Make Your Business Safe From These 8 Intellectual Property Myths

If you plan to create a brand name around your business, you should know these 7 intellectual property myths. Further, you always want to make a unique name for your business that is different from your competitors. Creating a unique brand name makes your products and services standalone from the crowd.

It is not enough to just develop a brand name. You should know the ways to keep it safe. For this, you will need to learn something about intellectual property or IP. You need to follow a proper strategy to manage IP. Further, the intellectual property strategy is important for large businesses that have more than one IP. Knowing how to manage a large amount of IP prevents potential threats and related infringement.

Furthermore, words, phrases, symbols, and designs come under IP trademarks. You might create a brand name using any of two. Moreover, if you are a U.S. resident, you can take advantage of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office or USPTO and the U.S. Copyright Office to get the required protection for your business.

In this guide, we have included some IP myths that you should know to protect your business from potential threats. So, let’s get started without any delay.

8 intellectual property myths

1. Registration of IP is the end of the matter

In today’s digital world, many businesses think that there is no need to worry about IP infringement after registering a trademark or patent. But keep in mind that you need to think about a post-registration challenge. You should think about it to ensure the validity of a trademark or patent. You can face this scenario in case of infringement. Also, other people can use your products’ or services’ brand name. That is why it is not right to say that after the registration of IP, everything is fine.

2. A patent protects an invention globally

If you think your patent will protect the concerned invention globally, you might be wrong. There is no such thing as patent protection. If you grant a patent for India, you can expect invention protection in other countries or worldwide. Your patent grant will only be applicable in the same state or country. However, if you want worldwide patent protection, you will have to apply for it in all countries by following the local patent laws. You can try for global patent rights through international filing systems like Patent Cooperation Treaty and European Patent Convention.

3. Trademarks protect only words or logos

It is a myth that trademarks only take care of words and logos. A trademark includes any sign that is used by a business to present its products or services. There are also several things that come under trademarks like colors, sounds, holograms, positions, and motion marks.

4. An individual can use anything from the internet

If you are one of those people who believe that everything available on the internet is free then wait a second. Most things on the internet are indeed freely available for public use. But don’t confuse these two terms: content available in the public domain and content available for free for public use. If you find something on the internet like text content, image, and video, you can use them only for knowledge purposes. You can’t use those content for commercial purposes if the creator has not allowed for the same. If you use this content without the creator’s permission, you will likely receive copyright strikes.

5. Intellectual property is only for IT companies and corporations

It is a myth that IP is only for IT companies and corporations. Everyone can benefit if they want to create their intellectual property. This myth exists because most people know that companies like Google and Apple are the only brands having IP. But there is nothing like that. All types of businesses can create their IP and brand name.

6. Emails and calls received from “official” sources

You often receive calls or emails claiming that they are from for example China and asking you to secure your website through an offer. You also receive calls or emails from official sources like WhatsApp asking you to claim a lottery prize by paying a fixed amount of money. But keep in mind that all such types of calls or emails are from fraud sources because a legitimate official will never contact you with unsolicited emails and calls.

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7. U.S. registration provide global protection

Having U.S. IP registration doesn’t mean you are protected worldwide. If you want to expand your business across borders, you will need to acquire IP rights for all countries.

If you are involved with employees or contractors regarding a confidential project, you may think about the trade secrets you own. In that case, you can take advantage of an NDA in order to protect our trade secrets. But when you go for a particular NDA for a product or service, you need to think about all these questions:

• What has been protected?
• What is the design process?
• Is protection mutual?
• Do you want to get resistance from the concerned company?
• What is the process to address ownership or IP rights after disclosure?

Conclusion

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