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Foreword By The Editor

The following article by Edmund Roberts succinctly covers the sometimes apparently mystical subject of intellectual property (IP). For further reading and/or advice on the subject, please follow the links in the last paragraph headed About The Author.
Mike Alexander
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The Bottom Line

Foreword By The Editor

The following excellent article by Lani Garner outlines the four different, and often misunderstood, types of intellectual property. It is important that all managers (and above) in the commercial world, as well as self-employed professionals, understand them in order to always be sure where they stand in relation to their business and the law. More information can be found by following the links in About The Author at the end.
Mike Alexander
For all your content needs go to ClipCopy Content Solutions

Intellectual Property

The term ‘intellectual property’ (IP) covers a number of legal monopolies over creations of ideas, both artistic and commercial, and corresponding fields of law. Under intellectual property law, proprietors have sole rights to several intangibles such as musical, literary, and artistic works; ideas, discoveries, and inventions; and words. phrases, symbols, and designs. There are four main types of intellectual property as can be seen in the following paragraphs.

Copyrights

Copyrights give lawful rights to both unpublished and published original works. They provide legal safeguards for original creative works like novels, films, musical scores, and so on. They also give legal rights to a creator to use his or her original work in addition to reproducing, giving away, showing or even selling it with complete discretion within the time decided by law. In most nations, a copyright lasts for fifty years even after the author’s death and any unlawful use within this time span is considered an offence.

Patents

Patents are lawful and registered rights that allow inventors to prevent others from producing or promoting their invention. They offer protection not only for technological breakthroughs and scientific theories but also for new discoveries in the field of biology. In most countries, patent protection is available for a limited period of 20 years and the inventor loses his sole ownership over the invention after the expiry of this time span.

Trade Secrets

Trade secrets are those classified pieces of information that enable a company to gain an edge over its competitors in the market. A trade secret could be anything ranging from a customer database with the contact information of its most valuable customers to a unique recipe or even some secret research. Usually, trade secrets are an internal matter and are zealously guarded by the company without any intervention from a government agency. The common steps taken by a company to safeguard trade secrets include confining the information to a select handful of managers, or even keeping it under lock and key in some bank vault.

Trademarks

Trademarks, on the other hand, include one or more words, designs or logos that are associated with the company as a whole or its products, which distinguish them from the competition. Trademarks develop a unique brand identity that helps the customers recall or identify the company on noticing the trademark. Mostly trademarks have a ten year validity after which a renewal is often required.

About The Author

Discover more about Trademark Registration Singapore and discover how does an Intellectual Property protection increase the net worth of your business very fast. Get a totally unique version of this article from our article submission service.

Foreword By The Editor

The following article by Alex Finn brings into focus the somewhat blurry issues of trademark law as it relates to domain names and the use of keywords associated with domain names. If you want further information, be sure to follow the links in the last paragraph (headed About The Author).
Mike Alexander
For all your content needs go to ClipCopy Content Solutions

Domain Names

Discussions about trademark laws for the Internet invariably leads to the requirement (or otherwise) of trademarks for domain names. This is quite critical because the domain name you have conveys your identity and might also signify the services you offer customers.

A domain name that has been trademarked not only enables you to prosecute people who infringe your mark by using it as their own but also protects you from being looked upon as the owner of their website that might be making use of a deceptively similar domain name as yours.

You have to do a thorough search for almost identical domain names in cyberspace before registering your trademark, in order to prevent any infringements. The search must involve a detailed look at marks that are quite similar in spelling, sound or even meaning to the domain name you have chosen for your website. It is vital to register a domain only after properly checking that it does not infringe upon such trademarks.

Advice

For attaining this, it is preferable to engage the services of a cyber-law attorney, who can advise you in cyber-related trademark issues. This will not only enable you to avoid infringement claims but also save you from future conflicts.

It is essential to note in this regard that a domain name can be registered as a trademark only if it serves as a quick identifier of the products or services of your business, and not just as an address that brings web users to your site.

Keywords

Besides domain names and their possible infringement, infringement of keywords is a new menace in cyberspace, whereby genuine trademarks are lifted and used as keywords in advertisements put up through Yahoo, Google, and MSN, with the obvious purpose of creating a misunderstanding and confusion among customers.

Using such a keyword is not tantamount to a violation if the promotional ads lead to higher sales of the products or services behind the genuine trademark, but it is an infringement if the promoter starts using it as a tool for competing against the trademark owner.

About The Author

Uncover more about trademarks Singapore and industrial design protection. You are welcome to reprint this article – but get your own unique content version here.

Foreword By The Editor

This article by Johnna Hans covers the area of intellectual property and how to protect yourself from violations of your rights. This is a widespread problem nowadays and is exacerbated by the numbers of talentless people following spruikers of the ‘get-rich-quick-no-matter-who-you-tread-on’ mentality so prevalent on the Internet.
Mike Alexander
For all your content needs go to ClipCopy Content Solutions

Intellectual Property Rights

Even intangible things like ideas having commercial worth need safeguarding from persons who might want to misuse them for their advantage without the consent of the creator or owner. Intellectual property rights offer legal recognition to your work or idea and discourage others from making use of it illegally. Here are some practical options available to you to protect your intellectual property.

Vital Information

The first thing that you need to do is to withhold vital information with respect to the idea that is in your thought or in a tangible medium. You should be very careful while sharing your idea with people, especially in public or on Internet. You should also ensure that you are using a reliable email service protected by a difficult password, particularly when you are sharing your ideas with colleagues or friends through it.

Understanding The Law

It is also advisable to have the basic understanding of laws dealing with intellectual property. This would not only help you in prosecuting infringers of your rights but also help you come up with policies that safeguard your intellectual property. For instance, if you hire a team to further develop your idea, you can try ensuring that the members of the team know that what you are providing them is classified information. One way of ensuring confidentiality is by getting all the associates to sign non-disclosure agreement, so that you can turn to legal action if needed.

Engage A Lawyer

Further, a legal specialist must be consulted to suggest you the best methods of safeguarding your intellectual property. Mostly, these laws entail complications that have to be sorted out by a specialist on intellectual property matters. The lawyer will then make recommendations on the ways of patenting or copyrighting your creation, so that no one can violate it.

You must also keep in mind that the preliminary phase of the development of an idea is the best time for engaging an intellectual property lawyer. An early application for patent or copyright can save you a huge amount of time and effort in subsequent stages.

About The Author

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