Intellectual Property - Understanding the Basics

1. Intellectual Property: Understanding the Basics If you have an innovative idea for a product or technology, apart from knowledge of creation, it is also important to understand the concept of intellectual property (IP) and exploit it smartly to be able to protect your idea. Knowing your rights regarding your IP can save you a lot of time, money and mental anguish. It is important to understand your type of IP to be able to get into business with it. There are four types of IP: Patents: By granting a patent, the government gives the inventor the permission to stop others from recreating, using or selling their intellectual property. However, this permission is only for a limited time and needs to be renewed regularly. Also, a patent is a territorial right. For instance, a product patented in the UK will give the user rights to control its usage only in the UK. Once a patent is granted, the invention becomes a property of the inventor and can be bought, sold, hired or rented only with their permission. Trademark: A trademark is a statement of origin; it marks the difference between the goods of same category but belonging to different traders. There can be many forms of trademarks, such as slogans, logos, shapes, colours, and sounds. A trademark can be registered for the same or similar names of different products or traders, as long as they are different in nature. For example, there can a trademark each for King cards and King chocolates belonging to different traders, as long as they have different designs. Copyright: A copyright is used for protecting the intellectual property created by the author; a very important factor of the intellectual property is that it should display a certain level of skill and judgement. Photocopies and transcripts do not qualify for copyrights. In fact, if the work is copyrighted, taking photocopies or direct transcriptions can be counted as an infringement of copyright unless there is authorization from the owner. An author may be a writer, artist, composer, or a photographer. There is also a possibility of the author assigning or licensing the rights to their intellectual property to a third-party such as the publisher or a commissioner. Registered Design: You can register a design of your intellectual property at the British Patent Office if the design is new and distinctive – as in the shape, size, configuration or pattern of the product is completely unique and one of its kind. Before 1989, the British government provided automatic protection for a design for 15 years from the time of creation, even if the design was not registered. However, after August 1989, this period has been extended to 25 years.

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