Timothy Buynak, Partner

August 2015 

Intellectual property is a key asset of every company.  Your company’s brand, its service and its product “speak” to your clients and customers.  Thus, while your business may relocate or reorganize over time, its brand, trademarks, trade secrets, patents, etc. should be legally protected to ensure that its operations can continue without interference by competitors or others attempting to use the good will that your business has developed with its clients and customers.  Properly protecting its intellectual property will allow your business to prosper without such interference.  More importantly, appropriate registrations will allow you to achieve your just reward upon the sale of your business.

Intellectual Property. Intellectual property means everything that is important to your business’ operation from confidential information that is not disclosed publicly, to patents, and includes:

• Fictitious business names
• Trade secrets
• Trade names
• Trademarks
• Service marks
• Patents
• Domain names
• Social networks

It is important to plan business ventures thoroughly and well into the future. Preserving their potential value by claiming and appropriately registering all intellectual property should be a key goal.

Some of the unfortunate situations we see are the following; each undermining the functioning of the company:

• Upon start-up, the owners fail to register their trademark. Then, someone else (competitor, ex-employee, etc.) registers the trademark, thereby requiring the business to adopt another trademark, resulting in the loss of all of its good will or embark on litigation to claim their trademark.

• Ex-contractors/employees elect to start their own competing business, utilizing the formulas, programming, processes, and other confidential information of a previous employer, with the employer without much recourse as their trade secrets were not fully identified.

• The sale price of a business being reduced due to the seller’s lack of intellectual property registrations since the buyer could not be assured of exclusive rights to the intellectual

Each of these situations could have easily been avoided by the proper registration of intellectual property and/or trade secret agreements, which usually dissuade a person from such interference or permit efficient resolution through litigation seeking injunctive relief. Avoiding these unfortunate diversions allows business owners to focus all of their energy and resources toward developing a business to its highest potential.

      Minimum Suggestions.  While extensive efforts are sometimes required to protect intellectual property, depending on the nature of the business, it is important to:

• Register your domain names before you start your business, carving out a collection of them that will assist your business, its products and its services far into the future.

• Register your trademarks with the United States Patent and Trademark Office as soon as you have developed your business plan and its potential marks, well before the service or product enters the marketplace, as your proposed trademark may not be available or might be contested. Plan on six months of lead time to assure that trademark(s) will be granted to you.

• Have confidentiality agreements/trade secret agreements with all of your contractors and employees, to ensure that your intellectual property is not misappropriated and can only be used for the benefit of your

We look forward to assisting you with the registration of your intellectual property to help with the success of your business, upon start-up, throughout its operations, and to perfect your exit strategy.

 Timothy Buynak, Partner

TBuynak@BFASLaw.com 

(Direct) 805.966.7575 

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 © 2015 Buynak, Fauver, Archbald & Spray, LLP

DISCLAIMER:  This Advisor is one of a series of business, real estate, employment and tax Advisors prepared by the attorneys at Buynak, Fauver, Archbald & Spray, LLP. This Advisor is not exhaustive, nor is it legal advice. You should discuss your particular situation with us or with your own attorney. Our legal representation is only undertaken through a written engagement letter and not by the distribution of this Advisor.