Confused about the difference between patents, trademarks and copyrights? This article provides a simplified write-up to clarify your doubts.
Just as there are many different types of property - houses, clothing, commodities and so on - there are also distinct types of intellectual property (IP).
Each IP right protects a distinct piece of property. Patents protect technical inventions and ideas. Trademark protection is afforded to trade names and trade logos. Copyright protects written works or artistic creations. Registered designs protect the shape and configuration of mass-produced items. The law of confidence protects trade secrets.
Some forms of IP only enjoy protection via a registration system. The rights must be registered in the applicable country registry in order to attract protection in law. Patents and registered designs are examples.
On the other hand, copyright and trade secret rights do not have a registration system. Rights are accorded from the moment of creation. Trademarks, however, enjoy a unique position. It can be protected under a registration system, and also acquire rights without registration.
The main IP rights used to protect infocomm innovations are copyright and patents.
Copyright essentially prevents copying, adaptation and communication to the public. However, such protection falls short of a full commercial monopoly.
Patents, in contrast, confer a virtual commercial monopoly on the owner, covering even mere use, import or disposal of the innovation.
Copyright does not protect the ideas that stay in one's head. It only offers protection when something is created in material or visual form.
Accordingly, it prevents the copying of the expression, not the idea behind the expression. Instead, patents can be expressed to protect ideas.
One way to view these differences is to consider a recipe. Since no copy of the recipe has been made, following a written recipe to make the dish is not an infringement of copyright. If the recipe has been patented, just by using the recipe can amount to an infringement.
There is no registration system for copyright in Singapore and the copyright protection arises automatically upon creation.
While it is easier to create a copyright, it is the difficulty of identifying the correct owner that may be daunting.
Patent ownership, which comes under a registration system, may be a matter of public record.
The patenting process is not easy. It often takes thousands of dollars, and many years of scrutiny by technical examiners, before a patent grant is obtained.
A patent must also satisfy the requirement of being new. If the innovative idea becomes public before you apply for a patent, the application will be rejected.
Even if you manage to obtain a patent grant, the validity of the patent can still be challenged.
In most cases, the period of patent protection is limited to 20 years. Conversely, the length of copyright protection can be the creator's lifetime plus another 70 years.
A patent registration is also limited to the country of registration. Copyright, on the other hand, is automatically recognised internationally among member states of the World Trade Organization.
Given the complex interplay of rights that confer property on innovators, it is advisable for companies to conduct a thorough review of the creative assets that they have.
Strategise the best way to secure protection, and then exploit these assets as with any other property.
Underestimating, discounting or ignoring the law that protects innovation is certainly not prudent. With technology being so pervasive, you can be sure that the law is right there with it.
- The writer is an infocomm committee member of the Law Society of Singapore and a director from Stamford Law Corporation.
- This article first appeared in The Business Times on 29 July 2008 and information is correct at the time of publication.
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