Guard Your Business Against Theft Of Intellectual Property and Trade Secrets
“Today’s world is driven by information and in many cases technology is the vehicle,” says Ken Collis, Founder and CEO of TLK Fusion Marketing. “It’s no surprise that the increase in theft of intellectual property and trade secrets is on the rise. It’s one of the most common form of fraud these days.”
TLK Fusion Marketing is an LA based company that helps clients market their businesses by building brand awareness, generate revenue and improve their public images. The company’s client-centric focus specializes in deliverable guarantees in the categories of Celebrity Alignments, Distribution, Digital Marketing and Public Relations.
Various aspects of marketing are tied together by a single thread; that being the delivery of information. TLK Fusion Marketing is committed to help their clients guard against the worst kind of fraud: the kind that comes from within.
What is Intellectual Property?
The World Intellectual Property Organization defines it as this:
Intellectual property (IP) refers to creations of the mind, such as inventions; literary and artistic works; designs; and symbols, names and images used in commerce.
IP must be protected if the creator wishes to benefit from it. If you don’t protect your intellectual property from the beginning, you might have to fight for it in the future. Protect it early and proactively to minimize the possibility of needing to defend it later. Competitors, copycats and strangers you may not even know might try to defraud you by stealing your intellectual property and making money off of it. But even those close to you, such as employees and service providers, can be guilty.
The following two areas are vulnerable to employee or service provider fraud:
Social Media Marketing Contractors
What do you think is the key to your brand’s success? Social media marketing, of course. For everyone who thought social media was a fad and would fade away in time—it’s not and it won’t.
Social media marketing is here to stay.
Says Ken Collis, “Your key to social media marketing success is understanding your audience: their demographics, their buying habits, their needs and wants. Social media engagement is a must.” All of the brands TLK Fusion Marketing works with get the benefit of traditional marketing and social media marketing to improve website traffic and SEO ranking.
For every person who can’t seem to take their eyes off of Facebook, there are several who are not sure how to interact or don’t take the time. For this group, social media content writers seem to be lifesavers. They hand over their passwords and user names and let them have at it.
This is tempting but is it a good idea to let someone into the inner circle of your social media accounts without checking in with them? Just like copywriters, most are trustworthy. But intellectual property can be fraudulently assumed by those with the intention to cheat. Be aware of who you choose to work with. Follow up on email solicitations. Work with a reputable agency.
Copywriter/Content Writer
Online content is important in today’s information age. It’s a way to be visible so your target market will see you when they are looking to purchase goods and services your company offers.
It’s not just about putting words on paper or content on your website. And it’s certainly not about spamming people with offers to buy.
You want prospects to engage with you. Providing information that is engaging and value driven is one of the secrets of successful sales conversion. If you offer value without constantly asking for something in return some of your followers will eventually buy.
Business owners are often so busy with their own businesses that they don’t have time for their own writing. And even if they have time, oftentimes, they don’t have good writing skills. If they can afford to, they hire writers fulltime or part time. But some businesspeople or entrepreneurs are on stiff budgets and cannot hire employees so they hire independent contractors or copywriters to write for them.
How do you get someone to write about something they might not have experience with? You give them the information. You share trade secrets.
Most copywriters are ethical and honest, but some are not. They commit fraud by stealing trade secrets from their clients and then sell them to others as their own. Fraud is a felony. Just as you would with other contractors or businesses, follow up and authenticate.
How Do You Protect Your Intellectual Property?
Copyrights, trademarks, and patents help you to protect your intellectual property and trade secrets from sneaky competitors, unethical employees and others who steal your work or attempt to defraud you.
Why don’t people move forward quickly to protect intellectual property?
“Everyone has his or her own reasons for hesitating to make protection a priority,” says Ken Collis.
Here are a few of the most common:
1) It’s not legally required and is sometimes placed in the category of non-essential. New businesses have so many startup costs already.
2) They are not sure what types of protection are appropriate to their idea, product or service.
3) They don’t want to waste the money on protecting until they are sure. What if their idea is a flop?
At the very least, if you intend to copyright your intellectual material, place the copyright © symbol in front of your name before you publish any of your work. Do this from the moment it is created, and be sure to include the year.
For example: © 2018 Jan Smith You can use a copyright notice even if the copyright has yet to be registered with the US Copyright Office. It notifies the public of your copyright.
