If you have recently started up a small business, you most likely consulted commercial lawyers and other professionals to ensure everything was set up legally. Of course there is a lot of information online these days, but often it is difficult to understand, or you may not be sure if certain legal requirements actually apply to your business.
In all the busyness of getting your business up and running, you may not have thought about protecting those intangible business assets, even though you’ve taken out insurance to protect the stock and all those other things you need to run the business.
What are the intangible assets?
- The specific name of your business
- Your logo
- Brand name
- Trademarks
- Specific processes and methods to do certain things
- Knowledge your employees have that is unique to your business
Some of these intangibles can be protected through taking out patent, trademark or copyright registrations, while others should be protected by using non-compete and non-disclosure documents that your employees should sign to protect your new business. This will prevent them from using this knowledge if they should leave your company and go to the competition or even start up their own company. It is best to have your lawyer draft such agreements so they are watertight.