FORMS OF INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY

Intellectual property rights (IPRs) are rights governed by statute that provide individuals with a right to prevent others from exploiting or abusing their intellectual creations. Forms of IPR are patents, trade marks, copyright, design rights, confidential information and know-how, these rights extend to the protection of inventions, creative works, expressions and brands.
1. 1. PATENT: Legal title granted to an applicant for the protection of an invention. It is a form of recordable IP. The title granted gives the owner a monopoly on the exploitation (manufacture, use, sale, offer for sale, importation).
  1. INTERNATIONAL PATENT PROTECTION
    1. PRIORITY OF THE PATENT Currently, the US patent law UU It is based on an alternative system called 'first-to-invent', which means that when two patent applications are filed for the same invention, it is not the filing date that is important to determine the priority of an invention, more Well it is the inventor who can establish the earliest date in which the invention was made.
    2. INTERFERENCE: Until the AIA enters into force in 2013, the problem of "patent interference" has yet to be resolved in the US. UU., Where there are two patents. Archived by the same invention. Under the first file system, the situation is easily solved, since the applicant with the previous priority date has priority over the invention.
    3. TERRITORIAL PROTECTION: An invention only has protection in the country in which a patent has been applied for. In other countries where there is no patent protection, they are free to exploit the technology or the product derived from that invention. Therefore, it is necessary to evaluate the potential of exploiting the invention in international markets and to ensure that patent protection has been requested in all countries that are commercially relevant to the invention.
  2. PATENT COOPERATION TREATY: The benefit of a country being a party to this treaty is that a national or resident of a PCT state needs to submit only one application to obtain patent protection in any of the countries that are members of the PCT treaty. These national patents are all examined and granted in accordance with the national laws of the individual countries
  3. CONVENTIONS AND TREATIES: The legislation of each country includes laws for the protection of intellectual property, in which there is a provision for patent laws to govern the protection of inventions in that country. he body charged with administration of the Paris Convention is the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO)
  4. EUROPEAN PATENT CONVENTION: The benefit of the EPC system is that an application can be submitted to the European Patent Office in Munich (or one of its branches) and then a European patent is granted to the member states in which the applicant seeks protection.
  5. REFINEMENTS OF THE EUROPEAN PATENT SYSTEM: Introduction of new features to the European patent system, which would improve the overall cost and efficiency of patent filing and compliance in the EU Member States. they have focused on a Community Patent, which would allow the granting of a single patent with a unitary patent in all EU Member States, and the European Patent Litigation Agreement, which seeks to address differences in national patents.
  6. REQUIREMENTS FOR A PATENT Patent law requires that certain conditions are met in order for an invention to be patentable. Specifically, the following criteria must be fulfilled: 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.
2. 2. COPYRIGHT: Is a form of Intellectual Property designed to protect the rights of a creator of literary and artistic works, computer programs and databases. Copyright typically is enforced to prevent copying, plagiarism, and misuse of a work, but it does not prevent a third party from independent development of the idea or similar.
  1. GRANTING OF COPYRIGHT: Copyright does not require any formal application or registration for protection of a creative work. Copyright comes into operation automatically the moment a work is completed – that is, it subsists in that work for the creator.
  2. WORKS PROTECTED POR COPYRIGHT: Typical works covered by copyright are: original literary, dramatic, musical and artistic works, published editions of works, sound recordings, films, videos, broadcasts and cable programmes, computer programs and databases.
  3. INTERNATIONAL PROTECTION: The most recent international agreement is the WIPO Copyright Treaty (WCT) of 1996, under which protection of works transmitted by digital means, including the Internet, has been provided for. Each country has its own laws for the protection of IP, which include copyright laws.
  4. REGISTRATION OF COPYRIGHT: The advantage of registering a work in a formal copyright depository is that there is a public record established for the copyright claim, which subsequently can be used as clear evidence of the original date and content of the work in the event of a dispute regarding infringement.
