Intellectual Property

I do not agree with the argument that it is not worth the effort ortime to secure intellectual property rights for small businesses. Ibelieve that the potential of small businesses to grow is closelytied to the level of creativity and innovativeness it exudes. In thisregard, safeguarding any works or invention at the very initialstages is equivalent to the protection of the company’s future.Intellectual rights give the opportunity for a business to acquirefinancial benefit from innovations or creations through legalrecognition (Bently and Sherman 4). This way, the company will takeadvantage of such innovations for a longer period without duplicationand, as a result, making more money and expanding its market.

Innovations can be significantly expensive with regard to theresource and time input. In case the innovation is duplicated by acompetitor when the company has not registered it as an intellectualproperty, it is likely that the company will count loses, especiallyif the competitor is larger (Raju 2). For instance, an entrepreneurmay have taken several months and several thousand dollars to developa unique product that fits a particular gap in the market. Aftermaking sales for a few months, he decides to attend to a trade fairto promote his business. Unfortunately, he gives out his idea andwithin a few weeks, a similar product enters the market, with aregistered trademark. It is very likely that the competitor willforce the entrepreneur out of the market considering that they haveregistered the product as an intellectual property. Therefore,acquiring intellectual property rights can be seen as a strategy toprotect the company from competition, even from bigger companies.

Works Cited

Bently, Lionel, and Brad Sherman.&nbspIntellectualProperty Law. Oxford, United Kingdom:Oxford University Press, 2014. Print.

Raju, KD. &quotInterface Between Competition LawAnd Rights: A Comparative Study Of The US, EUAnd India&quot.&nbspIntellectualProperty Rights: Open Access&nbsp2.3(2014): n. pag. Web.