Posts Tagged ‘IP lawyer’
Up Your Business Value By Leveraging On Intellectual Property
If you look at the books of large companies these days you will see that their intellectual property (IP) adds a tremendous amount of money to the balance sheet. In fact most businesses fixed assets are minute in comparison to the brand and IP value. This tells us something very interesting – yes – how much more would your business be worth if you invested more in IP recognition and registration?
When a company strategically identifies, maintains and secures its intellectual property rights then this can obviously have a major affect on the company in terms of its overall operation, including its ability to attract investors, enter into specific business partnership, and in the end increase its value when it comes to sale or business merger.
Large companies who have mega-brands like Google and Pepsi are often quoted when it comes to their brand value as out-valuing their fixed assets hundreds of times, yet it is easy to forget how these companies also became so huge.
We live in an information world now. Information companies like Google can be valued at a few billion dollars a few years after creation only because information is now so valuable. Information is a tradable asset only when it is protected by IP laws and other laws. Every company, big or small should consider intellectual property seriously. It is one of the best investments literally you can make with a company if the IP value is capitalized within the business and added to the balance sheet.
It is highly recommended for businesses of all sizes to be aware of intellectual property topics and create special strategies that will proactively ensure that their intellectual property (IP) will at all times be properly legally protected.
Here are a few areas to help you start focusing on by first identifying the areas that you are creating IP in:
1. Trademarks – these protect parts of your overall brand such as mottoes, pictures, names.
2. Copyrights – these cover the trade protection of expressive items such as documents, books, images, telecasting, sound recordings etc.
3. Trade secrets – these protect proprietary information, internal know-how, systems and procedures that are deemed to give you a business competitive edge
4. Patents and industrial designs which protect specific types of ideas and inventions and processes
Considering the above items the first step that you need to do is identifying existing intellectual property (IP) within your company. You may be amazed by how much you may have. Once all sources of a company’s intellectual property have been identified, processes should be put in place that enable the company to easily keep track of all existing intellectual property and all new intellectual property . Then someone needs to be given the responsibility to manage the IP.
Once the key intellectual property has been identified then the next step is to look at what should be registered to protect it legally. This is where a good patent lawyer comes in to play. Good intellectual property lawyers don’t come cheap but seeing the value that is created then it pays off to invest for all your major intellectual property.
Learn more about Trademark Registration Singapore and discover how does a trademark lawyer and IP protection increase the net worth of your business rapidly. This and other unique content ‘copyright’ articles are available with free reprint rights.
When Is A Trademark Said To Be Infringed
Trademarks offer legal safety for certain words, logos, images and other symbols used by firms for carrying out their business. They provide the trademark owners with the rights to bring legal proceedings against the infringers or counterfeiters of their mark and at the same time prevent the consumers from being influenced by counterfeit items available in the market.
Laws of trademark provide for legal action in case of dilution of trademark of an established company and when there is a high probability of causing confusion in the minds of the consumers.
The infringement leading to dilution of the trademark includes purposeful actions on part of other firms or manufacturers that will lead to affecting the uniqueness of the mark of a well known firm, which in turn would lower the popularity of its goods in the market. For example, if the trademark of a shoe polish manufacturer significantly resembles that of a popular food manufacturer, consumers might believe that the company is diverting from its speciality, which might adversely affect its perceived quality.
The infringement based on likelihood of misunderstanding arises when two trademarks are exactly alike or so similar that the consumers can’t distinguish between them. The confusion could be related to anything from the features of the product to the identity of the manufacturer. The underlying assumption behind such an infringement is that an ordinary customer cannot be expected to remember the exact specifications of all the items in the marketplace. In cases like these, any imitation of the mark can cause serious financial and image loss for the company that is the original owner of that trademark.
However, there are various other claims that are possible with respect to trademark infringement. The trademark owner can also take legal action for pass off, which implies that another party is trying to market its products as coming from him. Similarly, the trademark owner can also claim unfair competition and other trade malpractices.
Discover more about Trademarks and learn how does an Patents protection increase the net worth of your business very fast. You are welcome to reprint this article – but get your own unique content version here.