Intellectual Property protection is critical to fostering innovation. Without protection of ideas, businesses and individuals would not reap the full benefits of their inventions and would focus less on research and development. Similarly, artists would not be fully compensated for their creations and cultural vitality would suffer as a result.
The first step in protecting your business from intellectual property (IP) theft is to protect your IP – both in your own and and in other countries where you do business and source products. Most IP rights are territorial, meaning, for example, a U.S. patent or trademark only provides protection in the United States. To be able to enforce your Intellectual Property rights in other countries, you need to secure protection of that IP in those countries – often through registration.