Entrepreneurial Great Idea? How To Protect Your Small Business Ideas

Do you have Entrepreneurial Great Ideas?
How can you Protect Your Small Business Ideas?

Do you have Entrepreneurial Great Ideas? How can you Protect Your Small Business Ideas?

We all dream of having an entrepreneurial great idea that will change the world or at least make us millions. Unfortunately, it’s one thing to dream of an entrepreneurial great idea but quite another to turn it into reality.

That’s not to say turning a dream into a viable business cannot be done. After all, thousands of entrepreneurs around the world do it every year.

When you have your eureka moment just remember to follow the simple rules given here to protect your idea (intellectual property).

Intellectual property (IP) is any form of original creation that can be bought or sold – from music to machinery. The four main types of IP rights are patents, trade marks, designs and copyright but there are many other ways to protect your IP.

For inventors protection if achieved by means of the patenting process. Patents protect the methods and processes that make things work. For intellectual protection (photography, literature, etc.) you need the copyright.

Regrettably, obtaining a patent is not cheap, but without its protection your invention can be stolen by rival manufacturers and once this has happened there is very little you can do about it.

What is a Patent?

A patent is an intellectual property right, granted by a country’s government as a territorial right for a limited period as long as renewal fees are paid every year.

A UK patent has a life of 20 years and provides protection throughout the UK, but no further.
For protection overseas, you need to apply to patent offices in individual countries or through the international patent system, known as the Patent Co-operation Treaty (PCT) and the European Patent Convention (EPC).

Patent infringement is not a criminal offence in the UK. It is the responsibility of the patent owner to enforce the patent rights by taking a legal action under civil law. This may involve suing the alleged infringer through the courts, which can be costly and time consuming.

Basics of Patenting

Is your small business idea really new? Has no-one thought of it before?

For a patent to be granted you must ensure your idea really is new and unique, otherwise your will not be granted a patent.

Inventions must be capable of industrial application.

The basis of a UK patent is a legal document called a ‘specification’. Its content decides not only whether a patent can be granted, but also exactly what the rights of any patent granted cover.

Important: Keep your idea secret until a patent application has be filed. Don’t tell you mates down at the club, your brother, sister, mum, dad, etc. The fewer people who know about the idea the better. Once your idea goes public you may lose the possibility of being granted a patent. Inventions must be kept confidential to be patentable.
If your idea must be discussed with a potential business partner you should ask them to sign a confidentiality agreement before you talk to them.

Before filing a patent application you should carry out a search through published patents and trade catalogues. You can do this yourself, employ a patent attorney or use the search and advisory service at the Intellectual Property Office.

You can also prepare a patent specification and apply for a patent yourself through the Intellectual Property Office website (formerly the Patent Office) though I strongly suggest you use a chartered patent attorney to assess whether your idea is appropriate for patent protection. They can also prepare an application for you.

Some patent attorneys will give you initial advice free of charge. So, make sure you are well prepared before your initial consultation.
Agents should be part of the Chartered Institute of Patent Attorneys.

You may be wondering how long it takes to get a patent. Well from the time an application is filed, the UK patent application process can take 4 or 5 years, or even longer. Be patient.

Patent Process and Cost

So how much is this patent going to cost you financially? Well, if you apply for the patent yourself fees will cost between £230 and £280 from initial filing to a patent being granted. I would not recommend the DIY route as drawing up patent documents is a skilled job best left to a patent agent. After all, there’s no point having a patent if the documentation is so full of holes as to make it worthless.

The average cost of employing a patent attorney is between £2,000 and £4,000 depending upon the complexity involved.

Your initial application protects your invention for a year in the UK. If you require international patents the fees will escalate accordingly.

Basics of Copyright

If you create ‘intellectual’ works you automatically hold the copyright on them. Copyright is automatic in the UK, it lasts for 70 years and you don’t have to apply for it.

Important: Copyright protects the way an idea is presented, rather than an idea itself; for instance if it is committed to paper or other piece of media.
Where possible always add the international copyright symbol (C) followed by the year of creation and your name to your work.

Under international conventions, UK copyright protection extends to overseas territory and allows you to control how your work is exploited for money and how it is copied, adapted, published, performed or broadcast. This can be an important source of income.

Note: If you use contractors, they hold the copyright unless you agree otherwise.

Your Work is an Asset

Your intellectual property is a potential asset and should be treated as such. Your work could have considerable value in the future and can be passed down as part of an estate. For literary, musical or artistic works, copyrights can last a further 70 years after the death of the original creators death and in broadcast or publishing cases this time period extends to 50 years.

You can employ licensing options to financially benefit from your copyright usage. Licensing is a legal authorisation from you to another party that permits them to use some (or all) of your copyrighted works.