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How to Use Your Early-Stage Intellectual Property to Raise More Money?

How to Use Your Early-Stage Intellectual Property to Raise More Money?

The creation of new ideas and innovations in the early stage intellectual property which plays a vital role in the enhancement of all business entities. Intellectual property encourages innovation and creativity among the commercial sectors for the growth of their business. Intellectual property rights need to be appreciated and protected for every business enhancement in today’s world, where the capital of any business goes in hand with the intellectual property rights involving patent, trademarks, industrial designs and more. With every business, the use of an early-stage intellectual property is entwined, like its trademark or brand name, or logo or the invention of any product or process, the designs incorporated, the website and the advertisements. The need for protection of early-stage intellectual property becomes inevitable for the growth of the business, for the generation of goodwill and for the protection of competitive advantage.

Each type of intellectual property right carries its own advantage. For protecting a trademark understanding what a trademark is important. Trademark means a mark including a device, brand, heading, label, ticket, name, signature, word, letter, shape of goods, packaging or combination of colors or any combination thereof which can be graphically represented and capable of distinguishing the goods and services of one person from another. It ranges enough to include non-conventional marks such as sound, smell, etc. the early stage of a mark in the process to be a trademark requires the following points to be considered while its adoption and selection- it must be distinctive or an inventive word. It must not be generic or descriptive or suggestive or arbitrary. For a trademark to be protected registration of the mark becomes vital. Registration creates an exclusive right to use the mark and the right to prevent others from using an identical or similar mark for identical or similar goods and services and in case of any duplication one can take recourse to infringement proceedings, the right to prevent others from using an identical or similar mark for new goods and services, the mark identifies with the product and its origin and creates a brand loyalty and guarantees the product, hence enhancing the trademark as a business asset, which can also be licensed, franchised or assigned to another company.

For protecting an invention of a product or process, the filing of patent application is required. The early stage IP right patent involves the invention which must be new, novel, involving an inventive step and capable of industrial application. The protectable subject matter of a patent is an invention. What is protected is the result of an invention or the resultant product. Hence one should go for a patent to enjoy exclusive rights over the invention. If the inventor does not get the patent rights over his invention and introduces his product/process in the market, anybody can copy his invention and exploit it commercially. To debar others from using, selling, or working out his invention one must go for a patent. Therefore we can appreciate the use of early-stage IP rights to grow one’s business.

Industrial design involves features of shape, configuration, pattern, ornament, or composition of lines or colors applied to any article, whether two or three dimensional or both forms can be registered under the Designs Act. It must be new, original, significantly distinguishable from known designs or combination of known designs. For its protection registration becomes inevitable as an action of infringement of design for its duplication can be only initiated after the registration.

Hence, making early stage IP a priority and protecting and registering it becomes necessary. It is indispensable for any industry to see that they do not violate IP rights of others which bring hassle-free business transactions without any thwart of litigation problems. Implementation of clear and effective policies and strategies for protecting early stage IP rights is highly recommended for the best use of IP to raise more money.

Info by: Biswajit Sarkar – IP Lawyer in India

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