Protecting Your Intellectual Property

If you have never heard the term “intellectual property,” you might think it has something to do with real estate in your brain. Not the case! Intellectual property is a concept in business that encompasses such topics as trademarks, copyrights, trade secrets, patents, and related areas of business law. 

Almost all businesses need to know about intellectual property—if for no other reason than to trademark logos and other marketing materials. Aspiring inventors need to know about the process of patenting an idea and searching existing patents through the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. Novelists and other artists may benefit from learning more about copyright and how to protect their work. 

If you would like to learn more about intellectual property, join Square One Small Business Services on Friday, September 21, at the Woodneath Library Center from 8:30 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. for our Intellectual Property Small Business Bootcamp keynoted by Adrienne Haynes of SEED Law. You can RSVP for this free event on our website. If you can’t make the event, or would like to see other resources from the Library related to intellectual property, check out the links below. 

Books:

• Nolo's Patents for Beginners
• The Copyright Book: A Practical Guide
• Patent Searching Made Easy: How to Do Patent Searches Online and in the Library
• Patent, Copyright & Trademark: An Intellectual Property Desk Reference
• The Inventor's Bible: How to Market and License Your Brilliant Ideas
• The Trademark Guide: How You Can Protect and Profit from Trademarks
• The Copyright Guide: How You Can Protect and Profit From Copyrights
• The Legal Guide for Writers, Artists and Other Creative People: Protect Your Work and Understand the Law

Lynda.com Classes:

• Understanding Patents: A Deeper Dive
• Understanding Intellectual Property
• Understanding Trade Secrets: A Deeper Dive
• Copyright for Photographers: Rights and Releases
• Business Law for Managers

Databases:

• LawDepot
• Missouri Legal Forms
• Gale Virtual Reference Library
• LegalTrac

Kelly H.
Square One Business Information Librarian