Business owners have limited time to consider all the issues they face in their business every day. Often, a “legal” issue like intellectual property (“IP”) might be put on the back burner in favor of just keeping operations going. So why should business leadership fight the urge to put off developing an IP strategy? Because IP speaks to two fundamental components of every business:
Who You Are
What You Do
Who Are You?
No matter the size of the competitive field, brand identity is a critical element of any company’s success. A successful company has a quickly recognizable name and logos, and catchy and compelling slogans to match. In the most successful cases, a company becomes synonymous with its offerings. After all, we don’t “look something up on an internet search engine,” we “Google” it.
Even in small or startup businesses, a strong branding strategy keeps your company in the front of consumers’ minds and forms the basis for customer referrals. No matter the size or industry, business owners want to build an identity that sets them apart from competitors. And of course, no business owner wants to allow someone else to capitalize off their hard-won reputation by imitating their company.
The elements that make up your company’s identity are protectable intellectual property. Names and logos can be trademarked, along with slogans or catchphrases. This protection can be extended to other elements of your branding and presentation, such as color (think of a certain fleet of brown delivery trucks) or sound (think of the “da-dum” when you open Netflix).
Business owners spend incredible time and effort building a brand identify to set themselves apart in the eyes of investors, business partners, and most importantly, consumers. Leaders would be doing a disservice to their organizations to not appropriately protect their identity.
What You Do
Just about every business on Earth believes it has one or more competitive advantages over its competition. Whether they provide a unique product, superior quality, or more rapid service, there is some “secret sauce” that gets the business a leg up over its competitors.
Those with never-before-seen inventions at the core of their business may already be familiar with the advantage of obtaining a patent on the invention. But a business doesn’t need a revolutionary patented invention to leverage its competitive advantage through IP. For example, the Coca-Cola formula has been kept as a trade secret for over 100 years and is considered one of the most valuable IP assets in the world.
Whether it’s a revolutionary technological breakthrough or a few simple methods in the business model that allows the organization to provide something more to its customers, every company has assets differentiating it from the competition. Intelligent use of IP to protect these assets and prevent others from reproducing them will ultimately drive financial success of the business.
