In: Economics
Discuss the registration requirements of various types of intellectual properties.
Patent- When talking about IP security, patents are used to shield innovative ideas or processes – items that are fresh, useful and non-obvious. Patents are also used to shield crops or varieties of newly engineered plants.
Conceptualization- Innovation teams usually seek to solve a specific issue that their company, market, or the world at large faces while designing their concept. Upon arriving at a idea or definition, they must draw up plans and collect the necessary resources to make it a reality. To provide a more detailed explanation of the final product or process, prototypes or sketches may be made.
Every innovation also has an internal review process. The research team is composed of internal counsel and a jury of different disciplines to study the invention. The reviewers assess, rate, rank, score and highlight possible shortcomings in the supporting documents and explanations for the invention, which then appear multiple times for a single invention.
Patent Application- Where the invention is considered meritorious enough to seek patent protection, some companies are planning their own interim or non-provisional patent applications. Some are going to farm out there this time. Once an application is prepared, there could be further modifications, and then submission to the relevant patent office and the period of litigation (the back & forth with the government patent office) begins. Usually this procedure and associated docketing operations are handled by outside counsel.
Costs- Costs may vary depending on the country or countries in which you send an application, and can amount to tens of thousands of dollars depending on the scope of the project, plus lawyers fees. Maintenance payments will run into thousands more per patent over the lifetime of the patent, per country where patent rights have been issued. You need to keep an eye on those prices.
Trademark- A trademark is unlike a copyright, covering names, expressions, images, sounds, smells, and schemes of colour. Trademarks are also considered to be properties that define or otherwise distinguish the source of the underlying goods or services a business offers, such as the MGM lion roar, the orange Home Depot color scheme, the Intel Inside logo, etc.
Trademarks do not generally need government approval to be in effect; they may be extended to international trade through sufficient use. Even, trademark registration offers much superior protection and is obtained by filing an application with the appropriate government office.
A trademark application allows the business or consumer in connection with related products or services to have a concise definition and illustration of the mark and its uses. Like with trademarks, working with professional attorneys specializing in trademark applications and/or search services is a smart idea and they can help ensure a clear path for your desired trademark is available.
Trademarks are usually relatively easier to obtain. Trademark registration usually costs between $225 and $325 for each class code you use per mark, the US Patent and Trademark Office says. Attorney fees and the application costs are supplementary. Policy licensing payments for trademarks are also regular (and fairly inexpensive).
Copyright- Copyright does not cover ideas, but rather the way ideas are presented ("original authorship works")-written works, art, music, architectural sketches, or even software programming code (most noticeable nowadays in video game entertainment). Copyrights, with some exceptions, require the owner of the protected materials to monitor reproduction, development, new versioning or modifications, public performance, and works distribution.
Copyright in general apply when the original works are set in a tangible format, but for maximum defense in the form of damages, injunctions and confiscation should be registered with the government copyright office. Applications for copyright registration are often easier than patents or trademarks, and can usually be sought by the author himself. The U.S. Copyright Office allows the use of their online application program, allowing a description of the work and some personal information about the author to be covered.