All humans or at least most humans are creative. Every one of us has had brilliant ideas or at least one brilliant idea at some point in time of our life. At times such novel ideas can have a potential and commercially viable business behind them. In case you are one among them who have got such an idea, then this article will provide you some of the most important tips to protect it from being misused by somebody else.
Before you decide on whether your idea actually requires protection or not, ask yourself questions that involve the cost to protect your idea, the practicality in doing so, whether your idea is actually unique or is it a different version of an existing idea, etc. In order to help a person decide whether the idea actually deserves the protection or not it will be worthwhile analyzing five of the most relevant areas in any business:
Copyright – Copyright is nothing but the protection of ideas, software, logos, punch lines, image, etc. Special attention needs to be given to website code and photography which are critical in establishing businesses today. While the creator would be the natural first owner, his or her rights can be transferred in case the first owner assigns a nominee wherein all the rights get transferred to the nominee. However, even in such cases the first owner retains the so-called “Moral Rights” of the business.
Trademarks – Trademarks can be divided into two major types – Registered Trademarks and Non-Registered Trademarks. In case your idea is a brand and you think that it needs to be protected, then the Trademark is meant for you.
Law of confidence – The law of confidence protects the confidential information of any individual, business or organization. The confidential information can be any and all ideas, training material, design, policies etc which need to be protected from misuse and use by unauthorized or external parties.
Domain Names – The domain names are trademarks of modern day businesses. Acquiring registered domains are more economical and simpler nowadays than obtaining trademarks.
Design Rights – Similar to trademarks, design rights can be both registered as well as unregistered. Design rights are usually used in order to prevent somebody else from copying or adapting the design conceptualized by your or by your organization. The registrations of designs are comparatively simpler and easier than that of patents.
Once you have acquired all the above or the most critical of the above, you can leverage your idea or business by licensing all or some of them to third parties that are interested in the same. Once you decide to go the licensing way, ensure that you get into a formal agreement by the way of a licensing agreement so that your ideas are protected adequately.
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