Small business - Small Business and Intellectual Property - U.S. Patent and Trademark Office - USPTO Stopfakes.gov: "Success in a global economy depends more and more on intellectual property (IP) assets. In fact, IP-based businesses and entrepreneurs drive more economic growth in the United States than any other single sector.
Unfortunately, intellectual property has captured the attention of pirates and organized crime. Today, piracy, counterfeiting and the theft of intellectual property pose a serious threat to all U.S. businesses. Industry estimates of the cost of such theft range from $250 billion to 750,000 jobs per year. These threats to ongoing invention and innovation make it important to consider securing IP protection, whether you're a major multinational firm or a 1-person home business."
Small businesses. Big questions.
While every IP-based business is vulnerable to piracy and counterfeiting, small businesses can be at a particular disadvantage because they lack the resources and expertise available to larger corporations. Small businesses may also often lack the familiarity with the process of protecting intellectual property: research conducted in the spring of 2005 by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) indicates that only 15 percent of small businesses that do business overseas know that that a U.S. patent or trademark provides protection only in the United States.
It has never been more essential for you to consider patenting your idea or registering your name as a trademark, especially if you are a small business owner or are starting a small business.
The USPTO has created this Web site to help small businesses consider the benefits of strong IP protection - both in the United States and overseas - and decide whether it is right for them.
This site includes important information on whether and when to file for intellectual property protection, what type of protection to file for, where to file, and how to go about it.
