You’ve just launched your product, which has taken months of research and development effort to bring to market. Soon after its debut you receive a notice that you’re infringing on an existing patent or trademark. You’re now left with a decision: License the technology that you’ve infringed, which you may or may not be able to do, or wind up with a costly infringement suit. You could fight the suit, retreat and try to design around the patent, or scrap the whole thing and start again. Any of those choices come with substantial costs. All the while knowing that with a little bit of due diligence up front all of it could have been avoided. “Don’t undervalue your business’s IP,” says Jeffrey N. Zahn, an attorney with Fay Sharpe LLP. “Do what’s required to make sure it’s protected and not potentially infringing a third party’s IP rights. This will help you protect...