Intellectual property refers to the creative art that can be protected by legal systems of any country. As per the definition, the word creative dictates that intellectual property must be something new and unique from those already in existence. IP can be a business method, music, literature, invention, design, and other forms of discoveries
As a new and unique creation that has consumed a considerable time and resources, it is important that you reap maximum benefits out of it. This means after you have come up with your creative or innovative work, it is important that you seek protection under intellectual property laws. Under the IP law, you will be granted exclusive rights to exploit all the benefits accruing from the use of your creativity.
Protecting Intellectual Property
It is vital to understand how you can protect your business or intellectual property from unfair competition or unauthorised use by any party. Under IP law, there are mainly four ways through which intellectual property can be protected
- Patents
These refer to the sole rights granted by a government authority of a sovereign state to an inventor bestowing an exclusive right to use, sell or manipulate an invention without any interference from any party for a specified period of time. Patents can be classified into 3 major categories; these include Utility patents, Design patents, and plant patents.
- Utility patents include unique inventions originating from a process, manufacture, a composition of matter or a machine. It can also come from an improvement or innovation to the present idea thereby making it totally unique. This type of patent normally lasts for a period of 20 years from the filing date of an application. In most cases scientific inventions in the field of biology, chemistry and physics qualify for utility patents
- Design patent are those that origin from a creation of a new design that makes a manufactured devices unique. This type of patent is normally issued for a period of 14 years. For clarity; design patents can only be granted to an invention regarding product design and must make a product look more attractive than before.
- Plant patents are those that are granted for unique inventions on the field of plants. It can be as a result of an ability to manipulate a plant to reproduce or multiply without using a genetic seed. These pants normally last for a period of 20 years as utility patents do.
- Copy rights
A copy right is a legal right that grants an author a protection of his/her work from being misused by other parties. That means it is only the author of the original work who commands a right to distribute, adapt or reproduce the work. Other parties can only do so with written permission from the author.
3 Trademarks
A symbol, phrase, design or word legally registered or established with an intention of representing a business, Product or company is known as a trademark. It is used to differentiate a business or company from its competitors
4 Trade secrets
A secret device, technique, practice, design pattern or instrument, trade
method, used by a business especially company to manufacture and sell its product is referred to as a trade secret. A trade secret is only known by the company using it and therefore should be protected from unauthorised use by hackers. A trade secret is important in a way that it grants business a competitive advantage over others in the market. Trade secrets are in most cases protected by state laws. Because trade secrets constitute confidential information of a company, a non disclosure agreement is signed between the company and its employees to keep the secrets confidential irrespective of whether still working for the company or after
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