Gone are the days when
running a business or going to work meant getting all bedecked, traveling to a
building, and spending the whole day there for getting the job done. In today’s
world, we often see people working from the table next to ours at a restaurant
or coffee shop. These people are freelancers who must be thanking the concept
of “Virtual Business” for providing them with this new sense of work freedom.
With the onset of the
Internet and continuously advancing technology, the meaning of virtual has
changed over the years. For instance, around a decade ago, virtual seemed to
reflect businesses outsourcing their work to the candidates working in other
cities, while the current buzzes associated with the term are about allowing
employees to “work remotely.” Unfortunately, as the meaning of the phrase
is changing, not just the opportunities for employees and employers, but the
complications for ensuring the protection of the work in the virtual world are
increasing. The virtual or computerized information can be copied and
distributed in other networks easily in just a few clicks, and therefore, need
to be protected with effective shields like Intellectual Property Protection.
Why Virtual Businesses Need Intellectual Property Protection?
Due to the growth of
the internet, virtual commerce has emerged as one of the most profit-making
businesses worldwide. Nearly all these businesses operate on working models in
which their online presence, whether in the form of an app or website, is of
paramount importance. Nevertheless, the online platform has served as not just
the boon but also a bane for such businesses by allowing theft and imitation of
their online assets, thus spawning a need to ensure the protection of
information present online and just some click away from being meddled. In this
instance, Intellectual Property Law appears to be the best way to prohibit unauthorized copying
and distribution of any material available online without the consent of the
original owner.
Intellectual Property (IP), as the term itself suggests, is a category of assets that
includes intangible creations of human intellect. The idea that every original
creator/ owner of such property has the right to safeguard the same has
facilitated the evolution of intellectual property protection.
Undoubtedly, with the
appropriate use of Intellectual Property Rights (IPRs) obtained under IP protection, you cannot just prevent
theft and misuse of your valuable assets but also ensure your business growth.
In other words, IPRs can act as a fuel to your business success by maintaining
goodwill amongst the consumers and preventing issues like IP infringement.
How Can Virtual Businesses Ensure Intellectual Property
Protection?
Websites are assuredly
the most vital assets that enable virtual businesses to promote their products
and services to generate sales by driving customers. They act as a guide that
helps the consumers to collect appropriate information about your business and
products or services that the interested site visitor wants to buy. Indeed, as
a website is a foremost thing that your target customers and search engines
come across, it must be not just catchy but unique also. In such circumstances
where uniqueness matters a lot, you can’t afford copying of your site’s
content, image, or anything else.
Although websites are
the most vulnerable online asset, the risks associated with the copy of their
content, layout, images, and more increase as the company’s revenue hikes. More
is the revenue, higher are the risks. That’s why almost every virtual business
should ensure the protection of its site. To obtain complete protection, you
need to understand which assets of your site can be protected and how. For
instance, Copyright Registration can safeguard your site’s content, including images,
articles, etc. Trademarks ensure the security of the site’s name, logo, or
other signs that help the viewers to identify your business. Industrial Design Law is intended to defend computer-generated graphic user
interfaces, symbols, displays, and more. Patent Protection is applicable for securing software and technical tools. In
short, almost every asset of your website can legally be protected by one, or
the other form of IP rights, the only need is to comprehend which right suits
what.
Conclusion:
Virtual businesses are
expected to reach over trillions by 2020, with the top areas in the marketplace
being computer and electronics. In such an era, ensuring stringent protection
for intangible assets is not at all an easy feat. Moreover, the arrival of more
and more counterfeit products in the market makes the pressure to fight against
infringement issues more immense. Ultimately, it is necessary for the
businesses, whether virtual or any other, to stay meticulous and take measures
to reduce the susceptibilities of being infringed. Fasten up your belt as gone
are the days to act lazily, and now, it is the time to stop the counterfeiters
by making the best possible use of your IP rights. For
view-source: https://www.kashishipr.com/blog/intellectual-property-protection-the-growing-need-for-virtual-businesses/
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