When your business has a great new idea that is ready to be sold and marketed to the world, keeping it to yourself is a must. As well as preventing others from taking your idea and using it for themselves, keeping your idea protected puts you in a great position to profit from it.

To keep them in your hands, protecting your ideas is essential. There are many reasons why, the biggest one being theft. If your idea is stolen by someone else, you need some form of cover to ensure you can stop it from being used. This can be done preemptively by applying for a few certificates to prove that your idea is yours alone.

For inventions, a patent is a must-have. You can apply for one through the Intellectual Property Office, which also handles copyright. Even for an idea that isn’t fully-developed, copyright alongside a patent number will put off potential thieves from stealing it.

Legal Protection

If your idea is copied by another company and made into something available for sale, legal protection is essential. The moment you see someone profiting from an idea that you devised, make sure that you have grounds to take legal action. If you have a patent number, copyright or trademark for your idea, your chances of succeeding will be far greater.

Look for legal advice from intellectual property law experts to cover your back. You will also need evidence that whatever has been copied was used to make money. It could be in the form of code used to build an app or website or any design elements that mirror those designed by your business.

Hard Work Wasted

Aside from losing out financially, entrepreneurs need to protect their ideas to ensure that all of their hard work will not go to waste. If someone else steals their idea and there is nothing that can be done to stop it, the affected business would have to think of something else. To come up with a new gadget, app or online store, it can take months or even years of preparation.

In some cases, businesses whose ideas are pinched may never recover. Globally, over $500 billion (£355 billion) in sales is lost due to the trade in counterfeit goods. Many potential innovators lose money then faith, potentially robbing the world of a ground-breaking new invention. To avoid being one of them, protect your ideas and keep them a secret.