Did not protect my IPR. What now?

Starting a product-based company without protecting the underlying Intellectual Property is as good as building a house in a public place.

Time and again, I’ve had startups and researchers asking me “what now?” once a competitor replicates their product and markets it better. It is a cakewalk for established businesses to replicate your product and use their marketing experience to pose an existential threat to your business.

Think about it. A resourceful businessman finds amazing IP-Free product ideas from “Amazon Launchpad”, why would he not replicate them? Let alone small businesses, no company/product is copy-proof in this world. Samsung infamously copied Apple’s iPhone design [1]. The Oreo cookie that we know today isn’t an original recipe either [2]. The list goes on, apparently, some of the rip-offs are better than their originals [3].

While it is practically impossible to stop everyone around the globe from copying your ideas, it can certainly be curtailed to an extent. Especially, if your business is dependent on a particular product (or a set of products), protecting the IP of the product should be the first and foremost step you should take. Copyright, Trademark, Patent, Design – look at every possible angle of protecting your IP.

Building a product-based company without protecting the underlying Intellectual Property is as good as building your dream house on poramboke land: anybody could use it once they find out that you don’t have any rights over the land.

WHAT NOW?

If you haven’t published your idea yet, good for you. The next thing you should do is to get professional help and see if you can protect your IP as soon as possible.

On the other hand, what if your ideas are already in the public domain by now? What if you have already started manufacturing and selling your product? What if you were a little late in realizing that you haven’t protected your IP? What if you find out that your competitor has made a rip-off and is marketing it much better than you do?

If you are lucky, you may still have time left to cover your tracks. There are certain exceptions in the law that could be taken advantage of to protect your IP. If that door is closed, there are other workarounds that could still help you find a solution. To find which door to knock on, it would be prudent to seek professional help. Like they say in Holy Bible: knock, and it will be opened to you.

“Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.” -Matthew 7:7

In this age of information overload, you can certainly do your own research to find out more about IP and how it could help your business. It will definitely help you understand the basics. But to take things to the next level, I would always recommend seeking professional help.

Good luck to all the dreamers out there.