A lot of business owners are not familiar with Intellectual Property - Therefore, our firm, Andrews Robichaud wrote this article to give you a quick overview of the different type of IP.
INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY 101
Trade-marks
Trade-marks are words, symbols, slogans or any other indicia that are used by businesses to distinguish their businesses, wares and/or services from those of others in their marketplace.
Success in business is closely linked to the image and message a business projects. Brand names have the ability to stand out and dominate in a marketplace, and are often the subject of market research and design that can be as important as the underlying actual product or service.
The best form of protection for such important business assets is through trade-mark registration. The registration of trade-marks in Canada and other countries provides clear legal title to these important business assets, and gives the business owner an exclusive claim and monopoly for the words, logos, symbols, sounds or slogans that form the heart of the business marketing and message. These registrations add significant value to the underlying business and act as a “net” for capturing and preserving the growing goodwill of the business.
Copyrights
Copyrights provide significant protection for important original business and personal knowledge based, creative assets or “works”, including literary (e.g. books, marketing literature, software), artistic (e.g. artwork, photographs, logos and designs), musical (e.g. records, tapes, cd’s, dvd’s, scores) and dramatic (e.g. films, television, plays). These copyrights foster creative effort and the orderly exchange and commercialization of ideas.
Copyright registrations are the official acknowledgement of one’s claim of copyrights. As in trade-marks, copyright registration provides the holder with legal title and represents a valuable asset. The certificate of registration is evidence that the work is protected by copyright and the owner is the proper holder of that copyright. There are also several legal benefits that arise from registration, including many which are strategically important in enforcing the exclusive copyright claims against third party infringers.
Patents and Designs
Patents cover new inventions, or new and useful improvements to existing inventions. These inventions can be in the form of processes, composition of matter and articles of manufacture. Patent registrations provide inventors and owners with a monopoly on their invention for a specified period of time, and are often one of the principal cornerstones for the development and growth of a business. If an invention is not properly patented, then anyone is free to use it and profit by it.
Industrial design registrations cover the visual features of design, ornamentation, shape or pattern or any combination thereof, which are applied to articles of manufacture. Businesses often invest significant time, money and effort in adding visual appeal to their products, and can establish an exclusive monopoly on the design by properly registering the design. Such registrations again can be very valuable assets, and, like patents, if they are not properly protected and registered, they will be freely available to anyone to utilize.
INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY 101
Trade-marks
Trade-marks are words, symbols, slogans or any other indicia that are used by businesses to distinguish their businesses, wares and/or services from those of others in their marketplace.
Success in business is closely linked to the image and message a business projects. Brand names have the ability to stand out and dominate in a marketplace, and are often the subject of market research and design that can be as important as the underlying actual product or service.
The best form of protection for such important business assets is through trade-mark registration. The registration of trade-marks in Canada and other countries provides clear legal title to these important business assets, and gives the business owner an exclusive claim and monopoly for the words, logos, symbols, sounds or slogans that form the heart of the business marketing and message. These registrations add significant value to the underlying business and act as a “net” for capturing and preserving the growing goodwill of the business.
Copyrights
Copyrights provide significant protection for important original business and personal knowledge based, creative assets or “works”, including literary (e.g. books, marketing literature, software), artistic (e.g. artwork, photographs, logos and designs), musical (e.g. records, tapes, cd’s, dvd’s, scores) and dramatic (e.g. films, television, plays). These copyrights foster creative effort and the orderly exchange and commercialization of ideas.
Copyright registrations are the official acknowledgement of one’s claim of copyrights. As in trade-marks, copyright registration provides the holder with legal title and represents a valuable asset. The certificate of registration is evidence that the work is protected by copyright and the owner is the proper holder of that copyright. There are also several legal benefits that arise from registration, including many which are strategically important in enforcing the exclusive copyright claims against third party infringers.
Patents and Designs
Patents cover new inventions, or new and useful improvements to existing inventions. These inventions can be in the form of processes, composition of matter and articles of manufacture. Patent registrations provide inventors and owners with a monopoly on their invention for a specified period of time, and are often one of the principal cornerstones for the development and growth of a business. If an invention is not properly patented, then anyone is free to use it and profit by it.
Industrial design registrations cover the visual features of design, ornamentation, shape or pattern or any combination thereof, which are applied to articles of manufacture. Businesses often invest significant time, money and effort in adding visual appeal to their products, and can establish an exclusive monopoly on the design by properly registering the design. Such registrations again can be very valuable assets, and, like patents, if they are not properly protected and registered, they will be freely available to anyone to utilize.
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