What’s the worst that can happen if you do not protect your company’s intellectual property? Worst case scenario — you can lose everything you’ve worked so hard to build.
IN THE CONTEXT of a cut-throat business world, the naivety of a first-time entrepreneur or SME owner can often lead to dire consequences for the entrepreneur’s business. If intellectual property is not adequately protected, ownership in, and to, it can be lost in its entirety, or it was never actually owned at all in certain circumstances. This can leave an entrepreneur with an empty shell of an entity, gutted of its most important innards, no longer able to operate efficiently, effectively, or at all.
This article explores some of the worst consequences of what may happen should a business not effectively protect their intellectual property.
1 Think you own the copyright to the logo, website or app you outsourced? Think again
If you are like most business owners out there with a tech idea, but no ability to bring the technological aspects to life because you are a non-technical founder, you may use the services of an outsourced software development agency. Watch out!
By default, works created from tasks like these are the subject of a copyright, such as the look and feel of a website, or the source code comprising it. In addition, aspects such as logo design, outsourced blog and content articles, as well as technical drawings are all the subject of a copyright which, if outsourced to an independent contractor, are, by default, owned by the independent contractor.
This story is from the March 2018 edition of Entrepreneur Magazine South Africa.
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This story is from the March 2018 edition of Entrepreneur Magazine South Africa.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
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