  5. OWNERSHIP OF COPYRIGHT: The rights covered by copyright can be divided into economic rights and moral rights. Economic rights are those rights dealing with the ownership, use and exploitation of the work covered by the copyright.Moral rights are the rights of the author of the work to be identified as the author, even if the author is not ultimately the owner of the work.
  6. DURATION OF COPYRIGHT: generally the duration of copyright today for literary, dramatic, musical and artistic works, computer programs and databases, begins with the date of creation by the author and expires 70 years after his death. EU Directive 2011/77/EU, which extends the term of 50 years to 70 years for copyright in the fixation of performances and sound recordings in Europe.
3. 4. TRADE MARKS: The trade mark in which a business wants to create value and become identified by in the market, can be a word, a signature, a monogram, a picture or symbol, a logo or a combination of these. More recently, colours, smells, shapes and sounds. The word or symbol should be distinctive (but not descriptive) in distinguishing goods or services of one particular business from those of its competitors – that is, indicating the origin or source of the goods, but not its function.
  1. DURATION OF A TRADE MARK: The term of a trade mark in most countries is for 10 years, which may be renewed indefinitely for subsequent 10-year terms. The term and maintenance of a trade mark, however, is conditional upon the owner demonstrating use of the mark. If the applicant cannot demonstrate use, the mark lapses and is removed from the register.
  2. INTERNATIONAL REGISTRATION: There are two main international agreements on trade mark protection – the Community Trade Mark (CTM) and the Madrid Protocol. Registration of a trade mark under the CTM system then provides protection in all member states of the EU. The Madrid Protocol is an international system for registration of trade mark in multiple jurisdictions internationally through a single application.
  3. REGISTRATION OF A TRADE MARK Is important for the company, therefore, to secure this value by ensuring it controls the rights over use of its brand by having it registered as a trade mark. The value created in the mark then can be exploited, either through licensing of the brand to other companies (as in franchising businesses, etc.), or by adding substantially to the overall value of the company in the event of an acquisition.
  4. TRADE MARK USE: The form of use is the ‘mark’ (adjective) followed by the ‘noun’ (a generic word) for example, a Macintosh® computer. The mark also must be preserved in the form in which it is first registered. Typically, a trade mark is used by printing it on the outside of a company’s products, on the product packaging and in the brochure material, to associate those products with the brand. The registered trade marks of a company always should be spelt with an initial capital and used with the registration symbol ® as a superscript – thus, Mark®.
4. 3. SECRET KNOW-HOW: This form of IP usually relates to a technology process or manufacturing method, which is not patented either because it does not satisfy the criteria for patentability, or because a decision is made not to patent it. A strategic business decision may be made to maintain it as confidential industrial know-how or as a trade secret.
5. 5. DESIGN RIGHTS: Design rights are now directed towards the ‘individual character’ of a design. there are two important international systems in operation for the protection of industrial designs: the Community Design system and the Hague Agreement.
  1. COMMUNITY DESIGN: The first “Community Design” was registered in April 2003. This creation of a single unified system for the protection of designs across the Community when the Community Design Regulation (EC) No.6/2002 entered into force in March 2002.
  2. REQUIREMENTS OF A DESIGN: It 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’. Where the design applies to a component of a complex product, its features must be visible to qualify for protection as a design.
  3. REGISTERED COMMUNITY DESIGN: An application is examined for conformance to the definition of a ‘design’ in accordance with the Community Design Regulation and also to decide whether it is contrary to morality or public policy.
  4. UNREGISTERED COMMUNITY DESIGN: This right is more akin to copyright protection of a design that is, the owner can prevent others from copying the design, but does not have a monopoly on the design, which is the important difference between this right and that for a registered design. There is no registration, but otherwise, requirements for qualifying for design right protection are the same as for the registered design right. The term of protection is for a period of three years from the date on which the design was first made public
  5. It allows individuals and businesses in the EU to avail of a single application system for the international registration of an industrial design. It is administered by WIPO. The term of protection can be for up to 15 years, with an initial five-year period renewable for two further five-year periods.

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FORMS OF INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY

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