Intellectual property partner patents, copyrights, trademarks, design rights and registered designs. Some intellectual property rights [such as patents, trademarks, and registered designs] require the owner to formalize the registration process with the IP Office to provide protection and monopoly rights to the owner. Others, such as copyright and design rights, are automatically generated at the time of creation, but are not protected from independent creation by third parties - only for copying.
Of course, intellectual property is only the expression of protection of ideas, not the thought itself. As the first stage, it is important to establish appropriate confidentiality provisions to ensure that the discussions in the parties are protected from the beginning and are not disclosed.
Intellectual property differs in terms of terms and procedures, but the effect is to ensure that owners have exclusive rights to use and decide how to use and use these rights and to prevent any other party from using the same rights.
The patent protects a novel, novel and industrially applicable invention. This, in turn, allows the owner of the patent to use the invention to simplify its business processes, gain a competitive advantage or increase its revenue by granting a license or selling the patent to a third party.
Copyright protection literary works [such as instruction manuals, computer programs] dramas, musical works or works of art [such as logos, maps, technical drawings, diagrams, photographs, architectural works]. The copyright owner is the first author of a copyrighted work. Therefore, if you hire a consultant or subcontractor to write a report or conduct an investigation or create a software that your website or party has copyrighted, even if you have already paid the relevant fees. However, copyright does not protect creativity.
A trademark is a sign that distinguishes a merchant's goods or services from another merchant's goods or services. Signs include words, logos, pictures or a combination of these. The logo to be registered must be unique, not deceptive, and not identical or similar to any of the early marks of the same or similar goods or services. Please keep in mind that your company's simple registration of the company building does not guarantee your trademark protection. Also, if you have a website, you may want to consider registering your trademark as a domain name and vice versa.
A registered design is a monopoly of the overall or partial appearance of a product, resulting from the characteristics of the line, outline, color, shape, texture, material or decoration of the product. The design must be new and personal.
On the other hand, Design Right is applied to the original, unconventional design shape or product configuration. No registration is required and the third party is protected by copyright without the owner's permission.
Companies must always understand when and how intellectual property is created in order to take all necessary steps to protect and utilize intellectual property. This means that employment contracts need to have sufficient provisions, and the work of dealing with the creation and authorization of intellectual property rights needs to be protected by appropriate contracts that attribute intellectual property to the business of the commissioned work.
However, once the company has determined its intellectual property, what needs to be done next?
1. Enterprises must manage their intellectual property portfolio
• As we have seen, intellectual property is made up of various rights and the cost of maintenance and protection is high. In an economic downturn, it is critical to review strategies that support intellectual property portfolios, maximize their value, and save costs.
• Companies must review and decide whether it is necessary to maintain all patents, trademarks, domain name registrations and registered designs, and consider whether it is possible to waive any registrations that are complementary to the needs of the business or not cost-effective to maintain.
• Even if certain intellectual property assets may not have direct value to the business, they can still be licensed or assigned to third parties, but they are subject to high fees.
2. Capture and maximize value
• A company' know-how, creativity and confidential information are valuable assets that are often created at a significant cost. Develop and implement effective policies to capture and retain innovative ideas. Trade secrets and management often increase business value and direct business benefits, which is especially important in more financially challenging environments.
• Patent applications may also be possible, further adding to the actual value.
• Maintaining contract and policy frameworks to prevent abuse of intellectual property rights by staff, especially departing employees, is also important, and they may obtain software codes, customer lists or research and development materials.
3. Monitor infringement and enforce your rights
• Infringement of intellectual property rights or other unauthorized use can have a serious impact on its business value. It is important to review existing systems, monitor infringements [eg, trademark surveillance services] and review strategies for taking action against infringers.
• Take proactive steps to enforce your intellectual property rights, or create opportunities to recover lost license revenue through settlement or damages. In contrast, failure to take measures to prevent and resolve intellectual property infringement may result in the loss of licensing fees and royalties.
• Similarly, understanding the competitor's intellectual property assets and implementing a customs clearance policy for new products or services can help avoid unnecessary and costly infringement claims.
This article is for general purpose and guidance only and does not provide legal or professional advice.
Orignal From: What is intellectual property and its key issues
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