Protecting you intellectual property
Understanding how to protect your business’ intellectual property can be difficult. It’s an invaluable asset that you don’t want anyone else attaining but it can tough to know where to turn to for assistance. Legal aid, hiring a lawyer and even doing intellectual property research online are just some ways to safeguard your business.
Confused about where your business stands on intellectual property (IP)? You’re not alone. The problem is that there are several types that come under the general banner of IP so it’s hard to know what you need to protect your business’ IP.
Before you run off to a lawyer, you first need to look at your business and the kind of IP you need to protect. Every business, for example, has a business name that can be trademarked. However, there are other types of IP that depend on your type of business, from patent registration for new widgets or plant breeder’s rights for horticulturalists.
Intellectual property online
There’s a wealth of good quality general information on IP online. Two websites you should check out are IP Australia (www.ipaustralia.gov.au), home of the national organisation that looks after IP registration, and the World Intellectual Property Organization (www.wipo.int), the international body that oversees IP protection.
Both give a definition for each IP right that may apply to your trade and take you through what happens when you apply for legal protection through the respective body. They also provide a fee schedule relevant to each level so you can see upfront what it might cost to register various types of IP.
Specialist IP law firms may also have basic handbooks or web-based guides that you could use to better understand your IP assets and what you require to protect them. Unfortunately there’s not much in the way of free advice if you have specific questions about your business, product or service, but knowing what you need to protect will determine the next step.
Legal aid
Although there are various aspects of IP protection that you may be able to handle yourself, it is advisable to hire a legal professional to look after your IP. If you’re savvy, you can make the legal relationship quite cost-effective. Assignment of rights, for example, is something you may need to write into contracts when dealing with external suppliers.
“If you do similar transactions over and over, what you can do is see a lawyer once and obtain a precedent document you can use again, that way you incur the cost the first time and only if someone wants to negotiate the terms do you need to go back,” advises David Downie, senior associate at legal firm McCullough Robertson. “It may cost a couple of thousand dollars up front, but compare that to not securing your IP, or giving it away to someone else.”
You may also choose to prepare your own registration for IP Australia, but unless you know what you’re doing and what to cover off before you apply, it’s more efficient to consult an expert.
The expert you should see depends on the IP you wish to protect. Patent attorneys, for example, are particularly skilled in the technical side of a patent. “A patent attorney isn’t a lawyer, they have a scientific background and are trained in the technical rigour of patent applications,” explains Downie. “It’s a technical skill that lawyers don’t have. When you’re looking at whether something can be registered, and the process of registration, you should speak to a patent attorney. Once those rights are in place and you’re dealing with the rights for licensing, for example, a lawyer is appropriate for drafting those documents.”
For trademarks, trademark attorneys will do the job, as can general IP lawyers. General IP lawyers will also look beyond trademarks: “An IP lawyer should be able to advise in relation to trademarks, help with contracts for the security of IP and help with the registration of design,” says Downie.