This is not a substitute for legal advice.  An attorney must be consulted.

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There is no guaranteed way to avoid intellectual property problems, but many steps can be taken to minimize the risk.  The most basic steps are to educate yourself and your employees about various forms of intellectual property and to use common sense. 

            Patent.  There are over one million active utility patents in the United States, and there is no economically feasible way to guarantee that your product or service does not infringe upon any of them.  However, steps can be taken to minimize the risk.  Patent infringement problems often arise when a product already on the market is copied.  If you or your company is looking at products of other companies while designing your own, you should be wary of patent coverage.  The existing product or its packaging may, for instance, list the patent(s) which covers the product.  If so, you should obtain and review the listed patent to determine the extent of patent coverage.  An opinion of a patent attorney may provide the best understanding of your rights vis-a-vis the identified patent.  Patent infringement problems most often arise between competitors.  Patent searching and monitoring can be performed to maintain an awareness of a competitor’s patent protection.  One is free to copy and make obvious modifications from expired patents, and knowledge of expired patents and other "prior art" may provide a basis to continue activities despite a competitor's patents. 

            Trademark.  Most trademark problems arise due to adoption of a mark which is already being used by someone else.  Before adopting a mark, a trademark clearance search should be performed to determine if the proposed mark is already used or registered by someone else.  Adopting and using a mark which is the same as or confusingly similar to a mark already used or registered by another constitutes trademark infringement.  Preliminary screening techniques, many of which can be performed for minimal cost, include:  searching phone directories, business directories, and other general business resources; searching the Internet; and checking with the Secretary of State's office to determine if any trademarks conflict with the proposed mark.  For marks which will represent a substantial business investment, have a trademark clearance search and opinion performed by a qualified attorney or other professional.  A professional trademark clearance search can include computer trademark databases covering federal registrations, state registrations, and common law uses found in a wide variety of trade directories, telephone directories, and company name lists.  Finally, a trademark owner should be careful not to create problems in policing a mark.  For instance, before any communication is made regarding use of a similar mark by someone else, the trademark owner should verify that it adopted the mark prior to the newly identified user.

             Copyright.  The advice to avoid copyright problems is simple: don't copy expression, particularly for a commercial use.  An employer should educate its employees about the distinction between an idea and its expression and instruct the employees to independently create any works of expression. 

            Trade Secret.  To avoid trade secret problems, an employer should instruct employees not to use or disclose trade secret information from previous employers.  Information that is independently available from a public source cannot be a trade secret and is available for use.