Many people are quick to point out that businesses’ employees are their greatest resources. Though they’re immeasurably valuable, they’re not the only factors that keep companies up and running. Other assets are important as well. Those include the capital a company has available to keep producing products and investing in new equipment. They also include the machinery a business uses, the facilities from which it operates, and its inventory along with many other tangible resources.
Intangible assets are equally vital. They can be the most difficult to protect as well. That’s where rights management comes into play. It involves safeguarding many of the resources that make a company what it is. They don’t have a physical form the way people, machinery, buildings, and money do, but they’re just as important, and keeping them protected is essential.
Intellectual Property
One of those invaluable intangible assets is a company’s intellectual property. That includes patents on products and manufacturing processes. It also covers trademarks on company names, logos, and other identifying factors. Intellectual property extends to copyrights on advertising slogans, pictures, videos, advertising jingles, and website content as well. Intellectual property rights management ensures all those items remain within a company and prevents others from taking unfair advantage of them.
Digital Property
Digital property is also considered an intangible resource. That encompasses a company’s website design and domain, marketing content, customer information, and social media accounts to name a few examples. Digital rights management involves controlling access to those elements, preventing unauthorized reproduction and use, and overseeing licensing and distribution among other factors. With the digital world being so prevalent and potentially vulnerable, protecting these assets is particularly difficult.
Why Is Rights Management So Important for Businesses?
Intangible assets can be classified in several categories with some overlapping. Distinguishing which assets can be protected and which ones are essentially public domain can be complicated. No matter how convoluted it gets, it’s exceptionally important for today’s businesses. On the most basic level, it prevents the wrong people from using a company’s intellectual and digital property for their own benefit whether intentionally or inadvertently. It can also protect businesses from unintentionally infringing upon another company’s rights.
By protecting businesses’ intangible assets, rights management also helps them to keep their competitive edge. It prevents competitors from stealing their manufacturing techniques, unique materials, product designs, and other proprietary aspects. It can also create an additional revenue stream for businesses via licensing agreements and other strategies. Rights management likewise prevents companies from stealing competitors’ clientele by accessing their customer lists and contact information.
Protecting Businesses’ Intangible Property
Protecting tangible resources can be fairly simple. Certain security measures can keep employees safe and prevent wrongdoers from stealing machinery and fleet vehicles. If a business has money in the bank, it’s protected by the FDIC as well as an array of digital security features. When it comes to protecting intangible assets, though, the process isn’t quite so straightforward. The laws here are complicated, and intangible belongings can be particularly vulnerable. Rights management bridges the gap to keep businesses’ intellectual and digital assets and other resources from falling into the wrong hands.