There are many steps involved in launching an Oregon startup. Most people who launch startups have to find funding, figure out which business formation type to use and take the right legal steps to do so. However, another important step involves figuring out how to protect your startup’s intellectual property.
Per the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, your startup may rely on a number of different forms of intellectual property, including trademarks, patents, copyrights and digital assets. Protecting these valuable assets is a key part of doing business, and you may want to take the following steps to do so.
Determine what protections you need
Different types of intellectual property need different types of protection. So, the first thing you need to do is identify what you need to protect. For example, if your startup has a patent, you may need to register it with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office to prevent other businesses from profiting off of your invention or idea.
File for intellectual property protections
The precise intellectual property protections you need depend on what type of property you need to protect, i.e., a manuscript, a song, a new form of technology or what have you. There are also different fees involved in filing for various protections, and in some cases, you may need more than one type of intellectual protection for the same work.
Figure out how long your protections last
Different types of intellectual property protection have different durations. For example, if you copyright something, the protection should last for at least 70 years after the death of the person who secured the copyright.
The steps you take to protect your business’s intellectual property have the potential to make or break your business and may have a serious, long-term impact on your business’s bottom line.