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Forms of Intellectual Property

are rights governed by statute that provide individuals with a right to prevent others from exploiting or abusing their intellectual creations.

Patents

A patent is a legal title granted to an applicant for protection of an invention.

Patent law requires that certain conditions are met in order for an invention to be patentable

The invention must be novel (new)

It must involve an inventive step (not obvious)

It must be capable of industrial application and

It must not fall into the ‘excluded’ category for non-patentable matter.

COPYRIGTH

Copyright is a form of IP designed to protect the rights of a creator of literary and artistic works, computer programs and databases.

Copyright is an asset, just like other forms of IP, and as such, it may be licensed or sold and also may form part of the estate of the author after death

TRADE MARKS

A trade mark is the symbol by which the goods of a particular manufacturer or trader can be identified and distinguished from the goods of others.

A trade mark is an adjective and not a noun or a verb, which are ‘generic terms’. Generic terms are words that have everyday use and, therefore, are not permitted as trade marks.

DESIGN RIGHTS

For a design to be recognised as qualifying for protection under the Community Design Regulation, it must comply with the following three requirements:

t must fall within the definition of a ‘design’;

It must be novel (absolute worldwide novelty, similar to patent law); and

It must have ‘individual character’.

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SECRET KNOW-HOW

For some companies, ‘know-how’ and ‘trade secrets’ can be just as valuable a piece of IP as a patented technology.

Value in know-how relies on it being maintained as a trade secret and there is always a possibility that it might leak into the public domain through carelessness, or even be copied unlawfully by someone who has access to it.

Therefore, this form of secret know-how, which forms part of a company’s key manufacturing technology or service should be documented and recorded safely and marked as ‘Trade Secret’ or ‘Secret & Confidential’.