Keeping Your Business's Intellectual Property Safe
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When a business owner thinks of the most important aspects to protect, things such as employees or real estate will usually come to mind. But there is something even more important that may be unprotected.
Be sure to join us for our next Second Wednesday Morning Break where we will discuss the topic of Keeping Your Business's Intellectual Property Safe. See session information below:
- When: Wednesday, September 8 from 9:00-9:30 am
Hosted by moderator Patricia Scott, this Q&A discussion will feature business attorney John Mashni. Through his practice, John empowers business owners and entrepreneurs to follow their passions by helping them to seize business opportunities and navigate legal challenges.
Intellectual Property (IP) is a business's very identity and how customers recognize the brand. IP can include trademark registration, logo, company name or the name of the business's product/services. Protecting your IP is important for two reasons:
- If someone else is using a brand name or logo similar to yours, you have the ability to get them to stop and to further prevent siphoning of your customer base.
- Vice versa, protecting your IP also means preventing other businesses from coming forward and saying that your brand is too similar to theirs and then trying to stop your business from continuing to operate.
If the latter happens and your trademark is not properly documented, you could be forced to change your business name/brand and the cost to do so could be incredibly expensive.
If you would like to learn more about protecting intellectual property, the following video features John with Julie Holton on an episode of WLNS Expert Connexions in which he also discusses trademark enforcement and the importance of doing due diligence before even selecting a name for your business.