From start to finish: protecting ideas and inventions with intellectual property

When a new idea is conceived or a new product or method is designed, one of the first thoughts that occurs is: Can I protect this? Can I keep competitors from copying this? This concern deals with the very real and practical reasons for protecting your new idea. Investors are loathe to put money into a venture that cannot establish a unique product niche for itself. Stockholders will challenge a corporation's investment of its resources in a program that can be easily copied once introduced to the market. All the time, effort and money invested in perfecting the idea, as well as advertising and promoting it, can be wasted if imitators can enter the market on your heels with products just like yours. Moreover, the imitators can cut prices because they have not incurred start-up expenses you had to endure to bring the idea from conception to a mass-producible, reliable and appealing product or service. The things that may be protected include, for example, a new product, new method or process, new service, new promotional or merchandising scheme or approach, new packaging or new design. There are a number of types of protection: patent, trade secret, trademark and copyright. In some cases overlapping protection may be obtained. This paper explains the kinds of items protected by each of these types of protection and the nature of the protection.< >