Intellectual Property (IP) – What is it? Where is it? Can you identify it? Do you have any? Are you using another’s?
Waltz, Palmer & Dawson, LLC has recently offered blogs, articles, and webinars on the topic of IP. As IP is a part of our everyday lives, business owners need to recognize IP and implement protections and procedures in order to ensure the business: (i) is identifying and protecting its IP assets; and/or (ii) is preventing any unauthorized use or infringement of another party’s IP (such can happen either intentionally or unintentionally).
Although IP is intangible, believe it or not, individuals and businesses come across IP on a day-to-day basis. For example, open up your office supply closet, cleaning pantry or even your refrigerator and you will find examples of IP everywhere.
Take an ordinary cleaning product, such as a bottle of Windex® or Original Pine-Sol® or even Pledge® (all popular favorites) and you will see many examples of this vast and important topic of IP. The name on the bottle is a Trademark (Note the “R” with a circle around it means it is a Registered Trademark), along with the creative artwork designs, logo, decorations, wording for instructions/directions and style, which are also referred to as Branding or Trade Dress, could be considered a Trademark and/or Copyright, all important IP rights protected by the business owner. The packaging or bottle itself is most likely patented, another very important IP protection. The contents within the bottle is also most likely either patented or protected as a Trade Secret (also an important way to protect a business’s IP).
Even take a can of soda (or pop or soft drink) and once again, you will most likely find: (i) Trademark(s) (name and logo with Trade Dress/Branding); (ii) Copyrights (language, logos, wording, expression of ideas); (iii) Trade Secret (highly protected secret information, such as the formula, with an important fun fact being that the formula for Coca Cola® is known as the most famous Trade Secret); (iv) probably a Patent in the can or pop top; and (v) the soft IP rights surrounding each of the noted hard IP rights, referred to as Know-How, Confidential Information, and Residuals.
Business owners need to take the topic of IP seriously as a claim of infringement, unauthorized use, or misappropriation of another’s IP can be very costly resulting in lawsuits, loss of business and/or work, and time consuming to rectify. Further, failing to protect your IP could result in the loss of an important business asset and/or future revenue.
For more on the topic of IP, please visit www.navigantlaw.com and read the blog article: “Top Ten Basics of the Intellectual Property – Do You Know Them? Is Your IP Protected?” and watch for future IP blogs/articles on Waltz, Palmer & Dawson’s website, webinars and e-Newsletters.
Should you have any questions about IP law and protections, including licensing, or would like to schedule a free initial consultation, please contact Waltz, Palmer & Dawson, LLC at (847)253-8800 or contact us online.
Waltz, Palmer & Dawson, LLC is a full-service law firm with various areas of service to assist your business, including: Employment Law, Intellectual Property, Commercial Real Estate, Business Immigration, Litigation and general Business Law services. Individual services include Estate Planning, Wills and Trusts, Probate, Guardianship, Divorce and Family Law.
This article constitutes attorney advertising. The material is for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice.
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