[MUSIC] Welcome back to our discussion about intellectual property protection. Similar to the slide relating to copyrights, you might notice a familiar symbol in this slide which is a raised TM in the title. This is a symbol used to designate a trademark. Trademarks legally protect the owner to the exclusive use of words, names, symbols, logos, etc that identify and distinguish the goods and services of one company from another. So what does this actually mean? Let's take a look. Many attorneys will tell you that trademark enforcement is one of the most important exercises a company can perform. And so, trademark items are those that really create brand identity and protect the power of your brand. Brand identification is what separates you from your competition in the eyes of the consumer. Take a second to think about all the brands that you probably interact with on a daily basis. There labels, logos, names, all invoke a certain response from you as a current or potential customer. From Nike to General Motors, these brands all depend on their brand to represent them to the marketplace. Trademarks therefore protect all your hard work in building a brand, which can be thousands of dollars. Some common examples of trademarks might include brand names, logos, and slogans. But they're often even more obscure trademark connections. Designs, for instance, is one that might seem odd, but in fact, Coca-Cola has trademarks for the distinctive look of its bottles. Colors can even be protected with limitations. For instance, Dow Corning has trademarked the pink color used for many of its home insulation products. And even more obscurely, Harley Davidson has trademarked the sounds of its engines. So that no other motorcycle competitors can tune theirs to sound like a Harley. These might seem like far out examples, but if you take a second to think about it these are the distinguishing brand differentiators at each one of these companies. So the next logical question is, how do I protect my trademarks? Let's talk about that. Similar to copyrights, trademarks are protected by common law, meaning that registration is not a requirement. However, like patents, you may register your trademark with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. So you might ask, why should I bother registering? That brings up the next interesting thing about trademarks. Which is that they have an unlimited ownership as long as they're being utilized. Registering your trademark with the USPTO essentially creates a paper trail that might provide you with an easier course of legal action in the case of an infringement as it'll give you a timestamp of when you began actively using the trademarked materials. Lastly and very similar to copyrights, trademark usage is assignable. In the case of trademarks this action is referred to as licensing. Probably the most noticeable example of this action occurs when you wear a T-shirt with the logo of your favorite sports team on it. Certainly your team of choice is not in the business of producing T-shirts. So instead they have granted the rights to another company to print and sell these shirts in exchange for a royalty on every sale. This is a very lucrative revenue stream for brands that can establish themselves with mass appeal and multiple types of marketplaces outside of their core business offerings. By now you can see that trademarks can often be a critical component to a company success. And this is especially true in industries that requires strong brand identity. I want to take a second to recap our discussion of IP protection. First and foremost I want to stress the IP protection is a very important consideration. And can play a critical role in the success or failure of your new venture. Secondly I want to stress that, like corporate formation and taxation, this is an area where you should consult with an experienced attorney to determine the right course of action. A little money up front will save you a lot of money in the long run, if you discover that your IP shouldn't have been protected in the first place, or if you're maliciously infringed upon by your competition. Also remember that it's your responsibility to protect your IP. There's no government agency looking out for you on this matter. You have to remain diligent and keep an eye on the marketplace and new business entrants to ensure protection which brings up the last point which I'd like to reiterate again. If you're not willing or able to spend money to take infringing parties to court to defend your IP then it isn't worth protecting in the first place. You need to develop a cost-benefit analysis and what pieces of IP are core to your business and worth defending. With these points in mind, you can build a sound IP protection structure on which to build a lasting company. [SOUND]
