As more and more business is done online, and the entire world becomes more and more connected, intellectual property abuse rises. Today the theft of trade names, patents, trademarks, and copyrights is rampant; and with the advent of AI, the issues will increase exponentially. So, what is the answer? What can one person or one company do against this onslaught of IP theft?
Firstly, both individuals and companies alike need to find more economic alternatives to registering their respective IP than through law office and legal services. The best way is to self-educate as nearly every type of IP registration can be done by a person or a business without being an attorney or hiring one. But this avenue can be daunting and cumbersome. Another alternative is to look to an IP consulting service that is licensed, accredited, and experienced at registering companies and their IP at the state level, and filing for such things as trademarks, tradenames, patents, and copyrights at both the state and federal levels.
The most ideal solution, however, is to engage a firm that has the “IP Consulting Crossroads” among their service offerings. “Crossroads” because both the capability of protecting a person or a company’s IP and guidance on such things as entity structuring are housed all under one roof. Take a group of people running a small business that caters to multiple customer bases with different services. More often than not, to prevent IP theft, it makes sense to create a single legal entity like a LLC or a S Corp, but then register multiple DBA’s and in turn tradenames under the parent entity. There are frequently tax benefits to taking this approach as well.
In the end, the best starting point for any person or business to preventing copyright and trademark abuse is to be aware of the threat and keep a close eye on your respective marketplace. While acting reactively versus proactively is not the best position to be in, the worst-case scenario is getting completely caught off guard when a company with your same name opens within your local area or market and offers the same services or products. That is a recipe for IP disaster.
