Approach intellectual property as a savvy intellectual, Pt.1

Are your ideas valuable? It is a matter of opinion, of course, and one idea is likely more valuable than another. For instance, the idea of the internet has more monetary value than, for example, your idea to try a new sweetener in your coffee this morning. 

When you have an idea for an invention, a business, a work process, a song, a story, etc., there are times when protecting your intellectual property is truly a matter of protecting the hard-earned fruits of your unique, precious labor, creativity and discipline. If you want to protect those fruits, Forbes offers advice about how to safeguard your intellectual property:

Know what you have and what you need: Intellectual property law encompasses various types of protection. Not all intellectual property is protected through the same legal steps or documents. Do you need to register a trademark? Do you need a patent? Do you need to copyright your work? Don't just guess at this. Talk to an intellectual property lawyer early to ensure that you take the right steps to best protect your ideas.

Invest in your ideas: If you have come up with a product or business idea, you have probably already put forward a significant amount of money without seeing much in return yet. For those who need to protect their intellectual property, it can be an important investment to pay legal professionals to provide the right legal support they need to protect their ideas from potential copycats. This isn't a good time to skimp on intellectual property protection by turning to online legal forms. 

An upcoming post will add to this list of savvy steps toward protecting your ideas and the success of your work. As the saying goes, "A mind is a terrible thing to waste." So is a good, unique, ground-breaking idea. And failing to adequately protect it could mean a devastating financial loss for you.