Intellectual property sometimes becomes more important than tangible property. Ideas, inventions, and innovation are the fountains of wealth in today’s world.
The uniqueness of creation and ideas is a marvel of the human mind and a distinguishing feature of human beings. In the business world, drawing a protective halo around unique creations becomes ever more crucial so that competitiveness and equity may prevail in intellectual pursuits.
This blog looks at the various aspects of intellectual property law that a small business owner, entrepreneur, or large corporation should know to grow without infringing on anyone’s intellectual property rights and without getting their own infringed.
In order to understand your rights as a business owner and your obligations regarding intellectual property, there are some concepts that you have to make sense of to ascertain what you should and should not do.
The following are some dimensions of intellectual property that you may or may not have encountered previously. But you need to know them to understand intellectual property laws better.
Defining Intellectual Property
What does Intellectual Property Relate to
Intellectual property is often limited to its best-known forms, which include patents, copyrights, trademarks, trade secrets, and industrial designs.
However, lesser-known forms of intellectual property exist, including plant breeders’ rights and semiconductor chip designs, etc. So intellectual property regime can be as vast as it be.
The Domain of Intellectual Property
In theory, Intellectual property rights are as broad as human intellect itself is.
In practice, intellectual property rights are more functionally limited.
Mainly because, conceptually, some barriers have traditionally excluded intellectual property from the general property domain.
The Most Common Types of Intellectual Property
Trademark Law
Trademark law protects the exclusive use of a mark by its owner to identify itself as the source of the goods.
It has two further categories:
How Long is a Trademark Valid?
This type of intellectual property has to do with branding the business and its services and products.
Copyright Law
Copyright law protects the exclusive use of original works of authorship fixed in a tangible medium. Such medium can be audio or visual work. This law protects the work from being copied by others for years.
Patent Law
Trade Secret Law
- Inventions, whether patentable or not
- Sensitive competitive information, such as customer lists
- Methods of doing business
- A secret formula, such as the secret formula for Coca-Cola
- Financial information, etc.
Making Sense of Property Rights in the Right Manner
People commonly conceive of property as a thing. However, property is better described as the legal relation between a person and a thing.
Once the focus shifts from the thing to the right, it is easier to understand the right to a trade secret or an industrial design, for example, and other more incorporeal things.
The right itself is always intangible, regardless of whether the object of the property right is tangible or intangible.
In the fast-paced world of business, innovation and ideas are the harbingers of success.
However, even the most groundbreaking ideas can fall victim to exploitation, theft, or legal disputes without appropriate legal protections.
Corporate law and intellectual property (IP) are vital pillars that every business, regardless of size or industry, must understand to safeguard its operations, assets, and creative outputs.
Corporate Law is the Foundation of Business Operations
Risk Mitigation
Historical Evolution of Intellectual Property Law
As we know it today, intellectual property law has its roots in the Renaissance. In 1474, the Venetian Council enacted legislation with a recognizable, if vaguely stated, intention to protect new ideas.
This right to inventions resembles the modern notion of a patent.
Similarly, in 1529, Henry VIII of England issued an act allowing the printing of books. In this act, he made it a privilege of the crown to allow the printing of books.
Moreover, in 1709, the British Parliament promulgated the Copyright Act, which secured book printing rights.
A patent is usually a pact between an inventor and the state. In such an agreement, the inventor is bound to disclose their invention fully to the state. In return, he acquires an absolute monopoly over the invention for a limited term.
Subsequently, since the industrial Age, the juxtaposition of ideas, creations, and information with technology has increased. This has ushered in a renewed importance for ideas as sources of wealth, and modern forms of intellectual property law have expanded the frontiers of human knowledge.
Registering a Name and a Trademark for Your Corporation
New business operators should remember that just because you have a name clearance does not mean you have a trademark clearance. In other words, if no other company has the same name as yours, it does not necessarily mean that your chosen name does not infringe upon someone else’s trademark.
Therefore, only after registering your trademark, without any objections arising, can you consider a name or trademark your own.
Creating Copyrightable Material
New business owners who create copyrightable material should be keenly aware of who originally owned the material.
For example, if you are acquiring some material from someone else and you are the face presenting that material for sale in the market, you should make it clear that you are not the owner.
Sometimes, a copyrighted subject matter is a work for hire. To illustrate, often, the author and not the business owner may be the actual owner of the copyright.
Is There a Timeline for Protecting Trade Secrets?
It is never too late for a business owner to begin securing the rights to his trade secrets. In this regard, the sooner, the better.