As a business owner, you know how important your assets are to your company’s success. But you may be so busy with day-to-day operations that you have neglected the vital step of protecting them. This leaves you open to unfair competition and theft of your hard work. At CASHMAN LAW, we strive to protect what you have worked so hard to create.
While the specifics of your industry, market, business plan, and trade secrets that make your company competitive require an individualized asset protection plan, here are five things you can do to better protect your business:
Invest in proper insurance. No matter how well you run your business, something unexpected is eventually going to happen. Having the right insurance to cover the unexpected can turn what may otherwise become a bankruptcy causing event into a minor inconvenience. Neglecting
proper insurance coverage, hoping a disaster won’t happen, is not a recipe for long term success.
Timely apply for trademarks, patents, and copyrights. Every company has intellectual property. In the developing cyber business climate, intellectual property is as important as tangible assets. At the very least, you have a brand to protect by a trademark. Keep your
intellectual property safe by registering it.
Use confidentiality agreements and internal security measures. Many business owners do not think of their client lists or their specific business operations or practices as a trade secrets. If it makes you competitive in your industry, you need to take some simple steps to protect it. How? Confidentiality agreements included in employment contracts or handbooks are a good start. Likewise, confidentially agreements should also be used before you enter into any contract negotiations that will involve disclosing your trade secrets. As next steps: invest in security systems, password protection, encryptions, and security measures to keep vital business assets secure.
Have A Plan. Once you lose your proprietary information, it is difficult to keep it from being lost forever and used against you. Protect your assets now by having a plan in place to deal with data leaks, inadvertent disclosures, and trade secret theft.
Keep it Simple. The most complex and thoroughly made asset protection plans are of little use if the people who are charged with administering them do not understand what they are supposed to do. If you don’t have your own in-house legal counsel, it’s best to have a single attorney or
firm keep track of the big picture, so you do not have accidental gaps in your coverage.
Need assistance developing your asset protection plan? Contact {link to scheduling} CASHMAN LAW today for a free consultation to see how we might assist.
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Please contact CASHMAN LAW FIRM LLLC (Hawai’i)/ CASHMAN LAW LC (California) to consult with an attorney for advice on specific legal issues.