How do I protect my brand and business internationally?
The key point to bear in mind is that intellectual property rights are territorial. If you want protection in a particular market, you also need to actively secure your rights there.
For trade marks and designs, this in practice means registering them in the countries that are relevant to you, and for innovations, ensuring that you seek patent protection at an early stage. There are international systems, such as the Madrid Protocol and the PCT, which can simplify the process, but they do not remove the need to think carefully about what you actually want to achieve.
I often say that IP protection should follow the business – not the other way around. This means starting with the markets that are most important commercially and ensuring that protection of your intellectual property rights goes hand in hand with your overall strategy.
Another key element is having well-structured agreements in place, particularly in relationships with partners and distributors. It needs to be clear who owns what and how the rights may be used, so that you retain control even as the business grows.
