Intellectual Property

November 10, 2008

Protect Your Business Ideas from Intellectual Property Infringement – and boost your income

How much does your business idea worth? Perhaps you have not thought about this question before. Your business idea is the greatest asset of your business. If you fail to protect it, you will soon be out of business. Way too many entrepreneurs make the mistake to treat money spent on patent, copyright and trademark as an expense. They fail to recognise the dire consequences that come with limited or no intellectual property cover. This resource page has been put together for you to access relevant sites that have ample information on intellectual property. To find out more about what intellectual property is here are two key websites you can learn from

1. USA- http://www.uspto.gov

2. UK- http://www.patent.gov.uk

You can save significant sums of money if you familiarise yourself with the requirements for intellectual property cover. You need not use legal avenues for trademarks and copyright requirements as these can easily be done by yourself if you go through the free online resources on these recommended sites. A word of caution; if you are in doubt about any aspects of the information on these sites, you are strongly advice to contact their office directly for clarification. Please do not contact BSS Management Consultancy or Sheila Elliott to clarify any information on these sites.

1. http://www.cipa.org.uk/members/directory/default.asp?m=f&dir=1

2. http://www.kellysearch.com/us-product-66405.html

With regards to patents, it is strictly recommended that you seek professional advice from an approved patent agent. Many entrepreneurs that have opted for the cheap option have fallen into hard times, due to the substandard cover provided by so called experts, which exposed their intellectual property to infringement with no recourse to the law. You want to ensure by all means you do not become a victim of intellectual property infringement. To access approved patent agents go to the site listed below.

One of the mistakes that many entrepreneurs make is to disclose commercial information to friends or colleagues they consider a trusted party. This can be a financial disaster for your business because you have no control or way of stopping your friends or colleagues leaking the information to others or even stealing the information under your nose. Like it or not, this has been the experience of some entrepreneurs. To ensure that you do not become a victim of a breach in confidential information with commercial value, you must always get a third party to sign a “Non Disclosure Agreement” before giving third party access to your business plan or business ideas. If they fail to sign the “Non Disclosure Agreement,” do not progress with the engagement as it is clear their intentions are suspicious. Think about it, why will any honest person refuse to sign a “Non Disclosure Agreement”?

There are many free “Non Disclosure Agreement” templates on the internet and many are tempted to use them. However, they are not robust enough and in many respects they do not protect you fully from a breach of your commercial information. To ensure your business ideas and plans are fully covered, you need to get a qualified solicitor to write a “Non Disclosure Agreement” for you that covers all angles. Sadly, many entrepreneurs violate this rule and when they do so, they often find someone stealing their ideas which quite frankly were not valued enough by them. Remember, ignorant of the law is not an excuse. I want to emphasise again that you stay clear from any free template for “Non Disclosure Agreement” no matter what its source. As long as it is free on the internet, you can be assured it is not of a robust quality and moreover it is not tailored specifically for your business needs.

If you need a “Non Disclosure Agreement” put together for your business, do contact us on 0845 226 4315 and we will be glad to link you up with one of our recommended legal partners that provide this service at a competitive rate.

Intellectual Property

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