Lesson 10: Intellectual Property

What You’ll Learn: For creatives, ideas are like having money in the bank. But you not only need to monetize them, but keep them falling into the wrong hands or being ripped off by a competitor. This lesson teaches you how to protect your works, which is far easier to do when you’re a business.

Intellectual Property (continued)

Assignments

  1. Take TESS for a test drive. Login to the federal trademark search database and perform some searches for names you’d like to use. Try a simple search and a Boolean search as they will generate different results. The returned results have a “Live” or “Dead” next to them, showing if they are active or potentially available.
  2. Learn the FAQs. The Secretary of State has an informative set of frequently asked questions to help familiarize yourself with trademark use and registration at the state level.
  3. Find an intellectual property attorney. Do a Google search to find an “intellectual property attorney” in your area. If you have a product or service you want to patent or a trademark to register, many will provide you with an initial consultation.