HOW TO ADD VALUE TO YOUR BUSINESS WITH INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY

Introduction

Each business, and especially a startup, needs a competitive advantage includes how a business can leverage intellectual property (IP) rights, whether registered or not in a similar space, which can guarantee your brand a more prosperous future than others. Valuation of Intellectual Property is a reference point in order to take major business decisions.

What is Intellectual Property?

The logo of the business will invariably be seen on the phone. If the brand is good, then the logo on the phone would easily identify the company. This emblem illustrates the business and what it stands for. Therefore, it is in the best interest of the company to take control of it to discourage rivals from using it. Your phone includes function-performing physical components.

On average, undertakings with quantified and managed IP assets are worth twice as much as equivalent undertakings of the same size in the same sector without them, according to a WIPO survey. Here we will show you how to efficiently leverage IP to add value to your startup.

Three Major Ingredients of IP

There are essentially three primary strategies for securing a new company's intellectual property i.e. -

• Patent

• Copyright

• Trademark

1. Patent

A patent is considered government-granted copyright that provides an independent right to sell produce and use a specific invention. It shall generally be for a period of 20 years and shall be counted from the date of submission of the patent application to the USPTO, which is the Patent and Trademark Office of the United States. The patent application must show that the invention includes patentable material and that it is useful, non-obvious, and new in order for a business or owner to receive the patent.

2. Copyright

The protection of copyrights is granted to "original works of authorship." This means it is given to the business or person that made it before it reached the world. Architectural activities, games, motion pictures, paintings, graphics, pictorial works, choreography, plays, songs, literature, and occasionally, apps are copyrightable works.

3. Trademark

A trademark is the stuff of a business that like the company's slogan (I'm lovin' it the name (McDonald's), and the logo (the "golden arches"), helps to distinguish the brand. A trademark is the stuff of a company. These items help to connect a certain service or product with a specific business. By getting it registered with WIPO, the trademark owner will protect their trademark internationally.

How IP can add value to your business

There are 5 major values that can enhance a business i.e.

1. Get a competitive edge with safeguarded innovation

Consider what makes it special and how you can safeguard it. In order to guarantee that the invention is secure, it can be as easy as keeping it hidden or having safe practices.

If the design is especially novel, then a patent could be possible to protect it. Patents are not only a way to guarantee the security of your inventions, but also to ensure your competitive edge in your industry. Innovation determines the reputation of your company - the fresher you are the greater the probability of gaining the interest of investors.

2. Brand name

Brands are an effective way to advertise product/service quality in the consumer-driven environment we live in and raise margins by credibility. If used in combination with marketing campaigns and business operations, a brand secured by a mix of trademarks, domains, and social media and copyright may become a valuable asset for a business.

3. Early disclosure can be troublesome

Early disclosure can be troublesome and in early discussions with potential investors or prospective clients, you should not be too quick to reveal IP. As any IP needs to be filed or its value is lost before being made public.

In our experience, start-ups, always eager to please potential investors or potential buyers, often announce what may be highly valuable intellectual property far too early, implying that the structured registration processes do not effectively secure it. With great, crowd-funded products that have been hijacked by others before trademarks, design rights or even patents had a chance to be filed, this has been seen time and time again. This enthusiastic but unstructured strategy can be extremely harmful to future development.

4. Traffic to your business

As your company expands, due to its potential to harness internet traffic and the reputation of your company, your domain name will become more valuable. Increased profile means that rivals trying to piggyback off your popularity have an increased chance of international counterfeiters and acquisitions of similar domain names (which is a surprisingly common occurrence). Not only can you get enhanced protection against copycats by increasing your domain name portfolio to secure the main site, but you are also able to push more traffic to your main web page. With the growth of your business, as with all IP assets, the value of your domain name portfolio will increase.

5. Approach to social media

People didn't think social media was intellectual property, but it's certainly included in this bracket as a medium that can represent a business and express its ideas. A well-coordinated plan for social media will serve as an interface with the public and reduce small business marketing costs. As well as making your accounts valuable to the company, it protects the name of your business in the public eye.

To know more about, How to grow the business better with Intellectual Property India, see the video below-

Conclusion

The IP that has been or can be covered will enable the start-up to succeed in all of the above areas. In certain cases, a protectable IP will differentiate a start-product up's or service and ambitiously protect it from competition for both market share and customers.

In addition to this, the IP is the most important determinant that investors see when making investment decisions. There are also many occasions when start-IP up's is the most important asset. And this is the one that will lift the new company's estimate, often by multiples of two, three and four as well.

In such situations, the investment made by the owner in the IP will pay well and would be worth the initial hardship it may have caused you as you paid for it quickly. In terms of the increased expenditure and valuation, you can also appreciate the immediate returns.

BY-

SAUMYA KRISHNANI