Why IP is important to start-ups

Identifying and protecting your intangible assets from the start is a sound business practice. First of all, startup founders must be well aware of all kinds of Intellectual Property. Every startup founder must include all the relevant personnel like employees, customers, suppliers, contractors, and business partners as part of their IP strategy. Intellectual Property is an important strategic, competitive and financial asset for any startup. For successful creation, protection and exploitation of Intellectual property, startups need to:

  • Protect the core idea upon which the startup is founded
  • Create and maintain a competitive advantage
  • Protect R & D investment
  • Develop a quick and effective system in order to keep a tab on outgoing information and media releases
  • Develop an IP policy and invest in skill development of employees through in-house and external professional training programs
  • Prevent any unethical acts to avoid Intellectual Property infringement at all levels
  • Evaluate whether the invention meets the basic criteria for patent registration
  • Protect an invention in the form of patents
  • Avoid or mitigate risk of infringement
  • Protect the brand (once the product is sold or services are available)

Types of Intellectual Property Rights

Intellectual property means the property which comes from the intellectual activity in the industrial, scientific, literary and artistic field. Intellectual property rights are like any other property right. This allows owners and creator of the patent, trademark or copyrighted works to get benefit from their own work. Further intellectual property rights safeguard creators and owners of intellectual property by granting them certain time limit rights to control their use in relation to their goods or services. Protected intellectual property rights are like other property rights which can be owned, sold or bought. Generally intellectual property is divided into two categories

  • PATENT:- A Patent is an exclusive right granted for invention that provides a new way of doing something or that offers a new technical solution to a problem. An invention can be a product such as chemical compound or it can be a procedural, such as process of producing a specific chemical compound. A patent right is granted for a period of 20 years.
  • TRADEMARK:- Trademark is a unique sign that identifies certain goods or services produced or provided by a specific person or a company. A trademark may be one or combination of words, letters, numerals. They may consist of drawing, three dimensional sign such as shape and packaging of goods. A trademark is granted for 10 years from the date of the application for registration.
  • COPYRIGHT:- Copyright law protects original literary, dramatic, musical, artistic, software work and Cinematograph film and sound recording work from unauthorized use. Copyright is granted for a period of life time of the author plus 60 years after their demise. It can be literary, artistic, musical, software, audio or film.
  • INDUSTRIAL DESIGN:- An Industrial design refers to the ornamental or aesthetic aspect of an article. A design may consist of two-dimensional feature such as pattern, lines or colour or three dimensional features such as the shape or surface of an article. A design is granted for 10 years from the date of application for registration. It can be renewed for a single additional term of 5 years.
  • GEOGRAPHICAL INDICATION:- A Geographical Indication identifies goods that have specific geographical origin or possess qualities or a reputation due to that place of origin. Place of origin may be a village, a town or a country. For example, Olive Oil is produced in a specific area of Italy, and Patola Sarees are produced in Patan, Gujarat. A Geographical Indication is granted for 10 years which may be renewed from time to time.

Why us

There is nothing more valuable than experience and nothing more powerful than knowledge. The istart initiative is backed by a team of experts with an immense experience on Intellectual Property. This experience has made us into a knowledge powerhouse and positions us as the premier organisation to transform the Intellectual Property industry in India.

istart for startups started with an aim to create IP awareness amongst startups and to protect their Intellectual Property. We provide quality services to various industries at a convenient cost.

IP Services for the start-ups of today

  • IP Registration
  • IP Identification
  • IP Strategy
  • IP Consultation
  • IP Management

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