IP Checklist for new businesses
- Get All Owners / Founders to Assign Intellectual Property to Company
- Ensure employment, freelance and consultancy contracts clearly state your ownership of all intellectual property developed for you
- Use patent searches early in the development of new products and processes to check whether they are already protected by someone else. Pick the Right Intellectual Property for Your Company
- Budget and Prioritise for IP Protection
- Consider filing an initial patent application to give you the time to develop or sell the idea. Contact a patent agent for advice
- Register your trade mark
- Slogging Through the Patent Application Process (aka “Patent Prosecution”)
- International Patent Protection
- Keep a log of evidence recording the development of intellectual property: for example, dated and signed copies of drawings and drafts
- Consider alternatives: for example, rapidly capturing a market niche to discourage competitors
- Keep new inventions secret until you have decided whether their commercial viability justifies the cost of patent protection
- Consider whether new designs for the appearance of part or all of a product are worth protecting with stronger design registration
- Enforce your rights by identifying breaches and pursuing offenders, but think carefully before initiating uncertain and expensive legal action