The common advice for companies that want to avoid intellectual property litigation is simply not to steal or appropriate another entity’s IP. However, there is one major problem with this advice; it is one-sided. What happens when the business owner is the one who gets their idea stolen? Or, what happens when an entrepreneur gets sued for creating and capitalizing on technology that bears a close but accidental resemblance to someone else’s?
How inventors go from patent to licensing agreement
Filing a patent in America is easier and less expensive than it is in most other countries. However, it is neither easy nor cheap. The United States Patent and Trademark Office has several guidelines in place that inventors must follow or their claims will be rejected time and time again. One of the major criteria patents must satisfy is novelty. An idea must be new to be accepted. Commercial use of the idea, public disclosures and even articles may undermine the ability to patent an idea.
Are you unsure whether someone infringed upon your patent?
If your business relies on products that you developed, you undoubtedly took measures to protect them. After applying for and receiving patents, you expected your products to remain protected.
This is the biggest risks for a company’s trade secrets
The most successful companies all across the globe have one main thing in common; they have secrets. In business, people refer to this as proprietary information. While there are other secrets companies may hang on to that could prove detrimental if released, perhaps none holds greater value than the company’s trade secrets. This may range from recipes to software algorithms and product designs.
