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IP Guide for SMEs
Modern SMEs
Internet Entrepreneur
Entrepreneurship: Barriers and Keys To Success
ICT for SMEs
Internet Power
Customer-focused Website
Social Media Marketing
Small Business Growth Strategies
e-Ventures
Guidelines on Technology Management for SMEs
Enterprise survey and
technology auditing
Formulation of a Technology Strategy
Technology-driven Business Strategy
Competitive
Excellence
Why is IP Relevant to Your SME?
IP for Competitiveness and Development
Why is IP Critical to Marketing
of Your Products?
How Can IP Enhance the Market
Value of Your SME?
How Can IP Enhance Export
Opportunities?
Case Studies
Business Financing
Using IP Assets to Finance Your
Business
IP Management
Primer on IPR
Start-Up Company's IP Strategies
Managing Intellectual Assets of
Your SME
Auditing Your IP
Developing IP Strategy
How Can Your SME Acquire and
Maintain IPR?
Protecting the IPR of Your SME
Abroad
Protecting Trade Secrets of
Your SME
Licensing of IPR
Trademarks
Protecting Your Business Name
Why Trademarks are Relevant to
Your SME?
Trademark Registration
Patents
Using Patent Information
Turning Your Inventions into
Profit-making Assets
Procedures for the Grant and
Maintenance
Utility Models
Protecting Innovations by
Utility Models
Copyright
How Can Your SME Benefit from
Copyright
Resolving Disputes
How To
Resolve Disputes Related to IP? |
Skjerven, Morill and MacPerson from
San Jose, CA, and Saratoga Venture Finance
suggest the following disciplinary steps to protect your start-up company's
intellectual property (IP)
Disciplinary Steps to Protect a Start-up Company's IP
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Have all employees sign upon first
day of employment an "Employee Proprietary and Confidential
Information
Agreement". It will help keep the company's secrets
secret.
-
Install
and enforce a written
patent notebook procedure. It will
strengthen your company's claims that its intellectual property
is very valuable, as well as improve chances of obtaining
desired patents.
-
Issue to
all of the company's technical staff written patent notebook
recordkeeping instructions. Be sure your people respect the
importance of these instructions.
-
Be sure
your VP of engineering strictly manages the issuing and tracking
of all notebooks given to the technical staff.
-
Keep on
hand a good stock of the kind of notebooks commonly found in
stationery stores.
-
Issue to
all employees and all managers Confidential Disclosure
Agreements that cover the following areas and instruct them to
use the documents in dealing with non-employees:
-
START-UP, INC., and a
third
party exchanging confidential information.
-
START-UP, INC., receiving confidential information from a
third party.
-
START-UP, INC., disclosing confidential information to a
third party.
-
Require that your VP of finance and
administration issue and control all Confidential Disclosure
Agreements.
-
Prepare
a document called "Submission of Inventions and Suggestions" for
the use of third parties, typically non-employees but also often
non-technical employees of START-UP, INC.
-
Prepare
and "Invention Disclosure" form that will clearly identify the
holder of any proprietary information that START-UP, INC., may
be interested in using or developing.
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