management
Quality Management


Free Resources
KPI Library
Lean Management
Lean Six Sigma Training Guides
Marcus Insights
Operational Excellence

Real Estate
Remote Work
Restructuring
Risk Management
Robotic Process Automation
SWOT
SaaS
Sales
Scrum
Service Design
Six Sigma Project
Social Media Strategy
Strategic Planning
Strategic Thinking
Strategy Development
Supply Chain Analysis
Sustainability
Target Operating Model
Team Management
Total Productive Maintenance
Value Chain Analysis
Value Creation
Value Stream Mapping
Visual Workplace
Workplace Safety


Product Strategy
Small Business Owner
Startup Resources
Strategic Planning
Strategic Planning Process
Value Innovation Strategy


© 2012-2024 Copyright. Flevy LLC. All Rights Reserved.