Asking for a Fight You have to get tough with transgressors if you want to protect your intellectual property.

Locked doors and a security system protect your equipment,inventory and payroll. But what protects your business's mostvaluable possessions? Intellectual property laws can protect yourtrade secrets, trademarks and product design, provided you take theproper steps.

Chicago attorney Kara E.F. Cenar of Welsh & Katz, anintellectual property firm, contends that businesses should startthinking about these issues earlier than most do. "Smallbusinesses tend to delay securing intellectual property protectionbecause of the expense," Cenar says. "They tend not tosee the value of intellectual property until a competitorinfringes." But a business that hasn't applied forcopyrights or patents and actively defended them will likely havetrouble making its case in court.