Ways to protect the intellectual property of a business

1. Ways to Protect the Intellectual Property of a Business

2. Intellectual Property Rights Lawyer Intellectual property is essentially a unique creation of a business. It may be an invention, artistic or literary work, image, logo, or name. Now, to safeguard these intellectual properties from unfair competition, business owners should know the four ways by which they can protect their intellectual properties. Law firm for intellectual property lawyers Nigeria works to secure your rights. Patents Patent rights apply to new inventions. By having an invention patented, the inventor or patent holder gains the exclusive rights to manufacture, sell, or use the invention. This allows a business to grow significantly because it gives the competitive advantage on the marketplace.

3. Patents and Trademarks For Business Patents are generally divided into three categories: utility, design, and plant. The utility patent is the most common of the three. It covers any new machinery, process, article of manufacture, or composition of matter. Design patent on the other hand covers any new and original aesthetic design for a particular article of manufacture. Lastly, the plant patent covers any new development of asexually produced plants or crop. Trademarks Trademarks are any logo, symbol, design, word, or phrase that distinguishes a certain business from other competitors. It is usually placed in the products or services of a company. And to be considered a trademark, it must be unique and not used by any other business.

4. Copyrights and Trademarks For Business In general, trademarks are acquired by constant usage and adding of the trademark symbol (™). However, this does not guarantee full protection against copycats. To enforce full rights to a certain trademark, it must be registered to concerned trademark-governing bodies. After being registered, the trademark can have the registered symbol (®) at its end. Intellectual Property Rights Lawyer can help for trademark registration or infringement issues in Nigeria. Copyrights A copyright covers all original works of an author. It can be in any form like music, literary works, choreographic works, computer software, and other. With the copyright protection, the author gains exclusive rights to improve, distribute, display, and perform the particular original work.

5. Copyrights and Trade Secrets To be qualified in copyright protection, a work must be secured in a tangible medium. For example, literary works must be in paper, or music must be in record. The copyright exists right after the work gets created. However, having it registered makes it eligible for attorney fees and statutory damages in case of a lawsuit. Trade Secrets Trade secrets are any processes, formula, or other business information that companies do not reveal to public because by doing so, it gives them advantage over competitors. Such examples include food recipe, survey results, and algorithms. Trade secrets cannot be registered. The best way to protect it from other businesses is to implement necessary measures to keep other people from knowing about it. Examples of ways to do this are by restricting access to confidential information, and having employees sign a nondisclosure agreement.

6. Trade Secrets Having the company safeguard its secrets is not required. However, if a business owner really wants to improve his business, it is always best to rely on these different intellectual property protecting methods.

7. The Royal Chambers, 23/29 Abibu Oki Street, P.O. Box: 8842, Lagos, Nigeria , Fax: +234 1 264 3025 , Shift Number: +234 1 264 3024, Email:lawyer@tejulaw.com