When we talk about property, it is not just the tangible things such as homes, buildings, vehicles, currency etc that are protected by law. There are various other forms of non-material property termed as intellectual property that have been recognized under the law and granted safety against infringement. The three primary kinds of intellectual property rights are patents, trademarks and copyrights.

Copyrights are intellectual property dealing with rights of the creator over his or her original creation. It includes not only original literary pieces but also other forms of creative expression like melodies, videos, films etc. It provides the owners with several rights including monetary and moral rights in addition to the right of being acknowledged as the owner of the piece.

On the other hand, trademarks accord the person who has registered it, the safety over certain symbols, words or marks which identify the creator or origin of products to prevent replication and thus infringement. With this legal shield, trademark is protected from replication by unscrupulous persons who want to exploit reputed brands.

The third type of intellectual property right, known as patent, safeguards the rights of inventors in their novel and beneficial invention. A patent is valid for a specified span and gives the holder sole right to use and commercially exploit his or her idea.

Less common IP

There are a few other less common types of intellectual properties that can be held by people. To give some examples of these rare intellectual properties, they can be some special understanding carried forward by a specific family only; business secrets like recipes behind popular products; and location based symbols or marks to refer to a product which comes from that place, like Champagne.

While all the three types of intellectual property mentioned above are distinct from each other there are also some commonalities. All three are recognized by law in a manner that allows the owners of the property to take legal action against the infringer and get compensation for infringement.

Copyrights deal with protection of original creative works. They offer legal safeguards for original works of creativity like novels, films, music, and so on. They permit the owners to exclusively use many forms of their idea in different mediums with sole legal rights of replication, adaptation, sale etc for a certain period of time. In most nations, a copyright continues even after the author’s death for 50 years and any unauthorized usage is actionable.

Patents are lawful and certified rights that allow inventors to stop others from manufacturing or marketing their invention. Typically they apply to scientific theories, inventions in the field of technology and even biological discoveries. The protection cover provided by a patent in most countries is for a span of 20 years, after which the invention ceases to be the exclusive property of the inventor.

Trade secrets

Trade secrets are certain confidential pieces of information that help a firm to gain an edge over its rivals in the market. Trade secrets can be anything ranging from a new software to the recipe of a food item and even information such as contact numbers of most important clients. Usually, trade secrets are a confidential matter and are zealously guarded by the company without any involvement of a government agency. The most common means of protecting trade secrets is by confining the information to only a few key executives and not everyone, or by depositing it safely in a bank together with other valuable items and papers.

Trademarks, on the other hand, include words, designs or logos that are associated with the firm on the whole or its products and services, which distinguish them from the competition. Trademarks act as an immediate recall of the company in the consumer’s mind and give rise to a specific brand identity. Usually trademarks hold good for 10 years after which a renewal is often necessary.

Firstly, you should keep the critical information confined to yourself and not discuss it with others. You need to be quite careful about the details of your idea, while sharing it with others, particularly on unsecured mediums such as internet. If you want to share your idea with your colleagues by means of email, you should ensure that your mail account is protected by a strong password.

It always helps to have some basic idea of the intellectual property related laws. This legal understanding will help you protect your intellectual property through proper policies and provide protection to your idea against any case of infringement. For example, if you hire a team to further develop your idea, you can try ensuring that the members of the team realize that what you are giving them to work upon is classified information. The proper way of doing this is to ask them to sign non-disclosure agreements, which will help you take legal action if the need arises.

It is always recommended to take suggestion from a lawyer, who can find out the relevant provisions of law for protecting your rights. More often than not, these laws involve complications that have to be sorted out by an expert on intellectual property matters. The lawyer will then let you know the ways of patenting or copyrighting your creation, so that no one can infringe it.

It is crucial to remember that the beginning stages of the idea development are the most suitable time for consulting an IP lawyer. Filing an early patent or copyright can save you from a lot of trouble in future.