Intellectual Property

This book introduces the reader to Intellectual Property, with specific reference to Business Names, Trademarks, Trade Secrets, Copyright and Related Rights, Patents, Industrial Designs, Geographical Indications, and Utility Models and their usefulness as a Business tool especially for Small and Medium Enterprises in developing economies.

It guides the reader to understand what Intellectual Property is all about and why it is very important in the knowledge-led economy. To begin with, Intellectual Property is present in our day-to-day lives albeit with minimum or no attention given to it. For example, all businesses around us at least have a name. Most of them have Trademarks as well.

Whereas some Entrepreneurs may know why they have these two basics beyond just names and signs, the majority may probably not know. Yet this is the beginning of Intellectual Property as a Business Tool.

In this book, the reader is introduced to the purpose of a Business name (and other Intellectual Property Rights) beyond just a name. Intellectual Property manifests in businesses around us in the form of Business Names, Trademarks, Designs, Confidential Business Information, Formulae, and Processes; from Product Development to Product Designs, from Services Delivery to Marketing, from Raising Financial Resources to Expanding or Exporting Businesses abroad, and so forth. Whereas all these, and other Intellectual Property Rights in businesses are around us, few entrepreneurs realize their value as Business Assets.

This book guides the reader to appreciate the importance of identifying, protecting, and utilizing Intellectual Property to enhance the enterprise and to grow it through utilizing Intellectual Property Assets. It leads the reader to appreciate Intellectual Property as an Intangible Asset that must be legally protected to yield maximum benefits for the Enterprise, and its centrality in the Knowledge-led Global Economy as a source of Commercial Power. Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs), sometimes referred to as Small and Medium Businesses (SMBs) are a lifeline to many people. SMEs are business Enterprises that deal in businesses such as cottage industries, medium-sized industries, wholesale and retail shops, pottery, artifacts, handicrafts, carpentries and joineries, restaurants, salons, Information Communication Technology, bakeries, and bars. They also include businesses run in small or home offices such as writers, systems analysts, web/graphic designers, software designers, and masons.