New small business IP site

on Friday, September 9, 2005 4:36pm

in Business

The Entrepreneurial Mind has a pointer to a new site by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) encouraging small businesses to focus on intellectual property issues and protection.

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.

IP is one of those subjects that most small business realize is important, yet usually have limited funds or time to properly deal with unless IP is at the core of their business. The site also provides good sections regarding patents, trademarks, and copyrights.

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