IP Rights first, then Intellectual Property Insurance

Story of an Entrepreneur:

Find a gap in the market, whether a service or a product

Head-down you go for it!

Then what…!

The problem with a gap in the market is how do you know you are the first to spot it and exploit it? If you’re not, expect at some point, possibly after much financial investment, to be pursued for breaching what is someone else’s idea, brand or design. Sadly, far too many ignore the gap between delivering the product and service to the market and meeting client’s needs and watching their backs for unfair competition or infringement

For a start-up to become embroiled in an IPR legal dispute serves only to sap its energy and finances. In many cases it leads to closure.

Register Intellectual Property Rights (IPR)

Entrepreneur start-ups need to be clear about IPR. Right from the get-go when you find the perfect business or product name protect it with a trademark. This exercise alone will tell you whether you are the first to try and protect it. If you are, it will stop others using it.

Know your market

The clever start-up takes time to analyse the existing IPR ‘landscape’ of the business idea. Who, if anyone, is already in that space or close to it? Might they pursue you? “Prior search”, as IP professionals call it, is vital to avoid infringement and prepares the start-up business – down the line – for that all-important commercialisation stage of business growth. The monetisation of the service or product concept and pay-day for the entrepreneur.

What if you don’t…?

Having an idea and the energy to deliver it to market will all be in vain if, at the time of scale-up, you fail to attract investment from a business dragon because you neglected your IPR. You have a choice – you needn’t be that business.

IP Insurance

Last but not the least don’t forget to get IP Insurance. The policy provides many benefits including providing you with the ability to enforce and defend IP infringement claims. Once considered unaffordable by start ups – IP insurance now is most used value for money insurance policy for start ups.

Definitions:

Intellectual Property: Intellectual Property means any patents and rights in inventions, trade marks, service marks, business or trade names (including internet domain names and email address names), rights in get up or trade dress, design rights, registered designs, utility models, copyrights (including copyrights in computer software), database rights, semi-conductor topography rights and rights in trade secrets and other confidential information.

Material for this article was derived by Cyber Data-Risk Managers from similar blog posts by Opus Underwriting on their website (www.opusunderwritting.com) . Article adapted with permission from Opus Underwriting.

Disclaimer: “The information provided is general advice only and does not take account of your personal circumstances or needs, please seek advise from your broker or risk advisor before taking any action on the contents of this article”

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