INVENTORS, INNOVATORS, & BUSINESS OWNERS, LISTEN UP: Your Ideas are Only as Valuable as the Protections You Obtain
110
JUNE 2023
BY JOSHUA KRANK Attonrey, SW&L Attorneys
today's highly competitive business world, protecting your intellectual property is more important than ever. In any business, it's crucial to safeguard your ideas, inventions, creative works, and overall business. A helpful way to do that is through securing your intellectual property, which covers patents, trademarks, and copyrights. Patents protect your physical inventions and give you the exclusive right to make, use, and sell your product or process. Trademarks safeguard your business's name, logo, and brand identity, helping you distinguish yourself from competitors. Copyrights protect your creative works such as books, music, and artwork, giving you control over how they're used and distributed. Many business owners overlook the importance of protecting their intellectual property, thinking it's too expensive or time-consuming. However, failing to secure your intellectual property can have serious consequences. For example, one inventor, Catherine Hettinger, the inventor of the fidget spinner, filed a US patent in 1997 in an attempt to secure its exclusive rights. By 2005, Hettinger had failed to commercialize her invention and elected instead to abandon her US patent (by not paying the renewal fee) thinking it wasn’t worth spending $400 on what she