Five ways to protect your ideas
Shielding your innovations is almost as crucial as the innovations themselves. Here's how to do it.
 
1. You snooze, you lose
Eighty-eight percent of big companies' value is based on their brands, methodologies, content, training systems, and other innovations, and the same holds true for many smaller players, says attorney Andrew Sherman, a partner at Jones Day and the author of Harvesting Intangible Assets. Unfortunately, he says, many firms are "asleep at the switch" and don't protect their assets -- to their peril. Do an intellectual-property audit with your attorney to prevent rivals from monetizing your ideas.
 
2. Speed counts
Until 2013, you had to prove you invented something first to own it. Now, under the Leahy-Smith America Invents Act, the first to file for a patent usually wins, says Dallas intellectual-property attorney Russ Schultz. To beat lumbering Goliaths, apply now for provisional patents, which you can write in a week, to get a year's protection, says Doug Hall, CEO of Cincinnati-area innovation systems company Eureka! Ranch. "To the nimble go all the rewards," he says.
 
3. Lock down contracts
Insist that contractors for creative projects like writing software sign an ironclad work-for-hire agreement that says you own the copyright. Otherwise, the law assumes that they own it. Also, have staffers sign employment contracts that assign you ownership of their inventions. Have you forgotten to do this? "Now is the time to get it fixed," says Sherman -- especially if you plan to sell the firm. Prospective buyers will walk if you're missing this paperwork.
 
4. Play offense
Jeremy Brandt, whose Dallas real estate investing firm We Buy Houses owns the trademark to its brand, knows he has to stop infringers so he doesn't lose control of the trademark. He has a team of legal interns track unauthorized uses -- and the company's efforts to stop copycats -- in its customer relations management system. Once warned that they're infringing on a federally protected trademark, some violators ask to license the brand. "This has helped our sales process," he says.
 
5. Hire legal veterans
You'll be better off with seasoned pros in a boutique law firm than with inexperienced associates in a giant firm. "The quality is better and cost is lower if you can work with senior partners who have been doing patent prosecution for a long time," says Andrew Levi, founder of Dallas digital marketing and analytics firm Blue Calypso. He has used that strategy to obtain and protect five patents, with six pending -- vastly increasing the firm's value.

Unitrans世联翻译公司在您身边,离您近的翻译公司,心贴心的专业服务,专业的全球语言翻译与信息解决方案供应商,专业翻译机构品牌。无论在本地,国内还是海外,我们的专业、星级体贴服务，为您的事业加速！世联翻译公司在北京、上海、深圳等国际交往城市设有翻译基地，业务覆盖全国城市。每天有近百万字节的信息和贸易通过世联走向全球！积累了大量政商用户数据，翻译人才库数据，多语种语料库大数据。世联品牌和服务品质已得到政务防务和国际组织、跨国公司和大中型企业等近万用户的认可。 专业翻译公司,北京翻译公司,上海翻译公司,英文翻译,日文翻译,韩语翻译,翻译公司排行榜,翻译公司收费价格表,翻译公司收费标准,翻译公司北京,翻译公司上海。