What is Intellectual Property?
Intellectual Property are inventions, artwork, designs, and other works that have been given a tangible form. An idea by itself is not a form of intellectual property. Like all other forms of property, intellectual property rights and ownership, are regulated by the federal government in order to enable the creators of it to reap the associated recognition or financial benefits. Some common forms of Intellectual Property are trademarks, copyrights, patents and trade secrets. While all these forms of intellectual property are slightly different from each other, all types of intellectual property have some common features about them. These include the fact that they allow for a business to secure a monopoly, they can be co-owed with the co-oweners each having equal rights, the rights associated with them are granted by the government and require the owners to protect them, they can be sold, licensed or ignored, they can be infringed upon and when that occurs, its up to the owner to protect their rights and that infringement can be stopped by a court order , with damages being generally awarded through the courts as well.
Common Forms of Intellectual Property
Patents
Patents are exclusive rights granted for an invention, which is a product or process that provides a new way of doing something or offers a solution to a problem. Technical information about the invention must be disclosed to the public with the patent application. A patents guarantees the owner(s) exclusive rights to prevent or stop others from using the patented invention. This protection means that the invention cannot be commercially made, used, distributed, imported or sold by others without the consent of the patent owner(s).
Patents are generally only applicable within the country or region in which the patent has been filed and granted and usually for limited period, around 17 to 20 years after being issued.
Tutorial on How to Prepare a Patent Application, Canadian Intellectual Property Office
Copyrights
Works commonly protected by copyrights include literary works, such as novels, books, plays and articles, computer programs and databases, Films, musical compositions, choreography, works of art, such as paintings, drawings and photographs, architecture, advertisements, maps and technical drawings. Copyright protection extends only to expressions, and not to ideas, procedures, methods of operation or mathematical concepts as such. Furthermore, copyrights only applies to the exact form of the work, so two songs which may seem similar do no necessarily infringe upon each other. Like a patent, copyright gives the author the right to prevent others from reproducing and selling their copyrighted work. Unlike patents, no registration or application needs to be made for copyright to be granted. It exists as soon as the work is created. However, it is much easier to prove authorship if it is registered.
Trademarks
Trademarks can be words, symbols, names or any combination of these things, that allow a consumer to recognize a brand, company or product. Some common trademarks are the Golden Arches at McDonalds, or the Nike Swish on their shoes. Nationally, Trademarks must be registered and are given a lifespan of 15 years, with the option to renew after that time. Internationally, companies must either register with each country they intend to do business within, or register the trademark through World Intellectual Property Organization's (WIPO) Madrid System. Similar to the other protections, trademarks give the owner(s) the rights to prevent others from using the mark.
Industrial Designs
Industrial Designs cover the ornamental or aesthetics of an object. These can cover both three dimensional features, such as the shape, weight and size of an object, and two dimensional features, such as patterns, lines or colours. In layman terms, Industrial designs cover the look of the object, where as patents would cover how it works.
Trade Secrets
A trade secret is something that a business is keeping secret in order to give itself a competitive advantage in its markets. These can resemble a number of types of intellectual property, however, in order to be classified as a Trade Secret, owners must be able to actively prove that they have taken measures to prevent the theft or leaking of it. Examples of these measures could be keeping the information within a locked drawer or cabinet, or having employees or individuals who are working with the product to sign a non-disclosure agreement. An examples of a trade secret would be the recipe for Coke.
Commercialization
Commercialization is the process that producers take in order to introduce their intellectual property to the general market. While producers can pursue this practice by themselves, it is highly recommended that they utilize the resources and services that are offered by Trent, due to the fact that there are many different factors that can effect the process. If producers opt to follow the previously mentioned strategy, it is still advisable that they contact the Office of Research for advise about constructing a plan for the process.