Monday, 12 May 2014

Points to Consider: Intellectual Property Rights


Post 5 – Points to Consider: Intellectual Property Rights

 

Patents - Patents are concerned with industry processes and inventions made by an individual or company. A patent basically prevents another organisation using a process or invention without the consent of those who hold the patent. Once the patent has been approved, the holders would then have the right to either use the idea themselves, or sell it to another organisation for them to use instead. A patent can typically take 2 - 3 years to be approved.

 

Design Rights – Design rights are very much as they sound, they are rights which protect the creator over design they create. The creator holds the rights to it, unless they are working for a company where it is their job. In this case the company would hold the design rights for pieces created by their design team. A design can be anything to do with the colour, material, shape, texture or orientation of a product. It is anything which makes the piece stand out from anything else which is already designed within the industry.

 

Trademark – Trademark law cover unique selling points which we associate with a product from the product name, company slogan, designs, symbols/logos/icons etc. It can take between 6-18 months to get a trademark. A trademark only protects you company in the country it is authorised; however the EU have an agreement which would cover all countries in the EU.

 

Copyright – Copyrights concern themselves with artistic pieces of work such as musicals, theatre, artistic pieces, literature, films, recordings etc. Copyright gives you the rights of use, meaning unauthorised persons cannot just take your work and try to pass it on as their own. It also covers you to take legal action against anybody who tries to infringe this copyright law. Copyright can instantly be applied to any artistic piece listed above once it has been created, although you should properly register so that you can prove clear ownership of any of your works.

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