Intellectual Property
Businesses often have important "intellectual property" that needs protection from competitors for the company to stay profitable. This could require patents, copyrights, trademarks or preservation of trade secrets. Most businesses have names, logos and similar branding techniques that could benefit from trademarking. Patents and copyrights in the United States are largely governed by federal law, while trade secrets and trademarking are mostly a matter of state law. Because of the nature of intellectual property, a business needs protection in every jurisdiction in which they are concerned about competitors. Many countries are signatories to international treaties concerning intellectual property, and thus companies registered in these countries are subject to national laws bound by these treaties. In order to protect trade secrets, companies may require employees to sign non-compete clauses which will impose limitations on an employees interactions with stakeholders, and competitors.
Read more about this topic: Business, Organization and Government Regulation
Famous quotes containing the words intellectual and/or property:
“And what, then, is belief? It is the demi-cadence which closes a musical phrase in the symphony of our intellectual life.”
—Charles Sanders Peirce (1839–1914)
“Thieves respect property. They merely wish the property to become their property that they may more perfectly respect it.”
—Gilbert Keith Chesterton (1874–1936)