FAQs about Intellectual Property

What is an intellectual property (IP) right?

An intellectual property right (commonly abbreviated to IP) is a type of intangible property right.  Tangible property is physical things like cars, computers, phones etc.  These are legally known as chattels.  Intangible property is something that is creative and original – an idea that has not been replicated elsewhere.  As such ‘thought’ can be owned, transferred, leased and licensed – property really is a type of property like any chattel.

To illustrate the distinction, let’s have a look at a quick example.  Any original painting will encompass two types of property: physical property and intellectual property.  The physical property is the canvas itself, the frame, the paints and any other materials used to create the painting.  The ideas in the painting, the way the colours have been applied and combined and the actual image as a whole is intellectual property.

What is the significance of IP law?

Huge! The modern world as we know it would be very different if IP law did not exist.  Organisations would find it very difficult to maintain competitive advantages and professionals would find it difficult to profit from their own work.  Intellectual property is almost everywhere you look and on a daily basis you can expect to encounter 100s if not thousands of things protected by IP law.

What is a copyright?

A copyright is a type of IP right that automatically comes into existence.  It is used to protect works of an artistic nature.  The term ‘artistic’ is perhaps misleading.  Whilst pure artworks (sculptures, paintings, sketches etc.) definitely come under the term ‘artistic’, literature, videos, movies, sound recordings, manuscripts, corporate communications and even computer code can also be considered artistic works and are therefore protected by copyright.

Copyrights last for the lifetime of the creator of the work plus 70 years.

What is a patent?

Patents are used to protect inventions and new mechanical ways of doing things.  So, for example, a perpetual motion machine – a machine which continues perpetually without wasting any energy – would be protected by a patent, although due to the current laws of physics, a patent for such a machine has never been granted.   The important point is, is that the device or process must be technically unique (as verified by a technical expert) and must have an application to a certain industry. So a perpetual motion machine would be unique because no such machine has ever been created and would have an application to many industries, such as manufacturing, transport etc.

What cannot be protected by a patent?

Apart from other ideas which come under other intellectual property and subject to the requirements of a patent (unique idea, application to industry etc.), discoveries relating to the natural world, medical science, mathematics and other discoveries which prove objective facts cannot be patented.

What is a trademark?

Trademarks are used to protect ideas that relate to a business’s or brand’s image.  Logos, brand names, strap lines (slogans), certain word usage, colours and even certain smells can be protected by trademarks.  The important thing is uniquely related to a certain organisation.  Trademarks can either be unregistered or registered.

What now ?