Effective Ways to Protect Intellectual Property of Your Brand

Ideas create the world. Consequently, without protection of ideas, neither businesses nor individuals can garner benefits of the hard work nor be motivated to do research and impetus development. Intellectual property is basically the very idea or product which is a result of creative catharsis.

Hence intellectual property is the key to success of any business venture as it is instrumental in fostering innovation and rewarding creative labor.

Further it can be used to set one’s business apart from the competitors. It is interesting that protection of intellectual property entails guarding myriad aspects of any business-like logo, design, inventions and other forms of intellectual and creative efforts.

There are several types of intellectual rights protection. Some of the basic mechanisms to protect intellectual property can be elucidated as follows:

Copyrights

Copyright protection is more concerned with the safeguarding the expression of ideas than the idea itself.  It is generally conferred upon original work of authorship and is with regards to literary work, music, dramatics, sound recording, etc. Such protection bestows a bundle of exclusive rights upon the holder to reproduce, adapt, distribute, translate and publish the copyrighted work.

Copyright protects replication across several countries. It is important to note that copyright comes into existence the moment the original work is created and registration is not compulsory. However, it is advisable to register as it is a prima facie proof of the fact that the work actually belongs to the holder.

Further it is invaluable to the holder who wishes to bring about legal proceedings upon the infringer of such a copyright.

Patents

Patents accords exclusive property rights to the holder with regards to inventions, albeit for a limited period 20 years. It is fundamentally a contract between the inventor and the state. Inventions must be perceived in terms of “new technical solutions” to a particular problem and covers within its ambit even technical modifications in the knowledge about the operation of certain objects.

The patented inventions cannot be sold, used or even imported without the permission of the holder. More importantly, an international framework exists where patent protection is clearly delineated. However, the flipside of the same is that engaging an experienced patent attorney takes the holder a long way in understanding the legal specificities thus making it expensive.

Trademarks

This intellectual property protection pertains to a symbol, phrase, word or design which gives a distinct identity to a particular brand as opposed to the other competitors and signify the source of the goods.

Therefore, it is a principally a brand name. For example, the design of “swoosh” distinguishes the brand of Nike from all other shoe retailers. However, registration of trademark is not mandatory but it makes enforcement of rights easier. Further, it is important to note that for applying for a trademark a distinctive mark is that clearly identifies the class of goods and services to which it applies is essential. The semblance in phonetics or design can be brought into question for trademark infringement based on the extent.

Trade secrets

Trade secret as a way of protecting intellectual property is one of the most recent developments and has gained recognition only in the past two decades. NAFTA defines trade secrets as “information having commercial value, which is not in the public domain, and for which reasonable steps have been taken to maintain its secrecy.”

This becomes important as it is not unknown that information is susceptible to theft and leaks in the process of regulatory filing. Sometimes trade secrets can be invaluable to the growth of the company as well as even vital to its survival.

It further becomes effective with respect to the startups in advancing their research and development as they may not have the resources to resort to patenting the innovations. Hence there is a need to evolve a more comprehensive legal framework for this way of protecting intellectual property.

Designs

This is an extension of the copyright protection for a novel idea of individual nature. It is basically that protection is endowed upon any shape, configuration, pattern or colour which when applied to an article changes the aesthetics of the same thereby making it an original visible product.

Hence design safeguards visual appeal and presentation that becomes the mark of any brand. Some of the most famous examples of the same is the counters of the bottle of Coco-Cola or the shape of Beetle by Volkswagen. It must be made sure that the design is not published prior to the registration of design. Further it is important to note that design has broadened the ambit within which protection can be granted.