CHAPTER 9
Parties to IP Rights, Part III: Finalizing Ownership and Use Rights T H E C R E A T I O N I S R E A D Y T O B E D I S C L O S E D P U B L I C L Y . You’ve
covered all the salient points of market research, culture, manufacture, legal transport and customs regulations, and protection of your IP rights. You have sales outlets anxiously awaiting your products or representatives ready to learn your service methodology. Your IP rights are wrapped up securely in nondisclosure agreements, assignments, registrations, cautionary notices, shrink-wrap and other licenses, and you have a strategy of enforcement in place. Now is the time to take one last look at your IP strategy. Have you protected your IP rights sufficiently so that you will not lose them at the time of public disclosure? Has your due diligence been adequate? What are the incentives for loyalty among your employees and representatives? Do your plans include education of the public and of your employees and representatives? You should consider whether you have accounted for the points listed here.
Creator You are at the front of a chain: your creation will pass from you through various outlets to the ultimate consumer. To reap the value of the IP you have created, you must secure and actively assert your rights. It is wise to plan with the assistance of legal counsel. Keep in mind the following points as you formulate and implement your IP strategy: EVALUATION OF IP NEEDS ■ WHAT IP RIGHTS DO YOU HAVE AND DO YOU NEED TO PROTECT
THEM?
Identification of IP rights is an ongoing process, and reassessment of IP needs should be a significant part of the periodic planning and budgetary sessions that most successful businesses undertake at least annually. A company’s IP policies should reflect the worth of the company’s IP rights, and it is therefore important to track the value of those rights as the reputation and goodwill of the country spreads. If those rights are of high value, the company should protect them by preemptive not reactive means. You should review your IP strategy in terms of the following considerations: ■
Is your idea or work actually unique or novel within your trade or industry?
■
Is your trade or industry competitive, or is there little risk that your IP will be the subject of infringement?
89
