5 Reasons Why Small Business Should Opt For Trademark, Copyright and Patent Protection

Venturing off into the startup world is scary, as it should be. You hesitate over the fact that your startup may not become successful; you worry about spending an unprecedented amount of money, and all-in-all your head is in a tailspin. Luckily, there are important steps you can take which lead to a rewarding return on your new company: copyright, trademark, and patent agreements.

Copyrights, trademarks, and patents protection in India are the most important things that start-ups often forget about until it’s too late. You get in too far deep before realizing you need a patent on your product or brand and then BAM!!!!!!—your heart sinks as you see your exact product on the market after already hiring employees, acquiring office space, and investing your life’s savings. This may seem like a start-up horror story, but fear not.

Whether or not you are new to the start-up business or are a veteran seeking to fix past entrepreneurial mistakes, know now that looking into copyright, trademarking, and patent agreements should be your first step before taking any further action in beginning a new company.

As an entrepreneur or aspiring small business owner, one of the most significant considerations that may come to mind is how to protect your work. Taking care of these trademark, copyright, and patent protection ensures better company survival rates and protects businesses from having to sue or be sued for stolen works, merchandise, or logos.

Taking care of these trademark, copyright and patent protection legalities can be tricky, time-consuming, and at times costly. But remember, you have to spend money to make money, be successful, and stay out of court! So, though these processes may make you want to give up altogether, remember that your start-up is going to be more stable once you have taken these steps and learned why they are so critical. Before you head on to protect your small business with any of these, let’s understand the basics first:

What Is Copyright?

Did you know that anything you write, draw, or take a photograph of immediately has a copyright? With no processes necessary, the work is simply just yours. It is extremely smart, however, to register your work for copyright protection despite the law already in existence. If someone were to challenge you and say that your work is theirs, having registered proof would be tangible evidence and enough to successfully sue. Copyrights assure that your work is your “intellectual property.”

Why Trademark?

Trademarks help specifically to protect your start-up’s logos and slogans. Like with copyrights, trademarking the words and symbols that represent your company is a smart decision that will be beneficial later on if infringement cases arise. Jumping on trademarking should be done sooner than later, however, considering it can take up to a year to get your registration approved. This tends to be where start-ups run into trouble, because they rush into the process without doing research in order to save time and money.

“The biggest mistake entrepreneurs make is not taking the time to select, clear, and protect trademarks for their businesses and products from the outset,”says G. Henry Welles of Best Best & Krieger LLP. “

Many start-ups don’t give a whole lot of thought to trademarking at first, when in fact, trademarks can be the most valuable asset in your company.

Know in detail about Patent

Patents are one of the most vital resources of your company, especially when still in the start up stages. Patents tend to be the step in officializing a business that startup owners fear the most because the process can become messy and costly if not done correctly.

One of the greatest ways you can avoid the “patent trap” so-to-say, is to develop a patent plan. Rajiv P. Patel of Fenwick & West LLP has outlined a series of phases for startups to follow in order to have success with their patented product.

Startups often end up in hot water when they jump into patents without a strategy, or before their product or technology is ready to be patented.

Now that you know, the basics of Patent, Trademark and Copyrights – you are serious about registering your small business with one or under all of these.

Image source:blog.ksidc.org

Here are 5 reasons why small business of India should choose for Copyright and Patent Protection:

Copyrighting and Patenting Prevents Theft Of The Invention:

Inventors and start ups may initially seek a licensing deal or an investor for an infusion of cash.  In order to attract licensees and investors, the invention must first be disclosed so that the potential licensee or investor can evaluate the deal.

If no patent application is filed, then the investor or licensee may reject the offer to license or invest but turn around and file their own patent application.  Any application file by the real inventor will be later in time.  As such, the Patent Office will award the patent to the licensee or the investor, instead of to the real investor.  By filing the patent application and obtaining patent, any application filed by the potential licensee or investor will be later in time, and thus, junior to your patent application.

Your Small Business Has A Reduced Competition

Patents and copyrights also serve as a barrier to entry for competitors who are contemplating entering the market for the patented widget or service. Competitors may consider the risks of patent infringement greater than the rewards of potential profits.

Copyrights and Patents Offers Higher Profit Margins

Patent permits its owner to exclude others from making, using, selling, offering for sale and importing the invention into the United States as claimed in the patent. Presuming that there is a market demand for the patented product, the ability to exclude others reduces the supply of the product or process in the marketplace. As a result, patent owners may charge higher prices for the patented product or process.

It Expands Your Business’s Share Market

Copyright or Patented technology may be licensed to others in a different geographical market or in a different market. For example, a patent owner doing business solely in Orange County, California could license patent rights to a company with a market presence in a different county or state. The patent may provide the patentee, now licensor with regular royalty payments for sales of the patented product or process outside of the patentee’s normal geographical market. Additionally, patented technology may be licensed to others in a different technical field. For example, a manufacturer may license a patent to a retailer while retaining patent rights for the manufacturing market.

It Encourages Settlement

During litigation, both parties will assert various claims against each other including patent/copyright infringement. In certain instances, 2 patent owners may agree to cross license the respective patented technologies to each other instead of litigating the issues.

Many small businesses also may not have personnel and operations overseas, so they lack the “eyes and ears” needed to be vigilant globally and the theft of their trademark, copyright, and patent protection can often go undetected. In addition, small businesses generally do not have the level of access or the resources, such as specialized legal counsel, that may be available to larger companies for them hiring copyright/IP/Patent service providers make sense.

Copyright/Patent services offered by the experts…

R.K. Dewan implements the philosophy of applying thoughts, thereby helping clients to acquire their valuable “Copyright/Patent”. Their approach in helping you with your copyright/patent process directly impacts your benefit along with improving enhancing predictability, reliability and improving the market.

For more than 71 years, the professionals have been delivering insightful advice and services to assist the clients in upholding and protecting their patent/copyright throughout India.

Like R.K. Dewan, there are other leading names like Intellocus, India Filings, Vakil Search, BMC Consultancy and Universal Legal are offering patent/copyright/IP services to the clients of India.