Steps for the protection of Intellectual Property Rights

Protection of Intellectual Property Rights

India develops and encourages more entrepreneurship and innovation. By en routing the nation to the entrepreneurial ventures drive innovations and a massive growth, this can be accomplished by introducing and encouraging the creativity of new products, business models and solutions. With the support of policy makers and the aspirations towards business lead the country enter into a new venture across the industries.

Startups are becoming more nowadays and we can see that in every corner of the world. Each and every firm is trying to establish an image in the minds of the consumers. In this new age ventures mostly all the business people focus on the growth and profitability, but at the same time there is a need to protect our intellectual property rights which are owned by the entity. For the people who have chosen to endure the entrepreneurial journey and pursue their dreams, the market is growing at a faster clip.

With the rising competitions, organisations are developing innovative strategies in order to develop the business and also attract the investments from the private equity firms and the venture capitalists. The start-ups are mainly focusing on the business to cater the diverse needs of the consumers which constantly evolves the dynamic business environment. The current scenario of startups have reached a scale where the business players are very curious and battling for obtaining the leadership slot. Being a startup, it faces some unique challenges in spite of that they have to think about succession planning regardless of other stages of growth.

   A patent is one of the kinds in intellectual property which refers to the protection of an invention for a certain period of time. The inventor can exclude others from making or selling products or services. There are bodies and treaties for defining, enforcing and protecting the intellectual property rights. The intellectual property space is considered as a nascent in India. It is an intangible one and it has to be protected through intellectual property rights such as copyrights, patents, and trademarks.

  The strategy for the well-defined intellectual property should be in a place to protect the property from the potential infringers in the marketplace. When we see the corporate bigwigs such as Apple, Google, and Microsoft spend billions of dollars in research and development which ensures that the inventions are protected adequately. For a big firm, there are so many strategies or tools to protect their intellectual assets whereas for the small start-ups, how their intellectual property can be protected.

    The success of high profile Indian start-ups like Flip cart, snap deal etc., which are very weak on making the investments in the intellectual property. By creating and maintaining a robust IP portfolio involves the time and cost. Based on the current market scenario, most of the start-ups are introducing novel solution to serve their customer base but they are not focusing on getting their ideas or technology gets patented. It is indeed that every start-up needs to think for their success and scale up rapidly.

The strong patent portfolio helps the innovators and inventors to protect their assets and ensure the success in the long term. In the fiercely competitive market new age start-ups should ensure that their IP portfolio is rich in innovation, diverse and allow them to outdo the competitors.

When we develop and protect the intellectual property it helps the start-ups to gain competitive advantages and earn additional revenue through licensing. New age ventures develop the intellectual property portfolio in order to attract the investors which build the credibility in the market. It is pivotal to identify the IP assets which are owned by the company and can avail the benefits for securing such protection over time.

Here are some of the steps that start-ups should embrace in order to protect their intellectual property:

Invest time and resources in ideas/solutions:

Start-ups need to invest their valuable time and resources to get their ideas or solutions patented with Patent and Trademark Office (PTO) in order to exclude others from using the patented invention. Patents are very specific and which are very limited to a particular territory. So they should first apply for their patent in the domestic market and then they can build a strategy to apply for a patent in the international markets.

Invest time to develop the intellectual property:

We should invest time in intellectual property and educate ourselves for the need to understand the basics of intellectual property include designs, patents, trademarks and trade secrets.

Consultation with the attorney:

Cost and work can be minimized by outsourcing the patent-related tasks to attorney who specializes in the intellectual property. They will assist in filing the patent applications in single or multiple jurisdictions. The attorney could help you in developing the patent document which describes the method and use of the invention and also incorporate the claims that facilitate the inventor to obtain a patent.

Identifying the potential infringers:

Potential infringers have to be identified for the particular technology and can earn revenues through licensing and cross-licensing negotiations.

Non-disclosure agreements:

While disclosing the inventions to others, enter into a well-drafted Non-Disclosure Agreements (NDA) which is otherwise called as a confidential agreement.

Make ensure on agreements:

Ensure the technology transfer agreements, licenses; employee agreements are in place to protect the critical information leak or breaches.

International patents:

If the key competitors exist beyond the respective country, assess international patents. For instance, a patent granted in India would not protect the organisation in countries such as US, Europe, China etc.

Freedom to operate:

In order to launch a particular product or service in other country, conduct a “Freedom to Operate” search.

Do searches:

Perform the patentability or the trademark searches to identify whether any existing users are using the name which we have selected.

Competitors search:

The company should conduct a landscape search in order to locate the potential competitors and their activities. They may crucial in determining the technological advancements for In-licensing, and out-licensing in the respective field of technology.

Strategy:

Devise the patent strategy in line by think about the future and have business goals which need to be legally protected.

Mergers and acquisitions:

It is important to understand the need to protect the intellectual property assets and the value offered by them at the time of mergers and acquisitions. If you do not take any appropriate action, that may threat to the success of the organisation in the future. IP plays a vital role in terms of protecting and monetizing the innovation. In this competitive world, it is crucial to understand the intellectual property but stay abreast of the innovations, current technologies, know how. Thus, we need to revisit the existing IP strategy.

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