How to Protect Your Intellectual Property
Written by Law on Call Staff | Reviewed by Nathan Askins | Last Updated August 8, 2025
Your intellectual property needs to be protected. Without IP, you lack the unique elements that make your business yours, from branding, to written and creative work, to innovations.
Some IP rights are intrinsic, but they can be hard to prove and enforce. That’s where additional protections come in, such as registering trademarks and using NDAs with new employees. Stay with us to learn how to keep your IP safe, or talk to our lawyers today.
What Is Intellectual Property?
Intellectual property encompasses original processes, inventions, and artistic works, plus business names and slogans. More specifically, IP includes books, songs, software, photographs, recipes, and logos.
To put it simply: If a human created it, there’s a good chance it’s IP.
Register Trademarks, Copyrights, and Patents
Registering your IP helps prove ownership and maintain your rights to its use. Trademarks, copyrights, and patents are three primary forms of intellectual property that can be registered, helping amp up and protect your IP profile.
Your business likely has unregistered trademarks and copyrights in place already. And trade secrets (the typical precursor to patents) might be in your back pocket.
What is a trademark?
In part, this strength comes from the ample documentation involved in registration. The first party to use a trademark owns the rights to its use, and being able to prove first-use is essential in an infringement dispute. If you hope to protect your brand or product name nationally, trademark registration is key.
The federal trademark registration process is complex. While you’re able to apply for registration on your own—as long as you have a US address—hiring an attorney can help increase your chance of registration. (If you don’t have a US address, you can still apply for registration, you’ll just need an attorney to represent you.) An attorney will also help reduce your overall filing fees, as they’ll steer you away from common pitfalls.
What is a copyright?
In the age of generative AI, the question of copyright ownership is more relevant than ever. Written works like the one you’re reading are protected by copyright. How these works can be used—and what permissions are required to use them—will likely be considered by courts for years to come.
So what should you do to protect your own creations?
- Seek registration with the United States Copyright Office for the work you don’t want anyone else to try to profit from until well after you’re gone.
- Add the copyright symbol © and your name to everything you make (especially if it’s online), even if it’s not registered with the Copyright Office.
- Keep detailed and secure records.
What is a patent?
While patents grant certain rights, such as the inability for others to create and profit from your invention, the trade is that the information becomes publicly available. Where your invention’s blueprint was locked in a safe before, a patent puts it on display. And once the patent term expires, it’s up for grabs.
The benefit to registering a patent with the USPTO is that it helps ensure no one else can swoop in with an idea like yours and take over the sphere. Patents also protect against reverse engineering, where trade secrets do not.
Use and Enforce Contracts
Having sound contracts is a vital part of IP protection, laying the groundwork for how intellectual property can be used and discussed. This makes expectations clear and reduces grey areas. And if a contract is breached, you’ll have a pathway for remediation.
To help ensure enforceability, contracts need to be specific, provide clear guidelines and expectations, and avoid illegal requests.
Nondisclosure Agreement (NDA)
NDAs, aka confidentiality agreements, are used to protect sensitive information. For example, if you run a bakery and have a signature house pie, some of your employees need to know the recipe. By having employees sign an NDA prohibiting them from sharing any bakery recipes, you’re helping your bakery keep its competitive edge.
Consider establishing NDAs with employees, contractors, potential buyers, and others with access to the following:
- Client lists
- Marketing strategies
- Trade secrets
- Proprietary software
Intellectual Property Assignment Agreement (IPAA)
An IPAA transfers ownership of intellectual property from one party to another. Typically, between an employee/contractor and a business, or between two businesses during a merger/sale.
While some employment contracts clearly say that any work created for the employer belongs to the employer, an IPAA takes this further. Typically, it specifically names the intellectual property in question, identifies the parties, and spells out the rules of the IP ownership transfer.
Licensing Agreement
Licensing agreements provide specific rules for how IP can be used by third parties. By providing standards for how your IP can be used, your brand is more likely to stay strong over time, even as it enters new markets.
For example, if you created software that helps small businesses manage client lists, you may want customers to sign a licensing agreement at the time of purchase. Or if you’re a commercial photographer, you may want agreements connected to the sale of your photos.
While specific licensing agreements vary, consider these standard inclusions:
- Parties
- Time limit
- Payment
- Royalties
- Terms of use
Franchise Agreement
A type of licensing arrangement, franchise agreements establish a legal relationship between franchiser and franchisee. The franchiser owns the brand and IP, the franchisee buys the right to use the IP for their business, and the franchise agreement sets forth the terms of this arrangement.
Establishing a franchise can be a good way to expand your brand without having to do all the legwork yourself. Fast food companies use the franchise model to great impact.
Learn new ways to keep your creative assets safe.
Build a Recognizable Brand
Your brand is the first thing people notice about your business. Creating a consistent brand shows would-be infringers that your IP isn’t up for grabs. By establishing a solid presence, you help secure your intellectual property rights by proving your brand is active, encompassing, and likely to pursue infringement.
Register Business Names
Business name registration typically occurs when you form an entity like an LLC or corporation. Have a name picked out before you’re ready to form your business? Most states allow you to reserve a name for a set amount of time.
If you operate with a different name than appears on your formation documents, you may need to file DBA (doing business as) paperwork with your state. Different states have different DBA rules. For example, they’re called trade names in Arizona. The state doesn’t require trade name filings, but submitting one ensures your name is searchable by the public (making it less likely to be used by someone else).
Register Domain Names
A domain name is the address of your business’s online home. You’ll want to register domain names for your company early on, as having a domain that matches the rest of your brand is an integral part of your IP suite.
Enforce Trademarks
Having trademarks is an essential part of IP protection, but enforcing them is just as important. If someone infringes on your trademark and you don’t take action, your trademark rights will begin to diminish. Working to enforce your trademark rights helps prove the value and longevity of your brand.
Keep Detailed Documents (and Protect Them)
When protecting your IP, nothing is more important than documentation. Ultimately, most security tips—from using NDAs to registering trademarks—are just hyper-specific ways to build your intellectual property trail. But where trademark registration is publicly visible, you’ll want to keep much of your IP close to the vest.
Establish Password Protection and Data Encryption
Protecting your passwords seems obvious enough, but it’s an easy thing to get lazy about. The same goes for data encryption. It’s not only a bad look when vital company information or conversations are leaked, it’s also bad for business. Once a trade secret is out in the open, it’s no longer a secret, and it can’t be undone.
Use a VPN
A VPN (virtual private network) provides the safety of a private internet connection, even if the connection is public. This is a vital piece of data protection, as public network connections increase the risk of data breaches. If a remote employee works out of a cafe and connects to public WiFi, a VPN will help keep your company data secure.
Keep Your Circle Small
The fewer people who know a secret, the fewer there are to tell it. By limiting the number of people with access to vital processes, lists, instructions, and designs, you limit the risk of exposure. Consider spreading out who has what information, so that even fewer folks have access to everything at once.
Main Takeaways
- Intellectual property can add value to your business portfolio and helps make your business unique.
- As a key asset, IP needs to be protected just like company funds or property.
- Do the following to help keep your intellectual property safe: register trademarks, copyrights, and (potentially) patents; use contracts; protect your data; and limit the number of folks with access to key info.