Shopping Your Idea to Investors? Be Sure to Protect Your IP
For entrepreneurs, shopping an idea to investors can be an exciting step toward seeing a creation come to market. Unfortunately, investor presentations can also carry the risk that your intellectual property will be co-opted, adapted, or outright stolen. Luckily, there are legal mechanisms for protecting inventors from such risks. Inventors across Orange County trust the experienced intellectual property attorneys at the Jafari Law Group to protect their inventions. Call (949) 362-0100 to schedule your free consultation.
The Risks Associated With Investor Presentations
Investors want to be sure they thoroughly understand technology in which they invest. It is therefore important for inventors to be thorough in their investor presentations. The idea must be described in sufficient detail to allow investors to make a well-informed decision about investing in it. This can, of course, be difficult for protective inventors who often pour blood, sweat, and tears into their creations. Unscrupulous investors might try to replicate the technology or build upon the inventor’s idea to create additional or expanded product packages. Some may even outright steal the inventor’s idea. Luckily, there are legal mechanisms in place to protect theft, misappropriation, and other violations of intellectual property rights.
How Inventors Can Protect Themselves From These Risks
The United States Patent and Trademark Office offers patents, copyrights, and trademarks as tools to companies and individuals protect their intellectual property. A patent grants a property right in utility, design, or plant to the patent holder. A trademark is a word, name, symbol, or device that is used in trade with goods to indicate the source of the goods and to distinguish them from the goods of others. (A service mark is the same as a trademark, except that it identifies and distinguishes the source of a service rather than a product.) Trademarks and service marks protect the branding of a product rather than the product itself. Copyrights protect “original works of authorship” (such as literary, dramatic, artistic, and other intellectual works.
By filing for the appropriate protection, an inventor can protect his or her ideas, branding, and artistic works before presenting these ideas to investors. The inventor then has legal recourse against the investor who attempts to steal or repurpose these ideas. A patent, copyright, or trademark can offer protection against acts other than outright theft. In some cases, the investor might attempt to build upon an inventor’s idea, or repackage the idea in a way that looks different. These acts can be violations of a patent, copyright, or trademark. By officially registering the idea with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, the inventor has established comprehensive protection from a wide variety of actions.
Comprehensive Protection For Your Intellectual Property
The experienced intellectual property attorneys at the Jafari Law Group have decades of experience in protecting intellectual property holders throughout Orange County. Call (949) 362-0100 to schedule your free consultation. Our extensive knowledge and experience will help you access the best legal solutions for comprehensive protection of all types of intellectual property.