Intellectual Property Protection: The Growing Need for Virtual Businesses

1. Intellectual Property Protection: The Growing Need for Virtual Businesses 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?

2. 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

3. 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/ Don’t forget to follow us on social media: Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/kashishipr/ Twitter – https://twitter.com/kashishipr Linkedin – https://www.linkedin.com/company/kashishipr/ Pinterest – https://www.pinterest.com/kashishipr/ Tumblr – https://kashishipr.tumblr.com/ Thank You