Protect Your Intellectual Property

Have you ever created anything? Legally, the term "intellectual property" refers to anything that was created, including written and recorded material, some titles and names, as well as inventions. It is not the same as copyright since it covers a broader range of rights.

Intellectual property laws differ from area to area, so it is important to know the exact specifications in the country where you live. What is standard in Canada might differ widely from the laws in France, for example.

Attempts have been made to create unison throughout the world on this topic, for example, in 1994; the World Trade Organization passed a treaty called Agreement on Trade-related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights. This agreement laid out standards that would be followed world-wide. However this only covers one small area of intellectual property rights. Other treaties have formed to cover other specific areas, but so far none has brought the whole thing together in one standard law.

The laws protecting intellectual property cover a wide range of rights including the following.

- Copyright. This protects creative works such as written manuscripts and art. There are several ways to obtain a copyright, although in many cases it is actually automatic.

- Patent. This is to give the creator of new and not obvious invention permission to create and sell the invention for 20 years (time period may vary from country to country). It also protects the invention from being copied during that time period.

- Industrial design right. The purpose of this is to prevent copying of a specific design within an industrial object. This could be as simple as protecting the unique design on a type of fabric, or the specialized gears on a machine.

- Trademark. The trademark is used to protect the symbol used for a specific product or company, like the McDonald's M or Nike's signature swooped check.

- Confidential information. This includes trade secrets and covers things like recipes and company practices. This information is not always protected, however.

Intellectual property rights can be transferred by selling, licensing or mortgaging them to another person or company. For example, a large, well-known company could allow another company to use their trademarked logo on a similar product after negotiating a contract. The other company could use the logo for a set amount of time for a fee, or in some cases, for a percentage of the profits.

In order to protect your intellectual property, you need to first figure out under which category it falls. A lawyer can be a big help in this part of the process. Businesses in particular will need legal help to jump through the paperwork hoops and legally prove that the property is theirs. Once the rights have been confirmed, the owner of those rights is in full power to make decisions about the property. That usually means deciding if and when anyone else can use the same thing. For trade secrets, the answer is obviously never, while an inventor might sell the rights to his invention in order to see it gain widespread exposure.