Develop a strategy to properly protect your intangible assets, thus positioning your company to grow and prosper against your competitors. As a responsible company and business, it is essential of you to do everything in your power to protect these very valuable assets.
It’s these intangible and proprietary assets that enable a company to distinguish itself from competitors. Intangible assets such as intellectual property, trade secrets, pricing formulas, customer lists, business plans, recipes and the like; are typically the foundation upon which a company is built in a business world full of copycat competitors.
Patents, Copyrights and Trademarks
These are legal filings that document your ownership and create certain legal protections to help you protect your property. In order to receive a patent or trademark, you must submit an application to the appropriate governmental agency explaining why the asset is proprietary to you. Even though you do own copyrights without filing, you should file to fully protect those rights. Have your attorney assist you with these applications.
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Confidentiality or Nondisclosure Agreements
These documents commit a party to keeping specified data and information confidential and out of the hands of unintended parties. Confidentiality Agreements should be designed to protect your valuable trade secrets. These agreements can be very simple or very detailed, depending on the requirement. Always consult an attorney on this.
Employment Agreements
These agreements stipulate that all company assets are proprietary. Thus, any unauthorized disclosure of confidential information such as pricing formulas, customer lists and other data and information is prohibited. Also, these agreements help ensure that any invention or discovery made by an employee while employed with the company is the property of the company.
Business Data Backups
Back up everything that is important. Digital documents should be backed up on a server that is in a different location or storage device. Which is then kept in a safe location along with copies of important physical documents. Absolutely do not attempt to store anything important in your head.
Read More : Understanding Accounting for Capital Assets
For additional protection encrypt the data where ever possible and store a copy in the cloud as well. Computer passwords, safes and locked file cabinets can restrict access to proprietary information, but only if you use them.
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