Step 1: idea, concepts, marketable processes and brand

Start by mapping the value: the idea, the concepts, the proprietary IP and the marketable brand. No one builds a house without a blueprint, and the same holds for intellectual property and its value. A supply-chain business cannot keep growing, or defend what it has built, until it knows what its IP is.

Anything you or your people create can be eligible for protection. Build your own document list of that IP, noting where each piece could improve other products, services or business processes.⁠^[2] In a portal venture the list might run from the segment workflow and the qualification method to the screen designs, the operator SOP templates and the names on the door.

Everyone in the venture, whether a whole organization or a founder working alone, should be asking: “Do I have IP, and does it matter in the marketplace today?” Before trying to protect anything, find out what forms of IP you hold. You may know about your trademarks and copyrightable material, and still hold IP you never recognized as such.

Many businesses already sense that their internal processes could be IP. In supply chains this is often where the value sits: a distinctive way of sorting and processing material, matching operators to projects, or rating a segment’s performance can be among the most valuable assets a company has.⁠^[3] Understand that value, and how you could profit from it inside and outside your own organization.

Next, work out what type of IP each item is: an idea, a concept, a proprietary process or a marketable brand. Put simply, IP is the new thing you create, the thing that sets your business apart from everyone else in the market.⁠^[4]

It can be a thought, a model, or a method and procedure. Can you trademark an idea? No: until an idea is expressed or embodied in some form, the law cannot protect it. To encourage creativity and innovation, public policy protects creations of the mind and lets their creators benefit economically from them.⁠^[4] So never assume that some part of your business is “too common” or “probably can’t be protected.” An architecture sketched on a whiteboard is an idea; the same architecture written up, coded or filed is something you can protect.⁠^[5]

When in doubt, err on the side of caution. Key business practices that are unique to your organization are IP you own, and they bring value. Marketing campaigns, formulas, or anything else that gives you a competitive edge in your field is IP that could, and should, be protected. As you identify which assets are IP and carry value, ask which give you an advantage over competitors. Treating each one as an asset also pays off later: identified IP increases the valuation if you ever sell IP piece by piece, or the business as a whole.