Protecting intellectual property is an important part of successful entrepreneurship. It is really painful to see someone profiting off of your idea, just because they had better means and more funds for its execution. Corporations are often on the lookout for how to improve their product and if they can get a free pass on your IP odds are they will go for it. Unlike Betting Odds which are generally fun, these are not the odds, you want to play with and leave your IP for grabs. So, we will go over some ways on how to protect your intellectual property.
Filing Patents
This is one of the first things people usually do when they create a prototype for their idea, but it is also a double-edged sword. When you file a patent you also give everyone else a recipe on how to pull it off, so it basically becomes a matter of time before others get to give your idea a spin. So, if you don’t think your product is easy to pull off, maybe filing a patent is not the best course of action.
Always Improve Your Product
Another way of protecting your intellectual property is to constantly improve your product. This way you make it difficult for your competition to catch up. So, even if they manage to replicate your formula and release a similar product, there will be something better on the market.
Give Users a Chance to Improve Your Product
One thing that is very popular especially in the tech world is making your product open source, and allowing users to add their mods. You can still allow users to use and modify your product but retain any publishing rights and infrastructure, for anything that was created using your framework.
Fight Plagiarism in Court
Even if someone does not pose a threat you still need to defend your IP or patent. This is because you don’t want to create a situation where someone says that you conceded your rights to someone else.
Create a Good Loyalty Program for Your Users
You also need to think about your user base and ensure they don’t leave you for a similar IP. This will discourage IP theft because it will become difficult for others to profit from your idea, considering how relevant the user base is already loyal to you. Companies like Apple are great at cultivating this loyal user culture.
Avoid Joint-Ownerships
Even if it seems like a good idea at a certain point, corporate structures are prone to change, and you can end up losing your rights to an IP if the co-owner ends up taking over the company. So, if you are considering these moves make sure you lawyer up and adequately protect your patent.
NDAs
Finally, you will have to insist that your employees or business partners sign NDAs. This is a pretty common practice nowadays, so everyone is already used to it. NDA will prevent your workers from replicating your product for a certain time period, which once again gives you a head start in case new competition appears.