INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY PROTECTION*
Intellectual property protection is an area regularly overlooked; however, this is a pivotal area of law, especially for entrepreneurs and small and medium sized businesses. Most people, when they think about intellectual property, assume it pertains just to tech-based innovations. However, at some level, every company has intellectual property rights to protect. In today’s world, fewer companies have tangible assets such as equipment, manufacturing facilities or real estate. Instead, the vast majority of companies today have most of their assets based on intellectual property rights. This includes the yoga studio that needs to protect its name, all the way to the biotech company that has inventions to protect. No matter what size or type company you have, there are aspects of intellectual property law that touch your company and those rights need to be managed and protected. The intellectual property of a business is a valuable asset. Securing and protecting it is essential to a business’ future success, so it is vital for a business to understand its rights and how intellectual property law can help. A separate publication, A Guide to Intellectual Property Protection , available free from the Small Business Assistance Office, sets out different types of legal protection available for intellectual property (including patents, trademarks and copyrights) and explains the range of things a business can do to protect and manage these rights.
*A comprehensive discussion of intellectual property protection issues is provided in the publication, A Guide to Intellectual Property Protection. The publication is available without charge from the Small Business Assistance Office, 180 E 5th Street, Suite 1200, St. Paul, MN 55101-1678. Telephone: 651-556-8425 or 800-310-8323. Email: smallbusiness@state.mn.us
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