1. Do you have the proper agreements necessary to ensure that you own the copyright in all website materials and advertising literature created by a non-employee, like a design or marketing firm?
2. Do you use trademarks properly on my website as adjectives and never as nouns or verbs?
3. Are you using the symbol ® next to a trademark that is not have federally registered?
4. Are you providing proper copyright and trademark notice on your website and advertising literature?
5. Are you actively monitoring the marketplace, including the Internet, to determine if another company is using your trademark?
6. If you discover that another company or individual is using your trademark, are you taking the appropriate steps to protect your rights?
7. Are you using a competitor’s trademarks as meta tags to direct potential customers to your website?
8. Have you reviewed your website materials and advertising literature to ensure that all of the information is true and accurate?
9. Does your comprehensive general liability insurance policy cover you for claims of trademark, copyright or patent infringement?
10. Are you maintaining documentation evidencing in-house creation of text and graphics to protect against claims of copyright infringement?
11. Have you identified and perfected your rights in all intellectual property that might serve as collateral for debt-based financing?
12. Have you identified and perfected all your intellectual property rights that might serve as a basis for a venture capital investment?
13. Have you obtained a valuation of your intellectual property rights?
14. Are you maximizing the capital that may be generated through the assignment, licensing, joint venture or other commercialization of your intellectual property rights?
15. When considering an acquisition or merger, do you identify all the potential intellectual property rights and confirm that the owner’s rights have been perfected and that there are no defects in the chain of title?
16. When considering purchasing intellectual property, are you aware of the scope of the rights or do you rely on the representations of the seller?
17. Before expending significant amounts on a marketing campaign, do you confirm that your new product name can be protected and does not violate another company’s rights?
18. Are you aware that a company may have trademark rights even if the trademark is not the subject of a state or federal registration?
19. Are you aware that commercialization or public disclosure of an invention may impact your ability to get a US or overseas patent protection?
20. Are you allowing individuals to tour your plant or manufacturing facilities where a proprietary process is being used?
21. Are you taking all the steps necessary to protect your proprietary information if an employee leaves and goes to work for a competitor?
22. Do you have procedures in place to ensure the timely filing of copyright registrations on original and improved works
23. Are you aware of the extent to which open source code has been used in your products?
24. If you have an open source policy, are you aware of whether or not it is being followed?
25. If you use open source code in a product, can you identify the license obligations that product is subject to?