TBA & Associates

Introduction to Intellectual Property
TBA analysis

The intellectual property (IP) of your company, whether it encompasses patents, trade secrets, or the collective knowledge of your employees, can hold more value than its physical assets. This overview delves into various aspects, from establishing fundamental policies and procedures for safeguarding intellectual property.

Defining Intellectual Property

Intellectual property (IP) encompasses a broad spectrum of assets, ranging from specific manufacturing processes and blueprints for product launches to closely guarded trade secrets like chemical formulas or lists of countries where your patents are officially registered. It can be likened to intangible proprietary information. The formal definition, as per the World Intellectual Property Organization, refers to creations of the mind, spanning inventions, literary and artistic works, symbols, names, images, and designs employed in commerce. IP encompasses, but is not limited to, proprietary concepts and ideas, inventions (both products and processes), industrial designs, geographic indications of source, as well as literary and artistic works like novels, films, music, architectural designs, and web content.

For many businesses, especially those in fields such as pharmaceuticals, IP proves significantly more valuable than any tangible asset. Authoritative sources estimate that intellectual property theft costs U.S. companies approximately $300 billion each year.

From a legal perspective, there are four primary categories of intellectual property. IP registered within these categories with state and federal agencies enjoys legal protection, enabling the prosecution of any infringements or abuses.

Categories

Patents

Registering your invention with the government, a process often taking over a year, confers the legal right to exclude others from manufacturing or marketing it. Patents apply to tangible items and can be registered in foreign countries to shield your company’s activities from international competitors. Once you secure a patent, other parties can apply for licenses to produce your product. Patents typically remain valid for 20 years.

Trademarks

A trademark refers to a name, phrase, sound, or symbol used in connection with products or services. It frequently associates a brand with a level of quality upon which companies construct their reputations. Trademark protection extends for 10 years post-registration and can be renewed indefinitely. However, trademarks need not be officially registered. When a company creates a symbol or name it wishes to use exclusively, simply appending the TM symbol effectively marks the territory and allows the company to pursue legal action if other entities attempt to employ the same symbol for their own purposes.

Copyrights

Copyright laws safeguard written or artistic expressions captured in a tangible medium, encompassing works such as novels, poems, songs, or movies. Copyrights protect the particular expression of an idea, though not the idea itself. The copyright holder possesses the right to reproduce the work, create derivative works based on it (e.g., a movie adaptation of a book), or sell, perform, or exhibit the work to the public. While registration isn’t mandatory to secure copyright, it becomes a prerequisite if you decide to take legal action against copyright infringement. Copyrights typically endure for the author’s lifetime plus an additional 50 years.

Trade secrets

A trade secret entails a formula, pattern, device, or dataset compilation providing a competitive advantage. It is governed by state laws rather than federal regulations. To safeguard a trade secret, a business must demonstrate that it adds value to the company, ensuring it remains genuinely confidential, and that the company has implemented appropriate internal measures to protect it, limiting knowledge to a select group of executives. A notable example is Coca-Cola, which has effectively guarded its formula for over 117 years.

Structures for Protection

Numerous advantages arise from offshore ownership of intellectual property through mechanisms such as Trusts, Foundations, or basic Companies. TBA, working in conjunction with specialized law firms, can facilitate the offshore registration of patents, trademarks, and copyrights.

Our company licensing services

— What we do and do not do

Our company is EXCLUSIVELY engaged in assisting worldwide clients, either individuals or corporate entities, to get duly and properly licensed with local Regulators and Financial Authorities to get respective official licenses to legally carry out their cryptocurrency or financial related business activities.

TBA & Associates Tax Business Advisors does not provide or carry out any sort of Cryptocurrency or Financial services!

Disclaimer: While TBA & Associates strives to make the information on this website as timely and accurate as possible, the information itself is for reference purposes only. You should not substitute the information provided in this article for competent legal advice. Feel free to contact TBA Customer Services for advice on your specific cases.

We help you grow your business across international border and achieve financial efficiency.

We are ready to answer all your questions!