Law and Justice

Patenting is coved in Patent Act and includes new products, methods, new uses for old methods or products and products obtained from new patented methods. Still a patent can be granted only for one of the statutorily-defined areas of subject matter.

The Copyright Act regulates the protection of creative works like original artistic, literary, musical and dramatic works. A copyright itself grants a right to produce or reproduce and publish the work if it is unpublished. Once the performance or broadcast signal occurs the work will be automatically protected by a copyright, still it is better to register the copyright in case some legal problems arise.

A Trade-Mark is something that makes the product different from the other products on the market, so the Trade-Mark Protection can be used to protect word, name, design, logo, shape of a product or its packaging. The Trade-Mark Protection secures the rights of a Trade-Mark owner in the whole country in case a fake Trade-Mark is used in some areas where the original mark is unknown.

Trade Secrets cover proprietary and secret formulas, patterns, compilations, programs, devices, methods, techniques or processes. The Trade Secret is protected as long as it is kept confidential and requires no formal registration, but if a third party has independently developed this secret, they can legally use it. A Trade Secret is usually not registered and the owner of the secret can be defined if a third party obtains the secret by illegal means or through a breach of confidence.

Industrial Designs are protected by the Copyright Act and cover things like shape, configuration, pattern or even ornamentation that gives aesthetic appeal to finished product. The Industrial Design protection works only for products produced in quantities of 50 or more.

The two more ‘exotic’ areas are the Plant Breeders’ Rights protected by the Plant Breeders’ Rights Act and Integrated Circuit Topography protected by Integrated Circuit Topography Act. In case of the Plant Breeders rights if someone has developed new varieties of plants, he or she can protect it for up to 18 years. But in this Act algae, bacteria and fungi are excluded. As for the Integrated Circuit Topography if a new topography is developed it can be protected as intellectual property, but only if it is original and not a changed copy of another topography. It is also not important if the scheme has been embodied in an integrated circuit product or not.

Even a simple product like a bottle of Coke can be protected by multiple types of Intellectual Property protection. The formula is a Trade Secret, the shape of a bottle is protected by Industrial Design Protection, and the logo is protected by a Trade-Mark Protection. A complex product like a Personal Computer or any other electronic device will also include the Integrated Circuit Protection. So people who will try to illegally reproduce, imitate or launch a production even of a simple thing like soda bottles can be sued on multiple types of breaching intellectual property protection.

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