Protect Intellectual Property

Exporting illustration.

Protect Intellectual Property

Overview

A successful international strategy protects your business’s assets. Learn about key intellectual property (IPR) issues and resources.

Download Video: Protect Your Intellectual Property (IP) Abroad
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Intellectual property (IP) refers to creations of the mind: inventions; literary and artistic works; and symbols, images, names and logos used in commerce. Businesses are often unaware that their business assets include IP rights. Your intellectual property is a valuable intangible asset that should be protected to enhance your competitive advantage in the marketplace. 

Stopfakes.gov is a one-stop shop for U.S. government tools and resources on intellectual property rights (IPR). You will find business guides, country toolkits, upcoming training events, and more on the site. 

How to Protect your IP 

Copyrights, which cover works of authorship, such as books, logos and software, is part of intellectual property protection, as are patents, which protect inventions. 

Other types of IP include trademarks, designs and trade secrets. The first thing you need to do to safeguard your intellectual property is to file for protection in the United States. Your state’s bar association can recommend experienced lawyers who can help you with that. Then you must be the first inventor to file for protection in the countries in which you currently do business, or are certain to do business in the future. You should also consider filing for protection in countries that are well-known for counterfeit markets. 

If you do business in nations that have free trade agreements with the U.S., IP protections are built into those agreements, but you’ll still need to file in each country to get those protections. Conversely, if you do business in any country in the European Union, you only need to file for protection with the EU - not every individual nation. 

If you have a registered IP right in the United States, these protections are territorial and do not extend to foreign countries. Additionally, most countries are a “first to file” country for trademark registration and “first inventor to file” for patent registration and therefore grant registration to the first filer regardless of first use in the market.

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Global Business Navigator Chatbot Beta

Welcome to the Global Business Navigator, an artificial intelligence (AI) Chatbot from the International Trade Administration (ITA). This tool, currently in beta version testing, is designed to provide general information on the exporting process and the resources available to assist new and experienced U.S. exporters. The Chatbot, developed using Microsoft’s Azure AI services, is trained on ITA’s export-related content and aims to quickly get users the information they need. The Chatbot is intended to make the benefits of exporting more accessible by understanding non-expert language, idiomatic expressions, and foreign languages.

Limitations

As a beta product, the Chatbot is currently being tested and its responses may occasionally produce inaccurate or incomplete information. The Chatbot is trained to decline out of scope or inappropriate requests. The Chatbot’s knowledge is limited to the public information on the Export Solutions web pages of Trade.gov, which covers a wide range of topics on exporting. While it cannot provide responses specific to a company’s product or a specific foreign market, its reference pages will guide you to other relevant government resources and market research. Always double-check the Chatbot’s responses using the provided references or by visiting the Export Solutions web pages on Trade.gov. Do not use its responses as legal or professional advice. Inaccurate advice from the Chatbot would not be a defense to violating any export rules or regulations.

Privacy

The Chatbot does not collect information about users and does not use the contents of users’ chat history to learn new information. All feedback is anonymous. Please do not enter personally identifiable information (PII), sensitive, or proprietary information into the Chatbot. Your conversations will not be connected to other interactions or accounts with ITA. Conversations with the Chatbot may be reviewed to help ITA improve the tool and address harmful, illegal, or otherwise inappropriate questions.

Translation

The Chatbot supports a wide range of languages. Because the Chatbot is trained in English and responses are translated, you should verify the translation. For example, the Chatbot may have difficulty with acronyms, abbreviations, and nuances in a language other than English.

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