Trademark or Copyright or Patent: Which one to use?

Intellectual Property Law has become the fastest-growing legal field in recent years. It is pretty understood that without having the satisfaction of security regarding one’s innovation, creative works, or a brand, it is unusual that companies or individuals will be willing to provide their time, effort, and money into such projects. Hence, strong Intellectual Property Laws and growth in innovation work together.

The domain of intellectual property is vast. But it’s important to have a good understanding of the most common rights that are given through IP protection. The most commonly applied are:

• TRADEMARK
• COPYRIGHT
• PATENT

Copyright Registration protects originally created content and artwork

Copyright is a right that protects original works of authorship; including both unpublished and published works including literary, dramatic, musical, artistic works, cinematographed film, and sound recordings. It provides the copyright holder the right to reproduce, license, or to distribute copies of the copyrighted work. It also means that one can exhibit the copyrighted work publicly. 

Under the copyright law, works that are not confirmed in a tangible form of expression like choreographic work that is not noted in any form, names, a listing of ingredients, procedures, concepts, ideas, etc. are not eligible for prevention under the copyright law. In addition to that, works consisting of commonly available information to all and lacking of any original authorship, like calendar’s, height/weight charts that can be removed from public documents or other common sources, etc. are also not protected.

Copyright registration is not compulsory for protection. Regardless of that, registration is supported due to the many advantages that it offers. This includes a prime form of evidence of authorship, a legal formality to make a public record of the basic facts of particular copyright, etc. Generally, the protection given under the copyright law is for the lifetime of the author or creator and an additional sixty years after his/her death. 

Trademark Registration secures your logo and brand identity 

A trademark is a word, group of words, symbol, or combination of these that differentiated the products of one competitor from the products of other competitors in the marketplace. It has to be unique, different, and capable of being presented graphically. Also, should be capable of differentiating the goods or services of one person from those of others a brand registered under the trademark law.

It protects and helps in the creation of the brand which is immensely important to a company’s growth. The first thing that a consumer looks for is the brand through its unique identity i.e. its name. The finest example to show this is the fashion industry. It has opened new ways in which marketing is done and acts as a tool to earn and make huge profits. Hence keeping the name’s exclusiveness and uniqueness secured is the major objective of a company, which is what exactly trademark protection does. Trademark registration protects the brand owners from unfair competitors, such as counterfeiters from copying and using similar names/logos to market their poor quality or different products or services. Thus, it supports fair competition and makes it convenient for consumers to make informed decisions while buying goods/services from a particular company or a brand.

Patent Registration protects Innovations and Inventions 

The patent is one of the most crucial intellectual property rights that act as a motivation for people to invent. They not only help the investor to make money but also the country in which the patented invention is done. 

An invention needs to be novel, non-obvious and most importantly it must have some sort of utility. It cannot be a just model or an idea. The patent owner has the exclusive right for 20 years from the date of registration. Unlike copyright, registration is a must and without it, no rights associated with the intellectual property can be claimed, unless it proves itself as prior art and claims rights through passing off.

The inventor is mostly the owner of the patent but not when it is made during the course of his employment as part of his/her job then the employee or the organization in which the individual is employed becomes the original owner.

Conclusion

Over the years awareness of intellectual property laws has increased amongst the people. Almost every business wants IP rights and requires its protection as it protects the valuable assets of a company/business. From the company’s brand name, any invention made in it, to the website it owns; Patent, trademark, and copyright not only prevent the rights, but they also prove as an advantage for better creative expression and are a major motivation for people to invest into research and development of projects worldwide.