Protection of creative, new ideas in any field i.e. design, music, art or elsewhere.

•Confidentiality Agreement (the oldest form of IPP)

•Trademark

•Patent

•Registered Design

•Copyright

•Design right

Confidentiality AgreementUsed rather than patents because applying for a patent results in

the application becoming public. This may benefit some people more than others.

A famous trade secret

Ssssshhhhh!! Only 3 people in the whole world knew the exact recipe for Barr’s Irn Bru. Until recently all 3 belonged to the Barr family, now one of the employees ‘has the know-how’.

It is very common to have an agreement drawn up (by the solicitor) for formality. It’s then signed by those in the know. The agreement is then binding in law and any breaches could result in legal action.

Trademark

A Trademark is a word, phrase, symbol or design, or a combination of words, phrases, symbols or designs, that identifies and distinguishes the source of the goods of one party from those of others.

JUST DO IT

Both logo and phrase

Coca-cola design

Trademark continued… Examples

• “Just do it” • Nike

• “Don’t leave home without it” • American Express

• “I’m Lovin’ it” • McDonalds

• “It’s everywhere you want to be” • Visa

Phrases

Patents

Patent: a document granting an inventor sole rights to an invention

Legal document that intends to:

•Cover products or processes that contain functional or technical aspects

•Prevent others from copying, using or selling the invention without their permission

The Dual Cyclone™ vacuum cleaner was nearly never made due to patent and legal costs.

Unlike a songwriter who owns the song he writes, an inventor has to pay substantial fees to renew his patents each year.

During the development years when James Dyson had no income, this nearly bankrupted him. He risked everything, and fortunately the risk paid off.Then in 1999, Hoover (based in the UK) tried to imitate a Dyson and James Dyson was forced back to court to protect his invention.After 18 months Dyson finally won a victory against Hoover for patent infringement.

Patent nightmare

http://www.dyson.co.uk/about/story/patent.asp

Copyright

Copyright: a document granting exclusive right to publish and sell literary or musical or artistic work

A governed Act that gives the owner of the copyright in a work the exclusive right to use the work and to authorise others to use the work. The Act also gives the owner the right to bring a lawsuit against any person who uses the work without the owner's permission.

Registered Design

Registered Designs – protect the appearance of a whole or part of the design (2-dimensional or 3-dimensional designs).

Duration of Registered Designs The term of a registered design is five years from filing, and this period can be renewed for further five year periods up to a maximum duration of 25 years.

A registered design provides a monopoly protection usable to stop other people producing the same or a similar design, whether or not they have copied your design.

http://www.cipa.org.uk/pages/advice-basic_designs

http://www.ipo.gov.uk/d-basicfacts.pdf

Design Right

Design RightThis is an automatic type of protection which provides protection for a limited period for most three-dimensional designs.

For more information on Design Rights see: