Types of Intellectual Property Protection You Can Use To Protect Your Idea

By: Steven Njenga

Intellectual Property protection (IP protection) is a means for preserving the integrity of inventions, literary and artistic works, symbols, designs and images created by the mind (intellect). Both entrepreneurs and business owners need to understand how IP law works in order to best protect their creations and ideas from being stolen by others. Be sure to speak with an intellectual property attorney to get the most thorough information possible in order avoid theft of your ideas.

Because filing Intellectual Property applications is time-intensive (and costly if filed incorrectly), you will need to determine what type of IP protection you need for your creation. There are four types of IP protection: patents, trademarks, trade secrets and copyrights. An invention can have one or more of these forms of protection at a time. Take a bottle of Coca-Cola ® as an example. The brand (Coca-Cola®) is a registered trademark. The formula is a trade secret. The graphic design is protected by copyright, while the shape of the bottle itself is protected by both a design patent and a trademark.

Patents

A patent sets properly rights on an invention allowing the patent holder to prevent others from making selling or using the invention. Patents allow businesses to succeed by using the new and improved processes or products to give them an edge over their competitors in the market place. To obtain patents and patent plaques, you will need to file an application with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.

There are three types of patents: utility, design and plant. A utility patent is the most common type of patent and covers processes, machines and compositions, along with any improvements to said article. In order to qualify for a utility patent, the invention must be:

> Unique and not known by anyone else
> Not obvious to anyone having standard skills in the industry
> Have some form of usefulness

In order to let your competitors know that your product is in the process of being patented, you can file for a provincial utility patent that allows you to use the words “patent pending” until your full utility patent is active.

Design patents cover new and improved designs for any manufactured article. In order to file for a design patent, you will need to submit detailed drawings from all sides of the object along with a specific description.

A plant patent is applied to new strains of asexually reproduced plants, meaning that they were reproduced by budding or grafting onto a pre-existing species. Any new plant not derived from a tuber or from the wild can receive a pant patent. Both plant and utility patents last for 20 years, while design patents last for 14 years.

If you have patent protection on your products, you can legally prosecute anyone who copies your design, invention or discovery. If you fail to file for patent protection on your products within in a 12-month period of releasing it to the public, you will lose the opportunity to obtain a patent forever.

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