If others duplicate your ideas and success without your consent, they are infringing of your rights.
IPR provide offensive benefits by preventing competition of similar inventions while also providing defensive benefits in the form of opportunities for licensing and counterclaims in the event of infringement.
If you do not have registered IPR, enforcement becomes a long, tedious and expensive procedure.
You might want to consider seeking professional assistance in the following:
- STARTING OUT: Check that no similar names, logos, products or services exist before spending money on branding.
- NEW IDEAS: Treat new ideas as a secret and speak to an IP attorney before telling anyone.
- STAFF: Specify in employment agreements who owns the IP; Use Confidentiality Agreements and Licence Agreements when meeting with new employees and/or service providers.
THE IMPORTANCE OF IP
Cheapest Type Of Insurance
Prior to incurring costs related to your brand for example logos, packaging, website and products, it is highly recommended to conduct a complete IPR Search to ensure that any possible risks are mitigated or overcome, as well as to prevent having to defend your brand at a later stage.
If budget allows, it is beneficial to register the applicable IPR as soon as possible.
Enhance Company Value
Your “brand” differentiates your business offering from that of another.
Strong IPR help consumers make an educated choice about the safety, reliability and effectiveness of their purchases. It also ensures that products are authentic and of the highest quality that consumers may recognise and expect, and thereby protects the consumer from counterfeit goods, while also assisting in keeping your good reputation intact.
Furthermore, potential investors are reassured that your valuable asset is managed effectively.
Marking Of IP
It is recommended to use the appropriate symbols as soon as your product or service is put on the market. This gives the public notice that you have considered your IP protections and are prepared to enforce them.
Business Agreements
IP is transitioning from exclusively a legal matter to that of a business and strategic issue.
Having appropriate clauses and agreements in place, IPR become a valuable asset in a company for example generating licensing or royalties income.
It assists in joint venture agreements and may also reduce the risk of employee disputes as to who the owner of a new creation is.
It can further prevent employees from assisting your competitors.
IPR may also be used as security for a loan and thereby promote your business to investors.
Ubuntu
IP is critical to fostering innovation, while innovation further facilitates trade, research and development and encourages competition by rewarding the creator.
IP encourage such innovation fry sharing critical and protected information that leads to new inventions and improvements.
