Your intellectual property, including your patents, trademarks and copyrights, can set you apart from the competition, give you an edge in the marketplace, and build trust and goodwill with your clientele. Yet, all of that can be threatened when someone infringes upon your intellectual property.
Some may try to steal your ideas so that they can keep pace with your success, while others might steal your marks to dupe consumers into buying their goods. Any of these infringing acts can be devastating to your bottom line and your business’s reputation.
And now that artificial intelligence (AI) has exploded onto the scene, you might be even more worried about how you can protect your intellectual property. Although you may have heard a lot of doom and gloom about AI and its impact on intellectual property, it’s not all bad news.
How to protect your intellectual property in the age of AI
With AI becoming more prevalent, you might be feeling lost as far as how to protect your intellectual property. But you still have strong options at your disposal, These include:
- Using AI to your advantage: Although AI can lead to infringing use of protected intellectual property, it can also be used as a tool to sniff out infringing use of patents, trademarks, and copyrights. By utilizing these systems, you can better police your intellectual property and find new opportunities to use your property to generate income. AI can help you assess the patentability of new technologies, thus reducing the risk of wasting time and resources on something that otherwise isn’t protectable, and scour the marketplace for counterfeit goods.
- Cross-licensing: Generative AI can easily lead to infringement, but it can also help you recognize opportunities for cross-licensing. This can be especially beneficial when it’s discovered that you and another company are infringing upon each other’s property rights, whether intentionally or unintentionally.
- Revisiting use agreements: The AI landscape is changing on a daily basis. If you don’t revisit your use agreements for your intellectual property, then you might leave the door open for someone else to use it in a new and unexpected way without your knowledge and without being compensated for it.
- Policing NDAs: Using non-disclosure agreements is still a powerful way to protect your trade secrets and prevent other intellectual property from falling into your competitor’s hands. Yet, these agreements are only strong if you adequately police them. So, make sure you’re keeping tabs on them and are enforcing them as fully as possible.
As you can see, there are still several ways to protect your intellectual property despite the prevalence of AI. You just have to be willing to adapt and stay informed on current AI developments and trends.
Do you have questions about protecting your intellectual property?
If so, then be sure to seek out answers to any lingering questions that you may have. And don’t wait too long, as letting infringement go unchecked for any period of time can cost you money as well as goodwill with your consumer base. You can’t afford that. So, be sure to read up on AI, additional intellectual property protection strategies, and enforcement mechanisms that you can use to your advantage. That way you’ll hopefully be able to confidently protect your interests despite the changing landscape around you.