Question

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce states the following on their page on the importance of protecting intellectual property: "Our economy is driven by the need to innovate, create, and develop new ways to serve consumers, and industries that rely on intellectual property (IP) play an essential role. When inventors, researchers, engineers, artists, and entrepreneurs know that their work will be protected and rewarded through strong IP rights - including patents, trademarks, and copyrights - they have the certainty and the incentive to keep the economy-boosting innovations coming. Moreover, IP protections guard consumers against dangerous fakes and counterfeit goods."

Your company is seriously thinking of operating abroad and is concerned with how to protect its intellectual property from being stolen. What advice can you give your boss on how your company can minimize its risks of having its intellectual property stolen.

Answer 1

Intellectual property can include anything, concept or idea which is the direct result of the creativity of an individual or organization. In order to protect intellectual property, the organization can think of the below-mentioned tools:-

Trademarks:- These are the special symbols of figures, signs which are used by the organization to especially represent it. Different brands are also used to be represented by the trademarks. The majority of the brands are identified by the customers only by their trademarks. The organizations spend millions of dollars to protect their trademarks. By registering the trademarks, the company can ensure that no unauthorized use of the trademark will be done.

Copyrights:- The different types of the articulative piece of work, written material, art, song or any such creativity can be protected with the help of copyright. It provides the exclusive right to the owner to use the copyrighted material or provide the authorization to the other party.

Trade secrets:- There are various corporate secrets or formula which are possessed by the organization which they use in their processes or production and it results in their competitive advantage against the competitors. These are termed as trade secrets. These types of trade secrets can be protected from any kind of breach under the secrets of Federal and state statutes.

Patents:- patents are the exclusive rights which are provided o the holder to use the patented material for a specific period of time. No one else can use the patented material without the approval of the owner.