Your ideas, brand, and creative work are valuable. Protecting them helps prevent others using them without your permission. Here’s how to get started:
Know what you own
Think about what makes your business unique. This could include your name, logo, products, designs, or creative work. These are all forms of intellectual property (IP).
Register
Registration gives you legal rights to protect your IP:
trade marks protect names, logos, and brands
patents protect inventions
designs protect the appearance of products
Keep things private
If you rely on secret information, such as formulation or processes, keep it private. Use confidentiality agreements with staff and partners to make sure they don’t share it.
Keep records
Keep copies of registration certificates, renewal dates and evidence of creation, such as dates, drafts and emails).
Watch the market
Check if anyone is copying your IP. If they are, you may be able to take action to stop this.
Plan ahead
If you plan to sell outside Jersey, you can protect your IP internationally through systems like the Madrid Protocol for trade marks.
Renew your rights
IP protectiondoesn’t last forever. Make sure you renew registrations on time to keep your protection in place.
You may also wish to seek professional advice from a registered trade mark attorney, who is a qualified and regulated professional.
