In addition to his practice as an attorney, blog author Mikhail Murshak is an adjunct Professor in Intellectual Property (IP), Trademark and Patent Law at Michigan State University College of Law.
The start of 2026 brings energy, momentum, and predictably, the same intellectual property mistakes I see every January.
For startups, it often looks like moving fast without realizing that public launches, pitch decks, websites, and demos can quietly destroy patent rights if filings are not in place. For established companies, it usually shows up as brand expansion, new offerings, or acquisitions that outpace IP housekeeping.
Common examples include:
- Filing a trademark before confirming its availability.
- Assuming a company name automatically equals brand protection.
- Publicly disclosing technical details before any patent filing.
- Letting legacy trademarks or provisionals quietly drift without a plan.
IP problems rarely arise because a business ignores it entirely, they arise because IP decisions are made reactively instead of intentionally.
January is the best time to pause and ask:
- What are we creating this year?
- What are we exposing?
- What assumptions are we making that may not be true?
The big takeaway from this is that most IP issues are timing issues. Addressing them early on is cheaper, cleaner, and far less disruptive than trying to fix them later on.
Whether you are launching, rebranding, fundraising, or expanding offerings this quarter, schedule a short IP planning check-in before momentum creates avoidable risk.
