Let’s look at the specific risks of poor intellectual property succession planning. These are the ghosts of your assets that haunt your legacy if you fail to plan properly.

1. The Patent Ghost: Missing the Clock. The executor of your estate is managing property taxes, house sales, and who gets the valuable coin collection; they are most likely not automatically tracking USPTO patent maintenance fee deadlines, which occur at the 4th, 8th, and 12th year. If those deadlines are missed, the patent is dead, and its value is zero. If the executor fails to file the proper ownership transfer documents, the legal right to its benefits remains in purgatory.

2. The Trademark Ghost: Competitor Capture. Your heirs might be grieving and not well-versed in handling a trademark. If they fail to file the necessary maintenance and renewal documents showing continued use in commerce, the USPTO will cancel the registration, and if the mark hasn’t been used in commerce for at least three years, your biggest competitor can simply step in and register the abandoned mark.

3. The Trade Secret Ghost: This one is the fastest killer. If the documents securing your trade secrets (like NDAs or internal protocols) are not enforced by the executor, or if they don't even know where they are, the secret can be compromised or simply lost. Either way means its value is lost forever.

4. The Business Ghost: If you own the patent or trademark as an individual, license it to your business as an LLC or corporation (because you are doing that and not being sloppy about that kind of important business asset), and only address the IP in your will, you create massive confusion. If an heir who doesn’t know how to maintain the IP properly or who hates your business partners gets your IP, your business will have a serious problem. Without clear documents, the business often gets tied up in court for years.

I dive into the specifics of succession plans in other episodes this week, so check them out and stay tuned for the sequels!

Intellectual property is one of the most terrifyingly useful tools you have. If you’re a creator or other entrepreneur ready to build a frighteningly powerful brand and business, you need to know how to use it.

You don't have to face the darkness alone. To learn more about protecting your creations, your name, your business, and your legacy, you can book a consultation with me at kingpatentlaw.com.

I’m Julie King, a licensed attorney in Champaign-Urbana, Illinois, and I help entrepreneurs across the U.S. make smart, legally sound decisions about their intellectual property.

If this episode helped you survive the horror of learning about how to protect and manage your intellectual property and business, please like and subscribe if you haven’t already!

You can find all of my other frighteningly good content on the King Patent Law website, at "Spellbinding IP: Patent, Trademark, and Business Strategy" on all major podcast platforms, and at @kingpatentlaw on most social media.

The information provided in this episode is for educational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice or form an attorney-client relationship. You should not act on any information presented here without first seeking the counsel of a licensed attorney for your specific legal needs.

Thank you for tuning in. Stay legally sharp, and keep rocking your IP!

#patent #trademark #copyright #intellectualproperty #businesstips #estateplanning #successionplanning