Summary
This post highlights the importance of IP risk clearance for start-ups and entrepreneurs before commencing business operations. It provides a structured checklist covering patent, trademark, copyright, and trade secret risk clearance steps. The analysis includes conducting essential searches, executing proper agreements, and preventing infringement through due diligence and legal safeguards. Emphasis is placed on practical strategies such as seeking licenses, registering domain names, and educating designers and developers. The content aims to guide new businesses in proactively managing intellectual property risks to avoid costly legal issues.
Clearing IP Risks is very important before starting a business. A mistake with respect to this can kill a start-up.
Some basic IP clearance steps to be taken by all start-ups and entrepreneurs are:
Patent Risk Clearance
- Check if your business idea is the subject of any IP/Patent protection by another person or entity.
- Perform a patent search to check if any patents cover any aspect of your business.
- If your business or technology falls within the scope of any patent, perform a risk analysis.
- Look for strategies to design around, and if no such strategies exist, acquire a license or drop the business idea.
- Avoid using any patented technology without prior permission or license.
Trade Mark Risk Clearance
- Perform a search to check if the trade mark you have chosen for your business is being used by any one, or is proposed to be used by anyone.
- Conduct a trade mark search in government databases to identify if any one holds rights with respect to the trade mark.
- If any business is using the trade mark, or if any person holds trademark rights, drop the trademark, and go for another one.
- Ensure that the logo designer signs an agreement to transfer IP rights in the logo designs or mark designs to the start-up. Take indemnity for any third party IP usage in the designs, and risks therefrom.
- Educate the designer about the importance of avoiding violation of trade mark rights through copying designs, imitating, etc.
- Register domain names with respect to your trade mark. For example, bananaip.com for BananaIP. It is better to avoid a mark if someone else is using the domain name for your mark.
Copyright Risk Clearance
- Avoid copying, or imitating websites of competitors.
- Sign agreements to transfer IP rights to the start-up with an indemnity clause for losses coming from copying others’ content/designs.
- Educate your web developer/designer about the importance of avoiding copying of third party content or designs.
- Incorporate a well defined set of terms and conditions, and take down policy.
- Take extra care while using third party content, user generated content, etc. Note that something that is accessible on the internet is not free for use.
Trade Secret Risk Clearance
- Do not use trade secrets or confidential information of a competitor, directly or indirectly. Get a risk clearance opinion before embarking on third party information usage.
- Do not hire employees, who come with trade secrets and confidential information of a competitor.
- Execute employment agreements with strong confidentiality clauses.
- Mark all your materials – PPTS, proposals, business plans, etc, with confidentiality notices.