Angel investors and venture capitalists often cite intellectual property (IP) as one of an early stage company's most important assets. If a company does not have sufficient claim over the ideas on which it is basing its business, it has nothing.
IP is a thorny and difficult to understand topic. In this segment, Kelly Burris, attorney at Brinks, Hofer, Gilson, and Lione provides us an overview of the four broad categories of intellectual property:
- Patents — there are three types: utility, design, and plant. In a future segment, Kelly will describe the difference between these types of patents and the process involved in obtaining them.
- Trademarks — These protect brand identification. Again, in a future episode, Kelly will further elaborate on the value of trademarks and the value of obtaining them.
- Copyrights — These are perhaps the easiest type of IP to claim in that it only requires attaching a copyright notice.
- Trade secrtes — As Kelly will explain further in a future segment, trade secrets are information that has value if kept secret. A key point is that reasonable efforts must be extended in maintaining the secrets.
This overview gives a good idea of the types of intellectual property one should consider protecting while bringing an innovative product or service to market. We look forward to future segments for some of the details and practical considerations involved.