14th November 2016 - ADMIN

What is Intellectual Property?

Intellectual property is an area of the law that deals with patents, trademarks, designs, copyright and trade secrets. Lawyers that specialise in this field are trained to advise you on how to protect your intellectual property assets such as novels, scientific or business inventions, designs, new technology, computer programs or a company’s trade mark.

Lawyers that specialise in this field also prepare agreements that cover the sale of intellectual property and the licensing of intellectual property. An assignment of intellectual property effects the transfer of ownership of intellectual property from one person to another. A transfer of ownership of intellectual property should always be in writing.

The licensing of intellectual property is a contract that establishes the expectations of parties when the licensor grants permission or authority to another person as the licensee to use the intellectual property. An intellectual property lawyer can also help you to ensure that you have the correct terms in employment contracts and contractor agreements to ensure that you own your intellectual property and protect your intellectual property from unauthorised use.

Technology Agreements

Technology agreements are becoming increasingly concerned with international dealings as technology accelerates change globally. Tech contracts cover cloud computing agreements, software licenses, service level agreements and online documents such as terms and conditions, acceptable use policies and privacy policies. A business that is seeking to establish overseas collaborations also requires a well drafted confidentiality or non-disclosure agreement when deciding whether they wish to enter a business relationship. The types of confidential information they wish to protect may include business and other methods and processes, computer code, client lists, commercial negotiations, trade secrets, know-how formulations and technological innovations.

Copyright

Copyright protects originals works including works of art or literature as well as computer programs. The owner of a copyright work has exclusive rights to the work such as reproducing the work in a material form, performing the work in public, communicating the work to the public and making an adaption of the work. There are also essential moral rights such as the right to be attributed as the author of the work, the right not have authorship of the work falsely attributed to someone else and the right for the work not to be subject to derogatory treatment.

Remember, copyright does not protect ideas, rather the expression of those ideas. There is also no formal registration in Australia for obtaining copyright protection.

Patents

The rationale for patent protection include a business wanting to protect its innovations from being copied and stopping others from patenting inventions first developed within a business. The securing of patents is also a way of blocking others from developing products or processes for the same product or process. Patents provide temporary monopoly rights and prohibit others from exercising the exclusive patent rights granted to the patent owner for a definite time.

In Australia, there are two types of patent granted. A standard patent and an innovation patent. The invention claimed for a standard patent must be new, useful and inventive A standard patent lasts for up to twenty years from the filing date or up to twenty-five years for pharmaceutical substances. The invention claimed for an innovation patent must be new, useful and innovative. An innovation patent can last up to eight years.

The process for submitting patent applications is complicated and applying the right strategy is essential. Therefore, it is prudent to obtain the advice of an IP lawyer or patent attorney.

Trade Marks

A trade mark is a sign or symbol that is used to distinguish the goods or services from one trader from those of another. Trade mark registration gives the trade mark owner the exclusive right commercially to use the protected names and symbols in the territory in which protected is granted.

With globalisation and the expansion of cross-border commerce, trade marks are increasingly significant to protection the branding of a business and its trans-border reputation because registered marks protect the words and symbols that distinguish one business from another. Customers recognise a business through its branding and once registered, owners of trade marks benefit from the legal protection granted against unauthorised use by third parties.

Intellectual property registration and protection gives owners the exclusive right to commercially use their protected names, symbols, inventions and works. These exclusive rights are enforced by a country’s judicial system and laws to protect infringing activities are strictly applied. If the claim for infringement is verified, courts can demand that payment be made to the intellectual property owner. So, when your intellectual property is used without your authorisation, an intellectual property lawyer can help to protect your brand reputation both locally and globally and enforce your intellectual property rights.

Contact w3ip lawyers on 1300 776 614 or 0451 951 528 for more information about any of our services or get in touch at law@w3iplaw.com.au
Disclaimer. The material in this post represents general information only and should not be taken to be legal advice.