Posts Tagged ‘Intellectual Property’
How to Protect Your Company Lists and Trade Secrets
Most senior and middle level managers will understand when a subordinate comes to them to resign and begin a new business. But all will immediately question whether the new business will compete in any way with their enterprise, and react to the future entrepreneur in either of two very distinct ways based upon those fears.…
Read MoreHow to Protect Your Business Idea While You Build the Business
How to protect your business idea while you build your startup. I’ve been kind of hard-line in this space on the value of ideas. I’ve said they are a dime a dozen, aren’t owned, can’t be sold. My personal favorite is this one: A good idea is like a beautiful day. Everybody owns it. I’ve posted here on…
Read MoreDon’t Neglect These Trademark Basics to Protect Your Product
When it comes to intellectual property, protection is more than just in a name. Trademarks are anything that can indicate to consumers that a product originates from a specific source. Brand names and slogans are typical trademarks, but even a red sole on a shoe (a la Louboutin) can function as a trademark. Search, Search,…
Read More3 Common Pitfalls of Your Trademark Application
Protecting the name of your business is a vital step toward franchising. It also has other important business implications. Think of it as the modern-day version of staking claim to land in the wild west. By trademarking your brand, you’re defending a key asset of your business. It’s the declaration that this belongs to you,…
Read More4 Ways to Prevent Someone from Stealing Your Startup Idea
Steve Blank, a Silicon Valley entrepreneur-turned-professor with over two decades of experience, has over the course of his career founded or worked within eight different startups. And in that time, he’s lived through every entrepreneur’s worst nightmare: he had his ideas stolen. Twice. “The first time it happened, it was no big deal,” Blank recounted in a 2009 VentureBeat article.…
Read MoreIs a Software Patent Worth the Time and Effort?
After going through the process of getting a software patent with a well-known California law firm for my initial startup—and finally choosing to drop it after spending a ton of money but going nowhere—here’s my take on the question of whether a software patent is worth it. Although patents for things other than software are legitimate and…
Read MorePatent Litigation Can Kill the Small Guy
When you think of patents, you think of added value to the corporation in the form of protection of its intellectual property. In fact, many corporations spend millions developing surrounding patents to form what is known as a “patent thicket,” much like Brer Rabbit jumped into to protect himself against his detractors in the briar…
Read MoreProtecting Your Startup’s Intellectual Property
An oft-neglected part of running a startup involves the products unique to your brand. What can you do to make sure your intellectual property stays yours? When we think of Silicon Valley, we call to mind success stories like Microsoft and Facebook. We think of smart young entrepreneurs, business hopefuls looking to make their mark…
Read MoreThere’s Gold in Repurposing Intellectual Property
Several times a month, I’d have lunch with one of my CEOs, and each time we’d find ourselves digging into the intellectual property developed by the company over the years, just to refresh ourselves about what the intended use was back then, and whether new developments or technologies might make these older ideas and patents…
Read MoreHow You Can Fight Intellectual Property Theft and Protect Your Profits
