In the economic world, Intellectual Property (or IP) refers to certain categories of rights owned by businesses to advance their goals.
Patents, copyright, and trademarks, for example, are legal protections that allow people to profit financially or gain recognition from what they invent or create. The IP system strives to establish an environment where creativity and innovation can flourish by finding the correct balance between innovators' interests and the larger public interest.
Trademarks
Trademark is a type of IP that protects your badge, logo, name, sign, design, expression or item that distinguishes products or services from any others, by which customers find your products or services in the marketplace. Any individual, company, organisation, business or legal entity can be a trademark owner, and they essentially have exclusive use of that sign.
Trade Secrets
A Trade Secret is a type of IP that protects any sensitive commercial information that gives a company a competitive advantage. They're frequently employed when an invention or creation isn't patentable or when the inventor doesn't want to reveal the 'secret' publicly, as a patent requires. For example, any formulas, sales processes, or marketing tactics that the business has personally developed and wishes to refrain from sharing publicly.
Copyrights
Copyright is a type of IP that protects the owners' exclusive right to copy and distribute a creative piece of work for a set period of time, meaning no one but the creator can copy or issue a copy of said work to the public. The creative work can take the shape and form of literature, art, education, or music.
Patents
A patent is an exclusive right granted for an invention, which is a product or a technique that offers a new technical solution to a problem or provides a new way of doing something in general. Technical information concerning the innovation must be revealed to the public in a patent application in order to get a patent. The patent owner has the sole right to block or prohibit others from commercialising the protected invention. In other words, patent protection prevents others from commercialising, using, distributing, importing, or selling the innovation without the permission of the patent owner. The protection lasts for a decided limited amount of time, typically 20 years from the patent application filing date. There are three types of patents, each having its own eligibility requirements and discovery / invention protection. Note: it's possible for one invention or discovery to potentially have more than one type of patent available for it.
Utility Patent
A Utility Patent protects the production of a new or improved product, process, or machine that is useful. A utility patent, often referred to as a "patent for invention ", prevents other people or businesses from creating, using, or selling the invention without disclosed permission from the owner. Utility patents are extremely valuable because they grant innovators exclusive economic rights to produce and use cutting-edge technologies, however they are a difficult and lengthy process to obtain.
Design Patent
A design patent is a type of legal protection for a manufactured item's distinct aesthetic attributes. If the product has a unique configuration, surface decoration, or both, a design patent may be obtained. To put it another way, a design patent protects the attractive design of anything with practical utility. This means that an object that is substantially similar to something protected by a design patent cannot be manufactured, reproduced, used, or imported into the country.
Plant Patent
A plant patent is an intellectual property protection that prevents others from copying, selling, or using the key qualities of a new and original plant. By barring competitors from using the plant, a plant patent might assist an innovator obtain more income during the patent protection period. Natural, bred, or somatic plants are all patentable (created from non-reproductive cells of the plant). It can be invented or discovered, however a plant patent will only be issued if the discovery takes place in a cultivated area.
For more help on deciding which IP or patent is best for you, feel free to consult the SME Centre of Excellence at any time.