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Industrial property rights protect inventions, including patents, trademarks, trade names, industrial designs, IC layout designs, geographical indications, and protection against unfair competition. These rights protect the idea itself and require permission for unauthorized use. Patents are the most common and require full disclosure. Trademarks differentiate goods or services, while trade names identify organizations. Industrial designs protect the aesthetic aspects of a product, while IC layout designs protect inventions. Geographical indications designate the origin of a product, and protection against unfair competition complements other protections.
Industrial property rights are one of the categories of intellectual property rights that protect inventions. Inventions are usually new solutions to technical problems. Industrial property rights protect the idea itself. To receive protection, these ideas need not be embodied in a physical object. The different types of industrial property rights include patents, trademarks, trade names, industrial designs, integrated circuit layout designs, geographical indications, and protection against unfair competition.
The protection granted to the owner of an industrial property right is the protection against unauthorized use. A person or entity must receive permission from the original inventor before using the invention in any unauthorized way. This is also true for those who independently make the same invention at a later time.
Patents are written to protect inventions. They are the most used industrial property right. A patent is an industrial property right granted to an inventor by a recognized government agency, which allows the inventor to exclude everyone else from exploiting his invention for a limited period of time.
In exchange for this right, the inventor must fully disclose his invention to the governing body. The governing body then makes this information public. The specific governing body varies by country. The patent application process is complicated and not all inventions are patentable.
Trademarks are signs or combinations of signs used in the marketing of goods or services. They differentiate the goods or services of one person or company from those of another. Each country has different requirements and restrictions on what can be registered as a trademark.
A trade name is a name that identifies an organization. In most countries, a trade name can be registered with a government body. The industrial property right protection afforded is that the trade name of one organization may not be used by another organisation, either as a trade name or as a trademark, if such use would confuse the public.
Industrial designs are developed to determine the appearance of a useful item produced in an industrial process. The use of industrial designs is an industrial property right granted in many countries as part of a registration system which protects the original, aesthetic and non-functional aspects of a product which result from an intended design. IC layout designs are inventions. They are extremely expensive to make and very easy to copy. They constitute a specific category of industrial property law because they are not covered by patents or industrial designs.
Geographical indications are signs used on products to designate the geographical origin of those products if that origin denotes a certain quality or other reputation due to that product’s place of origin. The protections granted to these types of industrial property rights are both protection and enforcement against the unauthorized use of this indication. These protections vary by country.
Protection against unfair competition is provided to industrial property in order to protect it from acts contrary to honest practices in industry or commerce. This protection is complementary to the protection granted to specific industrial property rights. It also varies by country.
