Each year, hundreds of thousands of startup companies are created in the U.S. For the companies’ founders this is an exciting and stressful time. Among the matters to juggle are funding, hiring, product refinement, marketing and product placement. A misstep in any direction can lead to failure. Amidst these considerations, protecting the company’s intellectual property is sometimes overlooked or delayed because of budget constraints. However, this too could prove to be a fatal mistake for a startup.
Protecting the IP assets of a company brings significant value. Investors understand the value of IP assets. Competitors understand the power of IP assets in the marketplace. Successful research and development creates corporate wealth in the form of innovation. But, innovation alone is not likely to propel a company into a favorable market position absent an intellectual property strategy to protect those assets. Without proper protection, competitors can do the same thing—maybe even better and cheaper having saved the R&D cost—and thereby dominate the innovative company in the marketplace. In contrast, when innovation is protected by legally cognizable assets, a startup has a stronger lever against competitors, even those that are well‑established.
