subject: Use An Intellectual Property Specialist To Protect Your Bright Idea [print this page] While it might be easy to consider how something physical such as a corkscrew could be patented, it is perhaps less easy to grasp the concept of intellectual property. But the protection of an idea which you have developed is just as important, should that development be contained within a new process or piece of software, or in a brand that inspires people to carry on buying your product range as a result.
International law now has methods of protecting those with bright ideas. The 1967 convention that established the World Intellectual Property Organisation argues that intellectual property protection "shall include rights relating to:
- literary, artistic and scientific works
- performances, phonograms, broadcasts etc
- inventions in all fields of human endeavor
- scientific discoveries
- industrial designs
- service marks, commercial names, designations and trademarks
- protection against unfair competition, and all other rights resulting from intellectual activity in the industrial, scientific, literary or artistic fields."
There are several legal avenues to follow, depending on what type of intellectual property you are trying to protect. Copyright can also apply to art work, books and scientific publications; and to performing artists, phonograms and broadcasts.
Copyright is also used by companies which want to protect their public brand name, which has a high value in relation to bringing in custom. An alternative might be to use trademarking in order to protect a brand name.
Intellectual property as a concept can apply equally to new inventions as to new designs. A individualist idea which takes current technology one step further into the future is often patenable, which will protect it from being copied by others. As an example, James Dyson's concept for a better vacuum cleaner, using cyclonic technology, has been protected by the registering of patents; these have enabled Dyson to defend its concept against other vacuum cleaner companies who tried to copy the technology and introduce similar machines of their own.
An early consultation with an IP lawyer will establish the best way to protect your idea or concept against being copied by others. The fact that you will have sought protection, before showcasing your idea to the wider market, will give others who believe they were working on the same idea/project the opportunity to come forward.
