What should you invest in first to protect your intellectual property?
The decision to invest in a patent or trademark first depends on your business goals and the nature of your product or service.
If your business has a unique invention or process that you want to protect, then investing in a patent would be a wise decision. A patent can provide legal protection for your invention, giving you exclusive rights to manufacture, use, and sell it for a set period of time.
On the other hand, if your business has a unique name, logo, or symbol that you want to protect, then investing in a trademark would be a wise decision. A trademark can provide legal protection for your brand, preventing others from using a similar name or logo that could cause confusion among consumers.
In summary, if your business has a unique invention or process, invest in a patent. If your business has a unique name, logo, or symbol, invest in a trademark.
Budget and timing are also major considerations. Patents are lot more costly than trademarks, but that’s also because they afford you a monopoly on the market for many years for that invention. For patents, you have to file a patent on your invention or design within 12 months of disclosing the patent to the public or offering the invention for sale. After those 12 months, you are barred from having a patent. On the trademark side however, you can file for a trademark years or even decades after using the mark in commerce. You might have to assert your rights if someone else filed before you, and might lose some geographical rights by waiting.
Each business is unique, protect your secret sauce first. Sometimes that’s an invention, sometimes that’s the catchy name.
At the end of the day, it is worth noting that patents and trademarks are both important forms of intellectual property protection, and depending on the nature of your business, you may eventually need both. They are both business investments that are highly beneficial and important for the overall health of your business.
Interested in learning more about how to secure your intellectual property?
Schedule a free discovery call with our team today.
Innovent Law helps innovators protect, maintain and defend patent, trademark, copyright, and other intellectual property rights in the United States and around the world.