Anytime you have ideas that you want to protect, it's wise to take advantage of intellectual property law and register these items as intangible assets. Any type of design, logo, name, slogan, original work or invention should be registered to give your company sole rights to it.

In addition, if your company has clients that demand a high level of confidentiality or if you use trade secrets to conduct everyday operations, you'll want to protect these as well. Besides carefully screening your employees, you can have them sign non-disclosure agreements. Intangible assets really do come into play quite often in the business world:

1. Protect intellectual property by registering these items as intangible assets. Examples include patents, copyrights and trademarks.

2. Institute a policy of having your employees sign confidentiality agreements regarding your company's procedures. This protects your business in the event that an employee becomes upset with you.

3. Get help with intangible assets if you're having trouble understanding how they work. Attorneys can help you every step of the way and give you plenty of intangible assets information.

Action Steps
The best contacts and resources to help you get it done

Register intangible assets to keep them protected

The term 'legal intangibles' refers to trademarks, patents, copyrights and the like. When you come up with an idea that you want to be used by your business and your business alone, you must file for legal recognition of those intangibles.

I recommend: Register trademarks and copyrights using SecureYourTrademark.com, a company run by an attorney in New York City. Start the patent process with an invention submission to the registered patent attorney at Invention.net.

Protect other types of intangible assets, like trade secrets

Non-disclosure and non-compete agreements both serve to protect your business. If you have any trade secrets you need to protect or if your employees have access to confidential documents, it's in your best interests to have them sign one of these agreements. That way, if an employee becomes disgruntled or gets terminated and decides to share any of this private information (or start up a similar business using your trade secrets), you can take legal action against them. Mostly, though, it serves as a deterrent so that employees keep trade secrets or confidential information to themselves.

I recommend: Check out the large selection of free non-disclosure agreements at Docstoc. Format your confidentiality agreement online using LawDepot.

Make sure you're properly handling intangible assets accounting

Taxes are a fact of life, especially for businesses, and intangible assets should be included when you do your financial statements as well as when you do your taxes. If you employ an accountant, he may have intangible assets training, but it's important to stay current. If you don't have access to a CPA, make good use of professional tax software.

I recommend: Use IRS Publication 535, Section 197 to keep up with the latest laws regarding amortization of your intangibles. For businesses without an accountant on staff, try using one of the software programs available from MBAWare.

Tips & Tactics

Helpful advice for making the most of this Guide

• •  If you have trouble understanding how to properly protect your ideas, try using an intangible assets consultant. These professionals know the ins and outs of this complex law; most are attorneys and are legally allowed to offer intangible assets advice.