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Intellectual Property Protection

Updated Jan 30, 2024 ·

Overview​

Intellectual Property Protection is crucial for safeguarding creations of the mind, providing legal rights to creators and owners. It encompasses various forms of protection:

  • Copyrights
  • Trademarks
  • Patents
  • Trade Secrets

Copyrights​

Copyrights protect original works of authorship fixed in a tangible medium of expression. They grant creators exclusive rights to their work, preventing unauthorized use.

  • Rights to reproduce, distribute, and display the work.
  • Protection extends to literary, artistic, musical, and other creative works.
  • Duration typically lasts for the life of the author plus 70 years.

Once the copyright expires, the work moves into public domain and may be used freely by anyone without requiring licensing or permission. Copyright are denoted using the circle C symbol "©".

Trademarks​

Trademarks safeguard brand identities, distinguishing goods and services from competitors. They can include logos, slogans, words, symbols and brand names.

  • Identify and distinguish goods or services in the marketplace.
  • Provide exclusive rights to use and prevent unauthorized use by others.
  • Owners must register their trademark with the government to achieve full protection.
  • Trademarks may last indefinitely, but registration must be renewed every 10 years.
  • They are only valid as long as they are actively being used.
  • After five-year of non-use, trademark is considered abandoned.

Trademarks are denoted by the circled "TM". Once they are granted registration status by the government, they can start using the circled "R" which means its a registered trademark.

Patents​

Patents protect inventions and new processes, granting exclusive rights to inventors. They encourage innovation and prevent others from making, using, or selling the invention without permission.

  • Utility patents cover functional inventions and processes.
  • Design patents protect ornamental designs and appearances.
  • Duration varies but typically lasts for 20 years from the filing date.

To be granted the patent, the work must meet the following requirements:

  • Novelty - It should be a new idea that nobody has thought of in the past.
  • Usefulness - It should provide some benefit and it is actually possible to use the invention.
  • Non-obviousness - There should some inventive work involved

Once granted, a patent generally lasts for 20 years beyond the patent filing date. This could be extended if there are some governmental delays in issuing the patent. One of the major drawback of patents is that it require public disclosure of the invention in the patent application.

  • Inventor must clearly describe to the world the invention and how it works.
  • When the patent expires, anyone is free to use the invention.

In cases where the inventor doesn't want to make the invention public, the organization may choose to pursue a trade secret protection.

Trade Secrets​

Trade secrets protect confidential business information, providing competitive advantage. They can include formulas, techniques, or customer lists.

  • Information must be kept confidential and provide economic value.
  • No registration required; protection lasts as long as the information remains secret.
  • Measures such as non-disclosure agreements (NDAs) are used to maintain secrecy.

The downside of trade secrets is that once someone discover how the invention works, they are free to use it without any legal repercussions.