cheaper to infringe upon the patent and defend themselves in court than it is to not produce your product and sell it themselves. Unfortunately, if they are large and you are small, they will have many more lawyers and significantly more resources to devote to the court battle. The intent is to wear you down and exhaust you financially, physically and mentally until you relent and agree to either license the product to In today's world information is often the most valuable commodity we have. In the past a person's wealth could be measured by the amount of resources they had at their disposal. While resources are still very important, intellectual property, or IP has become vital to creating a successful business. IP includes such things as copyrights, patents and trademarks. Think about all of the products and services you use or interact with on a regular basis and you'll realize how valuable IP is. Do you think the Coca-Cola name or the Nike Swoosh are worth some money? You bet they are, they're each worth hundreds of millions, if not billions, of dollars. Companies like Coca-Cola and Nike spend a lot of time and money protecting their IP through every means necessary because they know how important they are to their ongoing business.

Not many of us are running companies the size of Nike, but IP is at least as important to the small business owner and entrepreneur, if not more so. If you have come up with a great new product that is going to take the world by storm you better be sure you have filed a patent for it first. Failure to do so could mean that someone will steal the design for your product and compete with you. Without a patent you have no recourse and this competition could kill a fledgling business.

One thing to be aware of is that having a patent filed is not bullet-proof protection in and of itself. Another company is in violation of the law if they decide to infringe upon your patent, but that fact may not prevent them from doing so anyway. In order to protect your patent you would have to sue them and take them to court. They may decide that it is cheaper to infringe upon the patent and defend themselves in court than it is to not produce your product and sell it themselves. Unfortunately, if they are large and you are small, they will have many more lawyers and significantly more resources to devote to the court battle. The intent is to wear you down and exhaust you financially, physically and mentally until you relent and agree to either license the product to

teract with on a regular basis and you'll realize how valuable IP is. Do you think the Coca-Cola name or the Nike Swoosh are worth some money? You bet they are, they're each worth hundreds of millions, if not billions, of dollars. Companies like Coca-Cola and Nike spend a lot of time and money protecting their IP through every means necessary because they know how important they are to their ongoing business.

Not many of us are running companies the size of Nike, but IP is at least as important to the small business owner and entrepreneur, if not more so. If you have come up with a great new product that is going to take the world by storm you better be sure you have filed a patent for it first. Failure to do so could mean that someone will steal the design for your product and compete with you. Without a patent you have no recourse and this competition could kill a fledgling business.

One thing to be aware of is that having a patent filed is not bullet-proof protection in and of itself. Another company is in violation of the law if they decide to infringe upon your patent, but that fact may not prevent them from doing so anyway. In order to protect your patent you would have to sue them and take them to court. They may decide that it is cheaper to infringe upon the patent and defend themselves in court than it is to not produce your product and sell it themselves. Unfortunately, if they are large and you are small, they will have many more lawyers and significantly more resources to devote to the court battle. The intent is to wear you down and exhaust you financially, physically and mentally until you relent and agree to either license the product to

many of us are running companies the size of Nike, but IP is at least as important to the small business owner and entrepreneur, if not more so. If you have come up with a great new product that is going to take the world by storm you better be sure you have filed a patent for it first. Failure to do so could mean that someone will steal the design for your product and compete with you. Without a patent you have no recourse and this competition could kill a fledgling business.

One thing to be aware of is that having a patent filed is not bullet-proof protection in and of itself. Another company is in violation of the law if they decide to infringe upon your patent, but that fact may not prevent them from doing so anyway. In order to protect your patent you would have to sue them and take them to court. They may decide that it is cheaper to infringe upon the patent and defend themselves in court than it is to not produce your product and sell it themselves. Unfortunately, if they are large and you are small, they will have many more lawyers and significantly more resources to devote to the court battle. The intent is to wear you down and exhaust you financially, physically and mentally until you relent and agree to either license the product to

urse and this competition could kill a fledgling business.

One thing to be aware of is that having a patent filed is not bullet-proof protection in and of itself. Another company is in violation of the law if they decide to infringe upon your patent, but that fact may not prevent them from doing so anyway. In order to protect your patent you would have to sue them and take them to court. They may decide that it is cheaper to infringe upon the patent and defend themselves in court than it is to not produce your product and sell it themselves. Unfortunately, if they are large and you are small, they will have many more lawyers and significantly more resources to devote to the court battle. The intent is to wear you down and exhaust you financially, physically and mentally until you relent and agree to either license the product to

cheaper to infringe upon the patent and defend themselves in court than it is to not produce your product and sell it themselves. Unfortunately, if they are large and you are small, they will have many more lawyers and significantly more resources to devote to the court battle. The intent is to wear you down and exhaust you financially, physically and mentally until you relent and agree to either license the product to them or sell the patent outright. Is this fair? Of course not, but the fact is that it happens all too often.

Filing a patent is a vital step to protecting your IP, but by itself it is not enough. There are additional steps that you need to take. Obviously the first is to consult a patent or IP attorney and they can assist you. There are also several great books out there on the topic as well. See www.thewealthyman.com for more information.