If you have a new product, service or invention that you want to market, it’s important to protect your Intellectual property solicitor (IP) from the outset. This will help prevent others from copying your creation and securing a competitive advantage over the competition, we offer a range of IP services that are tailored to meet your needs and ensure your innovation remains protected in Ireland.
What is Intellectual Property?
Intellectual Property (IP) is a legal term that refers to inventions, artistic works and other creations of the mind. It can also be used to refer to copyright, trade marks and patents.
Intellectual Property is protected by law so you can use it to protect your business. If someone copies your ideas or designs without permission, they are infringing upon your intellectual property rights and may be liable for damages under Irish law.
In order for an invention or artwork creation to qualify as intellectual property it must be novel; have an element of creativity in its expression; be capable of being expressed in some material form; not contrary to public policy or morality; and lastly but most importantly it must be original!
Protecting Your Innovations Through Patents
A patent is a form of intellectual property that protects the rights of inventors to their creations. Patents are a legal protection, which means that they can be used to prevent others from copying your product or idea.
Trade Marks and Service Marks
A trade mark is a word, phrase, logo, symbol or design that identifies and distinguishes the source of the goods or services of one party from those of others. It can be a word or words used as part of a company name (for example “Apple”), or it could be an image (such as three stripes). If you have ever purchased an item from IKEA then you will know how easy it is to recognise their products by their unique packaging colour scheme.
A service mark is similar to a trade mark but identifies and distinguishes the source of services rather than goods.
Copyright
Copyright is a form of protection provided by the laws of the United States (Title 17, U.S. Code) to the authors of “original works of authorship” including literary, dramatic, musical, artistic and certain other intellectual works.
Copyright protection vests in an author automatically upon creation or registration with the United States Copyright Office. Registration is not required to enjoy copyright protection but registration can assist in protecting your rights against infringement by providing evidence that you are indeed the owner/author of your work and also gives you certain privileges such as statutory damages where available if someone else infringes on your copyright without permission from you
Design Right
Design right is a form of intellectual property which protects the visual appearance of a product. It lasts for 5 years and can be renewed. Design rights can be registered in Ireland and the European Union.
Design Rights are similar to copyright, but they protect only the physical appearance of an article (not its underlying ideas). If you create something that has never been seen before and it looks different from anything else on the market, then you may have created something novel enough to qualify as “original”.
A multidisciplinary team of patent attorneys, IP lawyers and trademark attorneys at can help you to protect your innovations.
A multidisciplinary team of patent attorneys, IP lawyers Dublin and trademark attorneys at can help you to protect your innovations.
We are experienced in all aspects of intellectual property law and can provide advice on the best way to protect your business or idea from theft or exploitation by others.
Conclusion
We hope this article has given you a better understanding of the different types of intellectual property and how they can be protected. If you have any questions about protecting your innovations, please contact us at . We’d be happy to help!