Get the Beginning-of-Year IP Checkup Checklist and find out what you’re missing (before a competitor, copycat, or legal nightmare finds it for you)
Confidential / proprietary information is a blanket term used to describe information that gives a business a competitive advantage. There is also personal confidential information. Not all confidential / proprietary information qualifies as trade secrets.
Trade secrets are a subset of confidential / proprietary information and consist of business, technical, and financial information that
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Common fees are listed in this downloadable fee schedule. Additional attorney and government filing fees may apply to these listed fees. The fees listed here are starting points. Fees ultimately depend on the complexity of the work required.
If you have an innovation, you face a choice: patent it or keep it as a trade secret. I walk through some advantages and disadvantages of protecting innovation through patents and as trade secrets. Then I tell you the strategic question to ask yourself and how your answer will help determine which is the most appropriate protection.
If your business has innovations or business secrets, this beginning-of-year trade secret self-check could save you from losing valuable rights. What qualifies as a trade secret for your business? Are your business secrets truly secret? Do you have all the NDAs in place you need?
This week, I’m talking about something potentially even more valuable that EVERY business has: your intellectual property.
ALL businesses have intellectual property, and for many businesses, intellectual property IS the business. Your brand name, your logo, your proprietary processes, your creative content; they’re often the most valuable assets you own.
Despite all that truth, most business owners have no idea (1) that they have IP, (2) what IP they actually have, (3) whether their IP is protected, or (4) when critical deadlines are coming up.
That changes today.
By the end of this article, you’ll know exactly how to audit your intellectual property, identify gaps in your protection, and prioritize what needs attention this year.
Sloppy security sinks secrets, though. Once the secret gets out, like through you posting about it online or someone blabbing about it because you didn’t use NDAs, its value is gone like a vampire in a puff of smoke. The secret about trade secrets is that they can make you money BECAUSE they’re secret, and they can destroy your business if they escape from their cages.
Did your business leave money on the table this year? Let’s look at whether you maximized the value of your intellectual property or let its value decrease.
All creators and small business owners have intellectual property. Your brand name, logo, slogan, special formula, innovative packaging, videos, brochures, etc., those are all intellectual property. They can make money for you if they’re managed well, and they can cause horror and cost you almost everything if they’re not. I’m Julie King, a rock-and-horror-loving patent attorney, and today I’ll go over some tips on how to deter disaster and increase your income with intellectual property.
The thesis today is simple, yet alarming: A standard will and skimpy business operation documents can be a death sentence for your most valuable intellectual property. If you haven’t taken specific legal steps to address the unique life cycle of your patents and trademarks, your competitors could inherit them before your family or business does.