Businesses need to take steps to protect their intellectual property (IP), in whatever form it exists.
According to Business Link, IP covers a wide range of business assets, from copyrights, trademarks, and patents to design rights.
“If you have a business, you are likely to own IP and make use of other people’s IP within your business activities,” the advisory service stated.
Essentially, IP allows people to claim legal ownership of the work they create, such as brands and logos, inventions, software, designs and music.
Other categories of creative work include books, poems, paintings and photography.
“IP can be very valuable, and there are businesses, such as computer games companies, that exist simply to develop IP or even take advantage of it,” Business Link notes.
“It is important to protect your business by securing your IP rights. It is equally important to avoid infringing the rights of other businesses.”
One of the ways in which companies and organizations can protect their property is by registering trademarks with their local office.
As Business Link explains, trademarks set apart products and services as different from other suppliers.
“They can be signs, logos, words and names, and there are rules on what can and cannot be registered as a trademark,” it stated.
“Trademarks are highly valuable and can be a major influence on your marketing and your recognition in the market place.”
According to the World Intellectual Property Organization, trademarks are the most common form of IP protection in global usage.