- The Co. Letter
- Posts
- Protecting Your Intellectual Property 101
Protecting Your Intellectual Property 101
The first steps to lock down your brand, content, and tech the right way.
Braden Fiveash: Publisher
September 11, 2025
Good Morning!
Feature: Protecting Your Intellectual Property 101 (4 min)
From the Archive: Your LLC Is Growing In Other States—Now What About Sales and Income Tax Nexus? (Read it here)
Hope your Thursday is both smooth and productive.
-TCoL
Missed our last feature article? Template Tuesday: Employee Reviews: A Simple Guide to Doing Them Well (Read it here)
Intellectual property is often the most valuable foundation of a business. Names, logos, designs, content, and the ideas behind them all deserve protection. If left unprotected, they are vulnerable to copying and misuse. This guide introduces the essential tools available and how to use them wisely.
A clear view of IP categories
Trademarks protect your brand identifiers such as names and logos in connection with products and services. Copyrights protect creative works including text, media, and software. Patents protect inventions such as machines, processes, or technical improvements. Trade secrets protect confidential business information that gives you an advantage because it is not known by others. Each serves a different role and many companies use more than one.
Trademarks for brand identity
Begin with a search to confirm that your name or logo is not already in use. The United States Patent and Trademark Office provides a searchable database and private services can offer more complete checks. Once you confirm availability, file an application with the USPTO. As of 2025 the office uses a single electronic application with a base fee per class of goods or services. The process requires choosing the right class, providing examples of use, and responding to questions from the examining attorney.
State registration or a domain name does not create federal rights. Federal registration is what gives you nationwide protection. It also helps with investor confidence and makes enforcement easier if someone imitates your brand.
Practical tip: File first for your most important marks such as your company name and primary product name. Use consistent branding in all customer-facing materials. Monitor new filings monthly to catch conflicts before they grow.
Copyrights for creative works
Copyright protection begins as soon as a work is fixed in tangible form. Registration is optional but important. It strengthens your rights and allows you to pursue statutory damages and attorney fees in court. Register marketing content, videos, training guides, photos, and key software modules that carry value for your business. Always ensure your contracts with employees and contractors make ownership clear.
Practical tip: Register works in groups to save time and money. Keep clean records of drafts and creation dates. Organized files make it easier to enforce your rights later.
For file organizational help, read our prior article: Name and Track Files Like a Trillion-Dollar CEO.
The Co. Letter Premium gives you access to a growing library of proven templates designed to help you and your LLC save time, improve cash flow, and protect your business. All are professionally prepared.
To unlock the full experience, upgrade your subscription.
Patents for inventions
Utility patents usually last twenty years from the filing date of a nonprovisional application. Preparing one is complex and most companies use patent counsel. A provisional application can be an economical first step. It secures a filing date and gives you twelve months to file the full application. Miss the deadline and you lose the benefit of the earlier date.
Before filing, ask whether the invention will truly generate revenue, whether competitors can easily design around it, and whether public disclosure will help or harm your position. Sometimes keeping know-how as a trade secret is better than filing.
Practical tip: Maintain a dated invention log with drawings, prototypes, and test notes. Before announcing a new product at a trade show or online, consult with patent counsel to confirm no rights will be lost.
Trade secrets for confidential advantage
Some of the most valuable intellectual property never goes on record with a government office. Trade secrets include formulas, pricing, customer data, code, or business methods. To qualify, the information must have economic value and you must take steps to keep it confidential. Courts look for real evidence of safeguards such as agreements, access limits, and labeling.
Practical tip: Keep a list of your key trade secrets, note where they are stored, and limit who can access them. Review the list. When staff leave, confirm that they return or delete confidential information.
Need a solid, professionally prepared confidentiality and IP agreement for your employees and partners? We have a great one in our Template Library for our Premium subscribers. Click here and get it and many other document templates to help you and your business. Only $7.95/mo. or $85.86/yr.
For a deeper dive into confidentiality and IP agreements to protect your business, read our previous article: The Most Important New-Hire Document.
Contracts that establish ownership
Use agreements that make ownership clear from the beginning. Offer letters and contractor agreements should include confidentiality, assignment of inventions, and assurances that no third-party rights are included. For joint venture projects, define ownership and filing rights directly in the contract.
A starter checklist for your business
Create an inventory of what you need to protect and rank items by importance.
File trademarks for your main brand elements and register key copyrights.
Consider a provisional patent for genuine inventions.
Update employment and buy-in contracts with confidentiality and assignment clauses. See our template offer above.
Monitor filings and deadlines, enforce your rights early, and review your portfolio at least twice a year.
It matters
Protecting intellectual property preserves customer trust, strengthens investor relations, and deters competitors. It ensures you keep control of what makes your business distinctive. You do not need to do everything at once. Start with the protections that matter most today and expand as you grow.
Subscriber resources for this Article:
Taking simple, steady steps today provides lasting protection tomorrow.
Have an interesting business question and need a free bit of advice? Send your question to [email protected]. No confidential info, please!