What Should You Know About Protecting Intellectual Property?

The most valuable property you own is between your ears, or created by what’s between your ears. No, not your glasses, your brain. There are a few things you should know about protecting your ideas and intellectual works. If you invent something, patent it. Protecting intellectual property is what patent law is all about. You will probably have to hire a patent lawyer, but he will be worth every penny. If you’re protecting a flat work of art, mail a copy to yourself. A sealed, tamperproof envelope containing your work of art (drawing, story, whatever) and bearing a postal date stamp is great for protecting intellectual property rights. This sort of self-protection is admissible in a court of law. Be vigilant. A huge part of protecting your intellectual property is being aware of who might be using it. If you publish online, you should Google for snippets from your stories to make sure no one’s stolen them. If you sell photographs online, read about watermark technology and how that can help you find stolen digital images. Take it seriously. It may not seem like much if someone’s reprinted a story you sold, but protecting that may be as important as protecting

a novel. If you let some of your intellectual property be used without your permission or a contract and know about it, you are setting a precedent that may hold up in court. Be aware of overseas piracy. There’s not much you can do in protecting your intellectual property in China today, but someday you may be able to sue in an international court if your copyright has been infringed. Protecting your intellectual property is a task you can’t just leave to a lawyer, though an intellectual property attorney may be able to help you. Instead, protecting your intellectual property is a task you must be vigilant in every day as long as you want to retain your intellectual property ownership.