In a technology or other innovative business, a company’s most valuable asset is often its intellectual property. In assessing a company’s business and growth, ensuring IP protection in every market that the company is already or one day hopes to do business in is paramount. This means protecting patents, copyrights, trademarks, and trade secrets in the United States but also in countries where you will one day do business. The laws and regulations that provide the protections can differ widely from country to country, so it is critical to know and understand the laws of each market in which you are expanding. The more your business relies on innovation, the more vulnerable your business may be to IP infringement.
This means you will need to conduct significant due diligence to make sure you understand the specific IP protection laws that are in effect in each country where you are expanding. You will also need to conduct an analysis to ensure you will not be infringing on any existing IP rights in the countries you are targeting for expansion.
There are some avenues available to secure IP protections in several countries at once, including the following.
Patents
Patents are territorial, meaning you are only granted exclusivity in those countries where you have been granted a patent. The Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) is one way for companies looking to secure patent protection in several countries at once.
Trademarks
International trademark protection is not guaranteed if you have established protection in the United States. The Madrid System is a tool that allows companies to file for trademark protection in multiple countries.
Copyrights
It is important to check copyright law in each country you intend to operate and to ensure that they are part of the Berne Convention. If your country is a member of the Berne Convention and you have established copyright protection in your home country, that work should be protected in all other Berne member countries.
Trade Secrets
Trade secrets refer to all of the other forms of intellectual property that are not protected by a government filing. They are heavily linked to employment and contract law, so they are most sensitive to local variations in law and regulation that can vary from jurisdiction to jurisdiction.
Bringing on legal advisors who focus their practices on intellectual property protection globally early in the process is key, and you will need to keep them involved in each phase of growth to maximize outcomes and minimize leakage.