2-min guide to IPs for retail business

Let’s say you were to sell t-shirts.

What do you want to protect?

A. Words, logos, etc

These are called “trademarks”. Trademark is a way to tell people that products bearing the “words, logos, etc” are from you.

Once you register your trademark with the USPTO, you put everyone in the U.S. on the notice that you own the trademark.

This makes it easier for you to stop others from selling fake goods/services that pose to be yours.

Average client spends about $710 ^{_{including all government fees and other expenses}} to get a trademark registered.

The amount is based on actual billing data for IPfever clients’ trademarks that are registered in the past two years as of writing this article.

B. Product design

You can get “design patent” for the ornamental feature, like the wing-shaped sleeves.

Once you patent the design, you get a legally sanctioned monopoly for the design in the U.S. for more than a decade.

Getting a design patent can be a tedious and expensive process. However, for industrial design, it’s often the only option.

Average client spends about $4,020 ^{_{including all government fees and other expenses}} to get a design patent.

The amount is based on actual billing data for IPfever clients’ design patents that are issued in the past five years as of writing this article.

C. It’s all in the making.

When people say “patent”, they mean “utility patent”.

If you developed a new product, it’s likely you invented something. In other words, unless you copied someone else’s goods/services without a single improvement, there is something you can patent.

Nevertheless, it is important to understand that patent doesn’t protect a product as a whole. It rather protects a specific feature of the product. Sometimes, the patented feature is so minor that others can outcompete you without it, making the patent useless.

Average client spends about $7,600 ^{_{including all government fees and other expenses}} to get a utility patent.

The amount is based on actual billing data for IPfever clients’ design patents that are issued in the past five years as of writing this article.

Of course, there are more ways to protect your IP, but the above three should give you a head start.