To compete in the modern marketplace, a business needs to offer something unique or do it better than others. Being able to offer a similar product or service at a lower price is also a great way to remain competitive. There has to be something that sets your company...
Intellectual Property
Do you understand what information is actually a trade secret?
Running your own business is a difficult task. It can take many years to develop your own processes for creating products or providing a service. It often takes even longer to develop a list of clients and customers who need what you can provide. How discouraging is...
What can you do when an ex-employee uses your trade secrets?
It can take companies years to develop the best processes or manufacturing tricks for their products. Whether you run a restaurant or a consulting company, your trade secrets include any proprietary information used by your company. Anything from a list of clients and...
Trademarks are key when establishing your brand
In a number of our posts, we have highlighted how some companies jealously protect them and how certain words and phrases may be protected even though they may seem too generic to merit protection.However, we have not discussed the benefits of establishing a trademark...
Entrepreneurs require help in the development process
As we have noted in prior posts, innovation drives the marketplace. This means that cultivating new ideas is just as important as nurturing current products. While many would be entrepreneurs have fantastic ideas, getting them to the marketplace in a manner that will...
Basic considerations with proprietary information agreements
If you are starting a company or are considering hiring employees for your burgeoning enterprise, maintaining secrets and inspiring innovation are important. However, in today’s marketplace, employees come and employees go. In this environment, companies must...
Thoughts on managing your online presence
In the olden days (i.e. before the latest generation of smartphones became mainstream), it took a marketing company to generate a shrewd and creative marketing plan to establish a company’s brand. Nowadays, brands can be created in one’s living room....
Basic differences between trade names and trademarks
While National Small Business Month is still a ways away, there is no time like the present to start a new business. In fact, many people view a new business venture as one of their New Year’s resolutions. But as you begin putting your plan into action, creating...
Why three tenths degrees of separation is important
The idea behind the adage “six degrees of separation” is that people (or things) are all related to a certain extent, and that they can be connected in a maximum of six steps. This adage becomes especially important in the world of trademarks and...
Four letter words could be trademarked
In today’s marketplace, being noticed counts; even if you have to refer to close cousins of four letter words that are considered “immoral” or “scandalous.” In fact, some business owners (and consumers, obviously) appreciate the play on...