Without a doubt, the protection of intellectual property rights is extremely important for any business. As a matter of fact, in the UK and Europe, intellectual property rights are what gives your business its sole “ownership”. Ignorance of these rules and regulations can be quite costly to small businesses, so it’s important that entrepreneurs and owners understand the fundamentals of intellectual property rights.
Intellectual property rights or IP rights are legal rights over intangible assets that consist in the creation of the mind. These can be patents, copyrights, trademarks, industrial design rights and a number of other types of what are called ‘intangibles’ in law.
patents
The concept of patent has been the subject of heated debate and has evolved significantly with changing times. It is a type of intellectual property right granted to a person, a legal authority for an invention or idea. To put it in simpler terms, the patent is a document on which the inventor gets rights to his creation. Generally, this right covers the use and manufacturing of an invention or product for a great number of years. It is, therefore, a government-granted right to exclude others from making, using, offering for sale, or selling your invention in a specific region for a certain period.
copyrights
Copyright is a form of legal protection for original works of authorship, including literary, dramatic, musical, artistic and other intellectual works regardless of the form in which they are described, explained, illustrated or embodied in such work. Upon creation, copyright protects “original works of authorship” fixed in any tangible medium of expression from which they can be perceived either directly or with the aid of a machine or device. The issue of copyrights usually arises when a person or entity desires to reproduce, distribute, or create derivative works of protected material subject to copyright law.
Trademark
Trademark (also called trade mark) refers to a brand name that is registered for identifying certain goods and services. In order to be valid, though, it has to be used in commerce and be distinctive enough so that nobody else duplicates your brand without infringing on your trademark. It is, therefore, a specific word, phrase, symbol or design that identifies a company and/or product. Trademarks help consumers distinguish the quality product they’re buying and are also used to stop others from profiting off of your name or reputation.
industrial design rights
Industrial design rights (also known as registered design), are copyright-like, but not precisely copyright. It protects the functional and/or aesthetic design (looks and shapes of things) of an object. Undoubtedly, industrial designs are a very important form of intellectual property that should be properly protected. Those rights include the right to exclude others from making, offering for sale and selling a particular design; and the right to prevent others from preparing or copying your design. For example, the copyright prevents you from copying an article or song, while the industrial design right prevents you from copying the shape of the Coca Cola bottle.
It is impossible to assume that the future of your business will be safe without having an in-depth look at intellectual property rights. You should have a clear view of how to use this term in the world of business. Whether you simply want copyrights to protect your work or if you need to know how they work to start a business, you should definitely learn the basics of intellectual property rights. Intellectual property law can be pretty complicated, but this article was designed to give you a basic understanding of what protections you should have in terms of Intellectual Property rights. If you need further assistance, please send us an email