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Intellectual Property Rights
What can be protected
Requirements
How to protect
Term of protection
Rights of the owner
Territoriality
Trademarks
Any sign that individua- lizes a product or ser- vice and distinguishes it from those of another party
• Distinctiveness • Registration
• Commercial use • Proper use
Through registration and/or use in any country of interest
Indefinite when re- newed every 7-15 years (country depending)
Exclusive rights to use and prevent others from copying or using similar trademarks without authorization
To be protected in each country of interest
Industrial Designs
Ornamental or aesthetic aspects of a product
• New
• Individual character
Through registration in any country of interest
Max. 25 years
Exclusive right to prevent unauthorized copying or imitation of the design (visual look and feel)
To be protected in each country of interest
Copyrights
Original works, e.g. literature, paintings, drawings, music, photo- graphs, visual or audio- visual works, websites, software, etc.
• Originality
• Individual creation
• Automatically protected once created and disclosed;
• Keep evidence
70 years after the death of the author
(50 years for software)
Right to exploit and control the economic use of the work
Patents
Inventions (products or processes) offering a new technical solution
• New
• Non-obvious
• Industrial application
or have utility
Grant by a Patent Office in any country of inte- rest
20 years
Exclusive rights to pre- vent others from using the invention
To be protected in each country of interest
Trade Secrets
Confidential business information
• Information has commercial value
• Reasonable steps were taken to keep information confi- dential or secret
Keeping information confidential and share only on a need to know basis
Indefinite as long as information is kept confidential
Prevent others from improperly using, acquiring or disclosing the confidential infor- mation
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