If people create stuff — business plans, marketing materials, graphics, logo, website, software, prototypes, products, written works, photographs — specifically for your startup company, of course the startup owns the intellectual property rights. It may seem like a no-brainer. Right? Maybe. MORE >>

Their business model was to provide retailers with a new interface for shopping for soft goods — something that hasn’t changed a whole lot since Web 1.0. They had a small amount of cash in the bank from having won two business plan competitions that they used to finance the company to date. And crank it out they did. MORE >>

write that because I’ve read about 50 real startup business plans in the last two months, and I’ve gone through at least two dozen pitch presentations, and I think it needs to be said. Tweet For startups, patents are nice to have, but not if you trust them to really protect you. In that they’re like umbrellas. MORE >>

People ask me if they really need ANY business plan, unless they are looking for an outside investor. In fact, a business plan is needed more by you than investors, as the blueprint for your company, team communication, and progress metrics. Do describe your intellectual property and “secret sauce”. MORE >>

One way to accomplish this is to develop, file, and prosecute a number of broad patents to protect your start-up company and its underlying intellectual property. This is generally accomplished with patents covering the underlying and core intellectual property of your start-up company.  Constantly Innovate. MORE >>