Intellectual property is divided into two groupings: Industrial property (patents, trademarks, industrial designs, and geographic indications of source) and Copyright (literary and artistic works) / Rights related to copyright (performing artists, producers, and broadcasters).
It is extremely important to understand exactly where you fit into this system, what your rights are, and what you need to do to ensure your work’s protection.
PATENTS
Have you invented anything lately, perhaps the next big holiday seller? If so, then you need to pay special attention to the rights offered to you under a patent.
A patent is an exclusive right granted for an invention, which is a product or a process that provides a new way of doing something or offers a new technical solution to a problem. You must apply for a patent at a national or regional patent office, so unfortunately, you can’t just patent any gizmo.
Your invention must fulfill a certain set of conditions in order to be protected by law. It must be of practical use, show an element of novelty, and must demonstrate an inventive step that could not be deduced by a person with average knowledge of the selected technical field.
If granted, a patent provides protection to both the invention and the owner, but only for a limited period of time - usually 20 years. During the time that it is valid, a patent ensures that your invention cannot be commercially produced, used, distributed, or sold without your consent. As a patent holder, you have the right to decide who may - or may not - use your product. You may also give permission, or license, to others to use your invention or sell the right to the invention all together, but once the patent expires, the protection ends. At this time, the invention enters into the public domain. Although limited by time, patents encourage innovation and ensure that credit is given to those who deserve it. To access patent laws for various countries visit the Collection of Laws for Electronic Access (CLEA) website - www.wipo.int/clea/en
TRADEMARKS
Trademarks are everywhere in our world! They are so pervasive in our consumer-driven culture, that we barely realize the influence that they weald. It is the meaning, the reputation, the, the assumed quality or status that we associate with this symbol, that steers our buying decisions. In technical terms, a trademark is a distinctive sign that identifies certain goods. This symbolic brand identity helps customers to select and purchase a product or service because of nature or quality. Trademarks are also subject to application - you can file with your national or regional trademark office - but the criteria for application are much less stringent. Mainly, your trademark must be distinct and apply to a certain set of products/services. Why go through this application process? A trademark provides legal protection to the owner of the mark by ensuring the exclusive right to use it or to authorize another to use it in return for payment. The period over which this right applies varies, but a trademark can be renewed indefinitely beyond the time limit for additional fees.
INDUSTRIAL DESIGN
Less obvious to the average person is Industrial Design. Industrial Design refers to whole or part of a product resulting from its features/design. This includes but is not limited to the lines, contours, colors, shape, texture, or materials.
Some examples of where industrial design patents may apply are the following: jewelry, watches, medical instruments, and even architectural structures. Again, you must register your industrial design in order to be protected under law, but it is important to do so, considering that it is the design that generally makes an article attractive, hence adding to its commercial value and increasing its marketability.
When an Industrial Design is protected, the owner is assured an exclusive right against unauthorized copying or imitation of the design. This helps to ensure fair return on investment and assist in economic development by encouraging creativity in the manufacturing sector. Keep in mind that different countries enforce different variations concerning the registration process, and similarly, as with other forms of legal protection, it is subject to time limitations - in most cases 5 years with possible renewal up to 15 years.
GEOGRAPHICAL INDICATION
Lastly, under the category of Industrial Property, is Geographical Indication. The geographical indication points to a specific place or region of production and denotes to the consumer the quality of the product. It is because of this association with natural regional differences (climate, soil, etc.) that Geographical Indication is associated with agricultural products, but it is not limited to these products.
They may also highlight specific qualities of a product which are due to human skill or tradition, that can be found in the place of origin. An example of this is Swiss chocolate or Swiss watches. This geographical connection is important to the marketing of a product, since it derives its qualities and its reputation from that place, and therefore it is in the best interest of the product/producer to protect the reliability of this link.
Legal protection limits the false use of geographical indications by unauthorized parties, which would otherwise be detrimental to consumers and legitimate producers - misleading consumers to believe they are buying a genuine product with specific qualities and causing producers to suffer financial damages due to lost business. Geographic Indication is protected in accordance with national law, but a number of treaties administered by the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) and agreements made within the framework of the World Trade Organization (WTO) provide international protection.
COPYRIGHT
The term copyright is commonly heard today, especially in the context of piracy and online media (music, videos, movies, etc.), but what exactly is it? Copyright is a legal term describing rights given to creators for their literary and artistic works. It extends only to expressions, and not to ideas, procedures, methods of operation or mathematical concepts.
Works that may be covered include literary works, databases, films, musical compositions, choreography, paintings, sculpture, photos, architecture, ads, maps, and technical drawings. The original creators of the work, and their heirs, have certain basic rights: they hold the exclusive rights to prohibit or authorize the reproduction of the work, its public performance (performance art), its recording (CD, cassette), its broadcasting (radio), or its translation into other languages.
Copyright protection also includes moral rights, which involve the right to claim authorship of a work and the right to oppose changes to it that would harm the creator’s reputation. This legal protection does not depend on an application process, but rather is considered a right essential to human creativity. Under this theory, all created work is considered protected by copyright as soon as it exists, therefore ensuring the safe dissemination of work without unauthorized copying. Despite this, many countries have national copyright offices and national laws that impose country-specific conditions and procedures.
Similarly, Rights Related to Copyright is a newly developed extension of this protection of to performing artists, producers of sound recordings, and broadcasting organizations.
Reference: http://www.wipo.int/about-ip/en/overview.html
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