In the start-up phase of business, companies may often focus on attracting customers while ignoring intellectual property. Working with intellectual property requires time and money investment, and these resources are limited. Some startuppers envisage such work in the future, but there are also those who consider it unnecessary at all, as it seems possible to deal in a product for a short time and then switch to another one.
Is it really harmless to ignore intellectual property?
SITUATION ONE
A company may be under the delusion that a certain known technology has long existed on the market and can therefore be freely used by anyone. But if the technology is protected by a patent, its owner may sue the company for infringement of exclusive rights and recover significant amounts of damages or compensation. Is your business prepared to suffer such financial and reputational losses? We doubt it.
Our advice: before taking a decision on the use of a finished product (technology, device, packaging, etc.), check whether it is covered by exclusive rights. Even if it is, you can still discuss options for its use with the rights holder. The latter might be willing to assign to you the exclusive right or to license the protected object. Then you will have a solid basis for doing business.
SITUATION TWO
If your product meets a ready market, but it has not been protected, competitors can easily make a slightly amended version thereof. It is certainly unpleasant when such a derivative product competes with your one on the market and displaces it. But it is a far more unpleasant situation when a competitor not only launches, but also protects an improved product, and later sues you for infringement. It may be possible to defend your interests in such a dispute, but this will take much more time and effort than it would have been required for timely protection of your own intellectual property rights. And you will probably never be able to prohibit your competitor from using “his” product.
Our advice: to protect your products as intellectual property.
This will allow you to:
- use the product without any hindrance;
- dispose of the acquired rights at your own discretion (e.g. by granting a license);
- prohibit others from using a similar product.
All three rights enable to make profit: when you sell the product, when you sell a license, and when you prohibit your competitors from selling a similar thing. However, the main advantage of dealing with intellectual property in a timely manner is that once you have done so, you can fully focus on marketing your product, with no fear of being dragged into litigation.
We will soon tell you what are the thoughts on this of a famous American writer, who is especially beloved by children.
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