The concepts or ideas your business has formulated over the course of doing business typically increase the valuation of your company. These ideas also allow your company to continue to distinguish itself in the areas of commerce where the products or services encompassing these ideas are provided. Examples of activities that should be undertaken and the ways that these ideas should be protected include:

Clearance Studies 

The purpose of the clearance study is not to protect your idea, but, rather, to protect you from the use of somebody else’s idea who conceived of the concept before your company conceived of the idea. This study typically involves the search of patentable subject-matter for inventive ideas or trademark registrations to ensure the same mark or a mark that is confusingly similar has not already been registered.

Inventive Concepts

Inventive concepts come in the form of functional subject matter, which is subject to protection via a patent. Product designs that are directed to a unique visual appearance of an object and are not functional in nature may also be protected by a design patent.

Marks in Use

These marks are most typically protected through trademark registration. While common law does provide for protections of marks, these are more limited in nature than those provided by registration of the mark with the United States Patent and Trademark Office. I have written and published a book entitled Protecting Your Brand that goes into details concerning this area of the law. Upon request, I will send an electronic copy of this book to you for your review and use. 

Written Materials

Copyrightable subject matter encompasses original works of authorship fixed in any tangible media of expression and includes literary works; musical works; dramatic works; pantomimes and choreographic works; pictorial, graphical, and sculptural works; motion pictures and audiovisual works; sound recordings; and architectural works. 

Secret Practices

If your business relies upon information that is not generally known to others but provides a valuable benefit to the company, then the best type of protection for this practice is through trade secret protection. Trade secrets, which typically fall under both State and Federal law,  must be subject to reasonable efforts to maintain such information as secret. I.e., procedures must be put in place to prevent the release of that information to others.

These activities monetize the value of these protected ideas: 

Transactional Activities

Transactional activities involve negotiating and drafting contracts and reaching agreement on the same with other parties on the use of your ideas. This use may involve the authorization of use of your rights in association with the products or services the other parties purchase from you. Alternatively, some companies may have an interest in licensing and paying royalties for the use of certain ideas that are embodied in your protected works.

Enforcing the Rights to Your Idea

This area of enforcement involves taking action against those third parties who may have wrongly begun the use of your idea. At a very early stage, depending on the circumstances, some wrongful uses may be stopped using cease and desist letters. In other, more advanced stages of use, then litigation may have to ensue, allowing you to recover the losses your company has incurred from their wrongful use.

Single Firm Alignment

As discussed above, identifying, protecting, and enforcing the rights to your idea involve many facets of the legal plan. It is of utmost importance that you consider aligning yourself with a law firm that becomes intimately familiar with your ideas and can provide all of the legal services mentioned above. This is typically the most cost-effective approach to protecting and monetizing your ideas.