Intellectual Property Business information, ideas and trade secrets Expressions and representations of ideas Names, brands and reputation
Business information, trade secrets and ideasorganisations may be able to legally protect their intangible business assets through:
The confidentiality principlewhere information is regarded as 'confidential', it cannot be disclosed or used in any way without the consent of the owner of the information
The information has a confidential character must be private treated or marked as confidential
Other party knows information is confidential labelled as such communicated orally, can still be confidential
information was discovered without consent and to the detriment of the other party no deliberate intention is required accidental or sub-conscious disclosure is no defence common defence is that it was in the public interest
or Patent law provides protection for inventions gained by registration with IPONZ must be original, creative and useful
Expressions and representations of ideas The copyright Act creates right for owners of: Literary, dramatic, musical or artistic works Sound recordings Films Broadcasts Communication works Typographical arrangements
Copyright is an intellectual property right that exists in various kinds of original work must be some skill or judgement in the work created generally last for 50 years after death of author or creation of work
Copyright act provides that the author of a work will be the first ownerThe act recognises joint authorship
Copyright owners provide General, Moral and Performer's rights
Infringements refer to the act of making a copy without the owner's permission (the performance of a restricted act without a copyright licence)
Copyright protects the expression of the idea, not the idea itself
To prove copyright, the plaintiff must show copying is of the entire work, sufficient similarity between the new and copied, casual connection between the copied and infringing work
The Trade Marks Act 2002 defines a trademark as any sign capable of being represented graphically and distinguishing the goods and services of a person from those of another person
Descriptive words or words in common use cannot be protected
registering a trademark will gain monopoly protection, if not registered it may still have protection under common law - passing off or other legislation
Trademarks office have to be satisfied the applicant meets the definition of a trade mark and there are no other marks like it
Passing off occurs when one business tries to take advantage of another's reputation, It is tortiousTo prove passing off, plaintiff needs to prove 3 things goods have acquired a certain goodwill or reputation actions of defendant have caused ordinary purchasers to believe the product of the defendants is that of the plaintiffs the plaintiff suffers injury to their trade or business
Fair Trading Act 1986: made to ensure trading activities are carried out fairly
Companies Act 1993: when a new company is created, approval must be given for its name
Geographical Indications Registration Act 2006: provides registration of names and signs as geographical indications - a description of the geographical origins e.g. Oyster Bay Chardonnay
Business information, ideas and trade secrets
Expressions and representation of ideas
Names, brands and reputation
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