Hi, Its Ify!
IP is an acronym used globally that stands for Intellectual Property.
WHAT THEN IS INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY?
The term "intellectual property" is broad, and is widely used to refer to intangible assets. Intellectual property differs from other forms of property because it is intangible—that is, it is a product of the human imagination.
There are various classes of intellectual property: Patents, Copyright, Industrial Designs, Trade Secrets and Trademarks are perhaps the most prominent.
Patent law protects inventions that demonstrate technological progress.
Copyright law protects a variety of literary and artistic works, including paintings, sculpture, prose, poetry, plays, musical compositions, dances, photographs, motion pictures, radio and television programs, sound recordings, and computer software programs.
Trade Secrets protect literal logs or experiments like recipes, client’s lists and contacts
Trademark law protects words, slogans, and symbols that serve to identify different brands of goods and services in the marketplace.
‘Intellectual Property’ till recently has been
considered a luxury by the industry in general and SMEs in particular. In fact, it is a major avenue for SMEs to establish their credentials at par with the large enterprises. Every business has some valuable intangible property worth protecting. Keeping SMEs abreast of the latest information on Intellectual Property Rights (IPRs) systems and to enable them to protect their IP assets is, indeed, the need of the hour. Ignorance in this field may lead to a loss of valuable rights and expensive litigation or both.
Five Most Common IP Misconceptions
1. IP is for creative people, not for a storefront small business like me
Acquiring and protecting IP assets is a must for all types and sizes of businesses. An IP program must be carefully integrated in and tailored to your business plan.
2. IP rights are not worth the cost
Your fear of their cost will subside when you realize all the advantages and benefits you can get from exploiting your IP rights. Besides, you may soon find out that you can’t do without them.
3. An exclusive IP right is a ticket to expensive litigation
Getting a patent, copyright, or trademark doesn’t just give you a license to sue others. These are marketable business assets that can be lucratively exploited.
4. One IP right is all I need
Although a single, well-aimed shot may get the job done, it’s better to have a few spare guns of different gauges. Patents, copyrights, trademarks, trade secrets, and contractual rights can be made to work together to give you a full and comprehensive quiver of competition-busting arrows.
5. My business is registered at CAC, I don’t need to know anything about IP
Many people believe that by registering their business and its trade name at the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC), this name would also be automatically protected as a trademark. This is a rather common misconception. It is important to understand the difference between trade names and trade marks.
A trade name is the full name of your business, such as: “Dangote Group of Companies Ltd” and it identifies your company. It often ends with Ltd, PLC. or other similar abbreviations that denote the legal character of the company.
A trademark, however, is the sign that distinguishes the product(s) or service(s) of your company. A company may have various trademarks.
For instance, Dangote Group of Companies Ltd. may sell one of its products as DANSA but another as ZIZA (both are active registered trademarks). Companies may use a specific trademark to identify all their products, a particular range of products or one specific type of product. Some companies may also use their trade name or a part of it, as a trademark and should, in that case, register it as a trademark.
This is where we are heading to in our next article, Trademarks.
Yours Truly,
Legalipcoach
P.s Intellectual property law are laws that guide the different types of intellectual property in their own given field and the generality of it is then studied in schools under the term “intellectual property law”.
Disclaimer: The information contained in this guide in not meant as a substitute for professional legal advice. Its purpose is to provide basic information on the subject matter. Have more questions? Email me at legalipcoach@gmail.com