There are four main types of protection when it comes to
design and creativity, most commonly known are copyright and trademarks. However
there are 2 more called design rights and patents. These are essential for
protecting your work against anyone else using or stealing ideas. Most companies
will make you sign a non disclosure agreement which means that you cannot tell
or show anyone a product that you a working on until it is protected Because once an idea is in the public domain
it cannot be patented.
Starting
with trademarks, these are generally used for words and logos this can distinguish
your products from other competitors and make your own brand known. For example
the McDonalds logo has a small R in a circle this means that the trademark is
registered and cannot be used by others as you will have exclusive use. An unregistered
trademark will appear as a small TM after the logo. To register you need to go
to the intellectual property office where you will have to spend £200 to
register your design. A perk to having your designs registered is anyone who is
using or counterfeiting your logos can be brought up with criminal charges.
Copyrights
are the most common form of protection against your work. This type of
protection covers you on a range of things from novels, computer programs song
lyrics to architecture, paintings, sculptures and photographs. A copyright will
cost you around £35 but you will be fully protected in any medium meaning that
someone can’t use your work for example a painting of a protected photo or a
recording of a book. If something has a copyright protecting it the product can
have more than one form of protection. If it was a music album each song can be
protected not just the one album.
Design rights
are mainly used for 3 dimensional products on things such as aesthetics. A design
right will set you back about £50 but will again cover you by law against theft
or copying. Registered designs give you protection against your design for up
to 25 years in the UK. You can stop people doing anything with a product that
is the same as yours or your product from importing, exporting, making or
putting on the market. Design rights gives you protection straight away from
internal or external shape of an original design(3 dimensional) it does not
however give you protection on the 2 dimensional aspects of a product like
surface patterns. For example if you designed a product and then designed the
graphics for them you would have to take out copyright protection for the
graphics as well.
A patent is used specifically for
new inventions and functioning products that have never been made before. To apply
for a patent your product must have three criteria. It must be new, have an
inventive step that is not obvious to someone in that subject area and be
capable of being made or used in an industry. Your product must be tangible,
meaning that it cannot be a mathematical or scientific theory or a dramatic or literary
piece. Once you are granted a patent you then have complete control over it in
the world you can sell the invention and its ip rights or license the product
and keep the intellectual property rights yourself.
