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May
At this point you have a pretty good idea of
what you will do, who your customers are, how to take your idea
to market. Now, you must take steps to protect your intellectual
property. It would be a shame to spend time, money and
resources, only to find out that someone else beats you to the
punch.
This article does not offer legal advice, but
will suggest some common and pretty basic strategies to
protect yourself and your invention. They are simple, doable and
they work.
.
This is especially important if you are documenting an
invention, or if you plan to file for a patent. It is
extremely important also in cases where you want to establish
copyright protection on a name or work of art. Start with your
idea and begin a journal. Document every meeting, from the very
beginning. A date, a list of attendees and the topics discussed
is all you need.
This method is as old
as the world, but works well. Write down your idea. Put it in
an envelope, and mail it to yourself via USPS. The cancelled
postal stamp will serve as a timestamp of the first time you
documented your idea, which is very important for patents as well as
technology inventions.
All entrepreneurs love to talk about their business. Most
likely, you fall in this category too. Avoid the common trap of
sharing your business strategy. You really do not need a
validation from all of your friends or family. Share only as
much as you need, not a word more. Be particularly careful about
details on how much you plan to invest in marketing, any special
suppliers that may give you a great price or special deals that
will give you a market advantage.
Very important. No
business is too small for a non-disclosure agreement. Do
not hesitate to offer it to anyone who gets to find out details
about your business before it launches. You can purchase an
agreement form. Get it online from sites for
entrepreneurs, or you pay an attorney to create one for you.
These forms are also referred to as Confidentiality Agreements.
In its most basic form, the document outlines what information
is confidential and gets an agreement from the party that is
being disclosed that they would not use the information to their
commercial advantage, unless they find it freely and on their
own elsewhere. This is always a possibility.
Never ever leave a work of art,
a web site or any other creative work without a copyright
notice. As simple as that. Copyright protection is not a
difficult thing to do. You can register your copyright by
filing a simple form and depositing one or two samples of the
work with the U.S. Copyright Office. Different types of work
require different forms -- form TX is for literary works,
form VA is for a visual art work. Forms and instructions may be
obtained from the U.S. Copyright Office by telephone,
202-707-9100, or online at
www.copyright.gov.
You can do the work yourself and find a lot
of advice from Nolo Press books or online at
www.nolo.com.
If you have a fear of forms and legal
language, hire a copyright attorney but make sure you inquire
about their fees upfront.
Yes, there is a way to do it yourself.
The US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) has procedures and
instructions that are well documented for the public. In fact,
federal law requires patent examiners at the USPTO to help
inventors who apply for patents without a lawyer's help. If you choose to do the work yourself, you will be amazed
by the professionalism and friendliness of the officers. They
typically deal with attorneys so personal encounters
with inventors are a breath of fresh air for them.
To obtain a patent you must make sure your
invention qualifies. You must be able to describe your
invention. These are not "legal" skills, and learning them is no
different than learning any other skill.
Most importantly, do not delay. There is a
rule that requires a patent application to be filed within one
year of: any public use of the invention by the inventor, a sale
of the invention, an offer to sell the invention, or any
description of the invention by the inventor in a published
document. Failure to patent within a year of any of these events
causes the invention to move into the public domain, and it is no
longer eligible for a patent.
If legal forms scare you, hire an
attorney. Prepare for a large bill.
Do you have a question?
E-mail me.
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Daniella Russo is the CEO of Mindzone, Inc. Since 1999
Mindzone has helped businesses create successful marketing
strategies, launch
their brands, and reduce time to revenue. To find
out how Mindzone can propel your business or idea into the
marketplace,
drop us a line.
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