As a small business owner, odds are you’ll eventually reach a point where you need more IT development expertise than you have in house – but can’t afford a full-time staff person to do it.
When that occurs, outsourcing that task is the obvious solution. But if it’s a critical part of your business, how can you make sure your intellectual property (IP) is protected?
IP theft is a danger any time you hand off your idea or innovation to someone else to work on. Here are some tips to help protect your ideas and your company, according to Pedro Hernandez at Small Business Computing.
Start by registering for patents, trademarks and copyrights as soon as possible. It’s easier to defend your IP when you have proper legal protection.
Check out the reputation of any outsourcing firm you consider and see what IP protections they have in place.
Make everyone involved sign a non-disclosure agreement (NDA) and document everything. And do all this with the help of a good legal team.
Adapted from Outsourcing: 5 Tips for Protecting Your IP at Small Business Computing.