Your Intellectual Property Is Worth More Than You Think—And It’s Probably Less Protected Than You Realize

Your brand name. Your logo. Your invention. Your content. Your proprietary process.

These aren’t just business assets. They’re intellectual property, and in many cases, they’re the most valuable things your business owns.

But IP rights are use-it-or-lose-it. Miss a trademark maintenance deadline: your registration is gone. Miss the 12-month window after publicly disclosing your invention: your patent rights are gone forever. Hire a contractor without an IP assignment clause: you might not even own your own logo.

And you may have no idea any of this is happening until it’s too late.

The IP audit is something you can do yourself. It helps you consider and consolidate a significant amount of information about what your IP is and whether it’s properly protected or needs to be addressed. But legal filings, enforcement, and any in-depth analysis of a specific issue do require the help of a qualified IP attorney.

Think of it this way: the checkup is something you can do. The diagnosis and treatment often require a professional.

What This Checklist Covers

The Intellectual Property Legal Checkup is a comprehensive 31-page audit covering the major categories of IP your business may own or need to protect:

✓ Trademarks – Brand names, logos, taglines, trade dress, domain names, and social media handles. Verify registrations, check renewal deadlines, confirm you’re using the right trademark symbols, and search for squatters and infringers.

✓ Copyrights – Inventory all creative works, verify registration status, and, critically, confirm you actually own what you think you own. Contractor-created work may belong to the contractor unless you have a written IP assignment. This section helps you identify these issues.

✓ Patents – Active patents, pending applications, new inventions, and maintenance fee deadlines. Covers utility patents, design patents, provisional applications, PCT filings, and the critical 12-month public disclosure deadline that, if missed, permanently eliminates your U.S. patent rights.

✓ Trade Secrets – Identify what qualifies, verify physical and digital security measures are in place, and audit your NDAs for employees, contractors, vendors, and partners.

✓ IP Protection Priority Matrix – You can’t do everything at once. But how do you know where to start? This section helps you triage: what to protect now, what to address when budget allows, and what genuinely may not need formal protection.

✓ Annual Maintenance Checklist – How to keep your IP portfolio current year after year.

✓ When to Call an IP Attorney – Clear guidance on what you may be able to handle yourself and when you definitely need professional help.

Problems This Checklist Can Help You Identify and Avoid

• Losing a registered trademark because you missed the maintenance filing window
• Permanently losing patent rights because you didn’t file within 12 months of public disclosure
• Discovering that your logo legally belongs to the designer who created it
• Competitors registering your brand name in a category you haven’t protected yet
• Social media squatters claiming your handles on new platforms
• Trade secrets leaking because you never had employees or contractors sign NDAs
• Wasting money protecting IP that doesn’t actually need formal protection

This checklist helps you spot the warning signs before you’re in this situation. 

The Real Cost of Not Doing This

Scenario 1: Missed Trademark Maintenance Filing. Your trademark was registered five years ago. The maintenance filing window opened, and closed, without you knowing. Your registration is cancelled. Cost: Years of brand equity, plus the cost of reapplying

Scenario 2: The Contractor Ownership Trap. You hired a freelancer to design your logo. No written agreement. Under copyright law, the designer owns the copyright — not you. You’ve been using it for three years. Cost: Negotiating a retroactive assignment, or rebranding entirely

Scenario 3: The Missed Patent Window. You talked about your invention at a trade show 13 months ago. You never filed. The 12-month U.S. grace period has expired. Cost: Your U.S. patent rights — permanently

Scenario 4: The Trade Secret That Wasn’t. A key employee left and took your customer list and pricing model to a competitor. You never had them sign an NDA. You have no legal recourse. Cost: Market share, clients, and competitive advantage

Who This Is For

✓ Business owners with a brand name, logo, or tagline worth protecting

✓ Inventors with patents or patentable ideas: granted, pending, or being considered

✓ Content creators, consultants, and service businesses with valuable proprietary content

✓ Anyone who has ever hired a contractor to create something for their business

✓ Business owners who have been “meaning to” get their IP organized

✓ Companies preparing for a sale, acquisition, or investment round

✓ Business owners who want to prepare for a thorough discussion about their IP with an IP lawyer

Who This Is NOT For

✗ Businesses with no brand, no content, no proprietary processes, and nothing worth protecting (if that’s you, you probably already know it)

✗ Anyone who prefers to find out about IP problems from an opposing attorney rather than a checklist

Format: PDF (fillable) Pages: 31 Delivery: Instant download upon purchase

About Julie King

I’m Julie King, an IP and patent attorney with over 25 years of legal experience. I help creators, influencers, and small business owners understand and protect their intellectual property, without the jargon and condescension.

IP audits are one of the most valuable things a business owner can do and one of the least likely to happen without a nudge. Most of the problems this checklist covers are entirely preventable. The missed deadlines, the contractor ownership gaps, the trade secrets that were never protected—they’re not complicated to fix early. They’re just easy to ignore until they’re expensive.

This checklist won’t give you legal advice about your specific situation; that requires an attorney. But it will tell you whether the conversation is probably worth having.

Have questions about patent, trademark, copyright, or other IP protection for your brand? I help clients with IP matters nationwide. Book a consultation: kingpatentlaw.com

Avoid the Legal Horrors™ Podcast available on all major platforms | @kingpatentlaw on social media

This checklist is for general educational purposes only, is not legal advice, and does not form an attorney-client relationship. Laws vary by state and contract terms vary widely. For advice specific to your situation, consult a licensed attorney. Julie King | King Patent Law, PLLC | 301 N Neil St Ste 400, Champaign IL 61820. Contains attorney advertising material.