Your company’s name, logo and even your products belong, well, to your company. In a perfect world, that’s how things would remain. These are all forms of intellectual property – you own the rights to that property (intellectual property rights). However, this is far from a perfect world. A quick look at the number of lawsuits revolving around IPR should highlight just how easily one company can infringe on another’s rights, even unintentionally. It also seems to make sense that if you have rights to intellectual property, you should fight for those rights. Is that always the case? Actually, there are quite a few pros and cons here.
Intellectual Property Rights Pros
There are quite a few pros to protecting your rights in terms of intellectual property. For instance, patents, trademarks and copyrights all give your business important advantages and incentives. Trademarks allow you to build your brand and create a stronger company. That applies to every other company out there, as well. Copyright ensures that a creator continues to own his or her artistic creation (books, artwork, graphic design work, etc.). Patents foster invention and innovation, as well as encouraging inventors to fully explain what’s being invented and how it works.
Intellectual Property Rights Cons
While there are plenty of pros in favor of protecting your rights, there are a few drawbacks here as well. For instance, copyright can be given to works that truly don’t deserve protection under the law, and patents can be given to frivolous things (Amazon’s patenting of “pictures on a white background” is a perfect example of patent frivolity). Other cons involve costs – protecting your rights can be very expensive. IPR lawyers, court costs, settlement fees, filing fees and numerous other costs can mount very quickly, making protection of intellectual property rights expensive for even very large companies.
Who Should Opt for Intellectual Property Rights?
Some organizations and individuals that must opt for IP protection are obvious. Apple, Samsung, Microsoft…virtually any company that develops a proprietary product must maintain protection of their property rights in order to prevent the market from being flooded with cheap imitations of their products. Companies must also guard other elements, including logos and trademarks that identify and strengthen their brands. However, not all businesses or entrepreneurs need this protection. The problem is determining who does and who does not, as each situation can vary considerably depending on the factors at play (invention type, patent type, licensing agreements, etc.).
Intellectual Property Rights Consulting
Given the considerable complexity involved with intellectual property rights and their enforcement, it’s vital that you work with intellectual property rights consultants. These professionals are expects in the field of IP rights and protection and can help you determine if you need to opt for rights enforcement in the case of infringement, or if it would be more costly than it’s worth to pursue legal action. They can also help determine if you actually have property rights at stake.
– Back Office Pro
