How IP Law provides "Offensive Right"
Many people have come to us with an invention or idea, asking if there was some easier and quicker way to protect their invention in the several IP protection methods.
IP right as a form of protection
Many attorneys speak of an IP right as a form of protection.
The fact is that an IP right is an offensive weapon rather than other civil rights provided by other laws.
Anti-Trust Law is always strong regulations to control individual rights by governments.
However, IP Law is the only exception by statute for people.
To properly benefit from IP rights, the IP owner must sue or send a warning letter to anyone who trespasses on the right.
Not simple decision
Here, to sue someone is not simple decision since IP owners must have big pressure to take actions against someone.
Some lawyers do not care about their client's mind set but we need to care of it.
Before suing someone, we need to consider the warning letter and discussion with the infringers.
Most of disputes would be settled by negotiations and we always need to seek negotiation opportunities.
We also need to consider geographical conditions.
For example, in China, the warning letter may be no meaning but in ASEAN, should be productive choice.
IP rights provide a tool
The IP rights do not provide any protection, and do not give its owner a defense if he or she infringes someone else's rights.
Thus, IP rights provide a tool with which you can enforce a monopoly on your creation.
The distinction between protection and offensive right is as important in IP Law as it is in baseball or football.
While a good defense may be valuable, you will need a powerful offense to win the game or stop the infringer.
To help you keep the distinction in mind, we need to advise our clients how to use their rights as "offensive right" instead of "protection".
Sometimes, our clients might hesitate to do anything by their IP rights.
We should advise and support them which approach is the best result for our clients.