Protecting Your Idea

intellectual property Protect Your Idea Protecting your intellectual property Apply for any patents Register your trademarks Copyright protection Integrated circuit topographies

Intellectual Property Patents Is a government grant that gives you the right to take legal action, if necessary, against other individuals who without consent make, use, or sell the invention covered by your patent during the time the patent is in force. Trademarks Is a word, symbol, picture, design, or combination of these that distinguishes your goods and services from those of others in the marketplace. Copyright Gives you the right to preclude others from reproducing or copying your original published work.

Intellectual Property cont’d… Industrial Designs Comprises the feature of shape, configuration, pattern, or ornament applied to a finished article made by hand, tool, or machine. Integrated Circuit Topographies The circuits incorporated into an integrated circuit (IC) are embodied in a three-dimensional hill-and-valley configuration called a topography.

Patent Can be granted to the inventor of any new and useful product, chemical composition, manufacturing or machine process. Awarded on a “first to file” basis. Protection provided for 20 years from date of application. The onus is on you to protect your rights under the patent. Holding a patent does not necessarily mean commercial success.

Trademark A word, symbol, picture, design, or combination of these that distinguishes your goods and services from those of others. Can be registered to enable you to obtain exclusive use. Non-mandatory that it be registered but does establish obvious proof of ownership. Registration is effective for 15 years and may be renewed for a series of 15-year terms as long as it is still in use. Responsibility is on the owner to police the use of the trademark. Registration in Canada provides no protection in other countries.

Copyright Copyright precludes others from reproducing or copying your original published work--books, leaflets, lectures, maps, musical compositions, computer programs, etc. Exists for the duration of your life plus 50 years after your death No legal requirement the work be registered; copyright is automatically acquired upon creation of an original work Responsibility for policing copyright rests with the holder A copyright in Canada provides simultaneous protection in most other countries of the world