You may already be aware that you have Intellectual Property (IP) that needs protecting, but how would you go about it?  What kinds of controls are available and how are they achieved?  You don’t need to throw money at the question.  Many of the steps that you can take are not complex or expensive.  It is simply a matter of carrying out tasks necessary to document and establish when you first created the IP, and where relevant (say you are going to try to patent an idea) keep the information secret until the patent is at least pending.