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Own boss, own your masters, slaves /The mentality I carry with me to this very day/F*ck rich, let's get wealthy, who else gon’ feed we? /If I need it, I'ma get it however, God help me —No Hook by Jay Z
Welcome to Part 3 of our National Entrepreneurship Week Series. Our previous post discussed the steps you need to take to start and build a company. This post will focus on how to build a fence around your ideas and protect your intellectual property.
One of the biggest aspects of the work we do here at Diplomatic Enterprises (DE) is help our clients mitigate and, whenever possible, avoid risk. Whether you’re Apple, Coca-Cola, or a local beauty supply store, risk is inherent to running a business. For some, it may be supply chain management or logistics. For many, it’s labor issues, and for everyone, it’s protecting your intellectual property.
Intellectual property (“IP”) refers to creations such as inventions; designs; written, artistic, or musical works; and other related items. Applying for a trademark with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (“USPTO”) or registering your creative work with the U.S. Copyright Office can provide protection for a myriad of things, including songs, logos, inventions, recipes, and formulas. There’s a common misconception that merely creating and posting your ideas or work of art affords protection. Yes, you own the original content you post on Twitter.* However, you also grant the platform the right to use your work, making protection extremely difficult.
—Twitter* Terms of Service
Social media platforms are not the only entities that can and will use your work. For instance, let’s say you come up with a great idea, creative work, or product and share it on the timeline, newsfeed, or whatever they call it on TikTok. Your post gains traction, and then a few hundred or thousand likes, shares, and retweets later, congratulations, you’re a viral sensation! Now what? Well, what usually follows is that if it’s a bankable idea, someone will appropriate (read: steal) it to make said bank. You notice the thievery and argue that it’s your idea and that your social media handle was on the tweet/post with the ideas that were pilfered, pirated, and profited on. Unfortunately, if you didn’t seek intellectual property protection for this idea or have the timeline sign a non-disclosure agreement as they shared, liked, and retweeted your idea or work (which, for the record, is nonsensical and implausible), you’re likely out of luck.
Even if you had the wherewithal to seek a poor man’s copyright, you’re still up a creek without a paddle. A poor man's copyright is a method of using registered dating by the postal service, a notary public, or other highly trusted source to date intellectual property, thereby helping to establish that the material has been in one's own possession since a particular time. However, ownership alone will not protect you. For instance, let’s say you played an unreleased, unregistered version of an original musical composition on social media, which is subsequently used for a song by a famous producer who makes a lot of money from it. You could send that producer a cease and desist, or file a lawsuit, to legally prevent them from using the track. There is a good chance you will win. However, what you would not win are damages, which, in this case, could include a portion of the money made from the song. That is because only a formal registration can entitle you to damages.
What’s the solution? If you love the idea, product, or service enough to share it with the world, protect it from the world. In the words of Jay-Z, “Own boss, own your masters, slaves.”
What if you aren’t an artist, musician, or producer, though. How do Jay-Z’s words apply to you? Well, think of “masters” as your original work(s), and think of copyrights and trademarks as a form of protection.
Don’t put out what you aren’t willing to risk having co-opted, misappropriated, or scavenged. Also, protect your work. I can’t emphasize that enough. Working on a beautiful design for some new artwork? Go get that copyright. Created an innovative design or improved upon an old one? Go seek a patent. Got a great idea for t-shirts, hoodies, and other apparel? Go get a trademark. Created a fried chicken recipe better than the Colonel’s secret blend of 11 herbs and spices? Seek trade secret protection.
Yes, it can be a bit costly up front, but, in the end, the protection is worth it. Also, a good attorney will not only be able to help you apply for protection but also offer guidance on how to align it with your company’s overall strategy. Of course, if you need help with any of this, the experts at Diplomatic Enterprises are more than willing and able to help you. If you’re ready to take the leap, or you already have but want to find new ways to bolster your efforts, call or email us for a free consultation. Visit us tomorrow for Part 4 of our National Entrepreneurship Week Series: Creating Standing Agreements.
*I’m never, ever, ever calling that platform by any other name than Twitter.
