(3 minute read)

In today’s rapidly evolving business landscape, which also includes the Creative Community (or at least those artists who wish to earn a living from their creative work), intellectual property (IP) plays a pivotal role in safeguarding innovations, creations, and brands. Intellectual property law serves as the backbone for protecting these valuable assets (yes, your artwork is an actual asset just as being an artist is a business), ensuring that creators and innovators receive due recognition and economic benefits for their contributions. In this edition, we delve into the nuances of three primary forms of intellectual property protection: Patents, Trademarks, and Copyrights.

Patents: Patents grant inventors exclusive rights to their inventions, preventing others from making, using, or selling the patented invention without permission for a limited period, usually 20 years from the filing date. Patents typically cover inventions such as processes, machines, compositions of matter, and improvements thereof. For instance, pharmaceutical companies often seek patents to protect their novel drug formulations, and motivational speakers/life coaches seek patents to protect their “ideas” and “processes”.

Pros:

• Exclusive Rights: Patents provide inventors with a monopoly over their inventions, allowing them to capitalise on their innovations.
• Incentivises Innovation: By offering legal protection, patents encourage investment in research and development.
• Monetary Gain: Patents can be licensed or sold, providing inventors with additional revenue streams.

Cons:

• Costly and Time-Consuming: The patent application process can be lengthy and expensive, involving extensive documentation and examination.
• Disclosure Requirement: Patent applications require detailed disclosure of the invention, potentially exposing valuable information to competitors.
• Limited Duration: The typical length of a patent is 20 years. Once the patent term expires, the invention enters the public domain, allowing others to freely utilise it.

Trademarks: Trademarks typically safeguard brands, logos, slogans, and other identifiers that distinguish goods or services from competitors in the marketplace. They serve as symbols of quality, trust, and goodwill, enabling consumers to make informed purchasing decisions. Examples of famous trademarks include the Nike swoosh and the Coca-Cola logo.

Pros:

• Brand Protection: Trademarks prevent competitors from using similar marks, reducing the likelihood of “passing off” (remember those knock-off Louis Vuitton bags in noughties?), consumer confusion and brand dilution.
• Asset Value: Successful trademarks can become valuable assets, contributing to a company’s overall worth.
• Continuous Renewal: The typical lifespan of a trademark is 10 years. However, unlike patents, trademarks can be renewed indefinitely as long as they remain in use.

Cons:

• Limited Scope: Trademarks only protect specific identifiers associated with goods or services, rather than the underlying ideas or concepts.
• Enforcement Challenges: Policing unauthorised use of trademarks across various jurisdictions can be complex and costly.
• Genericisation Risk: Trademarks may become generic terms if improperly used or widely adopted, losing their distinctiveness and legal protection.

In the next edition, we will cover the law of copyright in more detail because that is where is gets really complicated… 

See you then,

Joy Akah-Douglas | Principal & Solicitor – Advocate

Emma von Dadelszen | Trainee Solicitor

(Co-authors)