Protecting Your Intellectual Property: Tips for Success

Intellectual property is often a company's most valuable asset — and its most neglected. Whether you've developed a unique product, created original content, or built a brand customers recognize, safeguarding your IP is essential to maintaining a competitive edge. Chicago intellectual property attorney Gaurav Mohindra shares seven practical steps businesses should take.

Intellectual property is often a company's most valuable asset — and its most neglected. Whether you've developed a unique product, created original content, or built a brand customers recognize, safeguarding your IP is essential to maintaining a competitive edge. Chicago intellectual property attorney Gaurav Mohindra shares seven practical steps businesses should take.

1. Understand the different types of intellectual property. IP takes several forms: patents protect inventions, trademarks safeguard brand names and logos, copyrights protect creative works, and trade secrets preserve confidential information. Each has different requirements, timelines, and terms of protection. A trademark, for example, can last indefinitely as long as it's used and renewed — but only if that use is genuine. The Trademark Trial and Appeal Board recently cancelled a credit union's federal registration for “token use” — a cautionary tale we analyzed in detail You

2. Conduct a comprehensive IP audit. Identify and document every IP asset you hold: inventions, trademarks, copyrights, trade secrets, domain names. An audit reveals the value of your portfolio, exposes gaps in protection, and prioritizes what to file next. For companies operating internationally, the audit should map which rights exist in which countries — a U.S. registration doesn't protect you in the EU or Asia.

3. File for the right protections, in the right places. Once you've mapped your assets, file strategically. That may mean USPTO trademark applicdemark Registration Can Be Cancelled for “Token Use” — Just Ask Everwise Credit Uniononal filings through the Madrid Protocol. Classification matters more than most businesses realize: upcoming USPTO classification changes taking effect January 1, 2027 will affect filing strategy USPTO Classification Changes Take Effect January 1, 2027 — Check Your Identifications Now. An experienced IP attorney ensures applications are filed correctly, in the right classes, and on time — because filing errors are expensive to fix later.

6. Educate your team. Employees create IP every day — code, designs, marketing copy, product names. Make sure they understand what belongs to the company, what must stay confidential, and what happens before anything is published or filed. Ownership disputes, like the recent “Birth Justice” case where an associate tried to claim a brand she built at her firm Who Owns the Brand You Built at Work? The “Birth Justice” Ruling, are preventable with clear agreements signed on day one.

7. Stay current on the law. IP law evolves constantly — new TTAB precedents, USPTO rule changes, and court decisions reshape strategy every year. A recent precedential TTAB decision on tribal sovereign immunity in cancellation proceedings is a good example of how quickly the landscape shifts The TTAB Just Decided: Tribal Immunity Can't Shield a Trademark Registration. Working with knowledgeable IP counsel keeps your protections current.

The bottom line: IP protection isn't a one-time filing — it's a discipline. Audit what you own, file strategically, police your rights, and revisit the portfolio regularly. Investing in protection today saves you from costly disputes tomorrow.

Gaurav Mohindra is a Chicago intellectual property attorney and founder of Mohindra Law Group, where he represents large international companies in the management of global IP portfolios.