What is a Trade Mark and how will it help your business?

In short, Trade Marks, Patents and Copy Rights are just different ways to protect different forms of Intellectual Property.

Patents are used to protect inventions. Inventions can be anything from new forms of medication to significant improvements to existing machinery – as long as the invention is non-obvious, useful (because mere ideas cannot be registered) and completely new or state-of-the-art.

Patent rights will legally deter others from making money or using your invention, without buying those rights from you, for a maximum of 20 years. After that it’s considered fair game for all.

Copy Rights are rights that are automatically given (here, there’s no need for registration) to the author or creator of original publication or production work. Works like photographs, films, literature and even computer programs all fall into this category.

The author or creator retains exclusive Copy Rights to use, distribute and sell the work or the Copy Rights, a glorious 50-years after death (straight after death these rights fall to whomever inherits the creator’s assets). That’s why historic photographs or illustrations and classical music are considered public domain.

Trade Marks are used to protect branding elements, which distinguish you from your competitor, like your logo and your slogan or even patterns (like Burberry’s definitive check pattern) or packaging (like Coca Cola’s classic glass bottle shape). Trade Marks can offer you a lifetime exclusivity provided you renew it every 10 years and you don’t sell it to someone else.