- The Intellectual Property Office is an executive agency within the Department of Business, Innovation and Skills that helps stimulate innovation and raise competitiveness through intellectual property rights.
- An IP baseline survey found that most UK businesses do not understand or utilize intellectual property properly - they do not know the value of their IP, have IP policies, or correctly identify ownership.
- The presentation discusses trademarks, registered designs, patents, and copyright - what they protect, requirements for registration, fees, and duration of protection. It emphasizes the importance of intellectual property for businesses.
2. Intellectual Property Office Executive Agency within Department of Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) 850+ staff based in Newport in South Wales, 30 based in Bloomsbury, London Our task is to help stimulate innovation and raise the international competitiveness of British industry through Intellectual Property Rights (IPR)
3. IP Baseline Survey 96% of UK businesses do not know the value of their Intellectual Property Rights Only 11% of UK businesses know that disclosure of an invention before filing will invalidate a patent 74% of UK businesses could not correctly identify the owner of copyright when using a subcontractor Only 4% of UK businesses have an Intellectual Property policy
4. What is intellectual property? What makes your business different from your competitors? What makes your business stand out from the crowd? Name? Service? Product? Look? What is your USP?
7. True or False You cannot register a dictionary word Changing the spelling makes it different You do not have to use a registered trade mark I have registered at Companies House so I own the trade mark
8. A Registered Trade Mark is... Any sign which is capable of being represented graphically Any sign which is capable of distinguishing the goods or services of one undertaking from another “ A Badge of Origin”
9. What can be registered? Smell Colour theme Shape theme Domain name Slogan Name Logo Non-traditional Music
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12. Why infringement searches? Avoid expensive mistakes Awareness of competing marks Early resolution of potential problems
13. UK Applications Fees: Application fees: £170 – Includes one Class Additional Classes £50 each (up to 45 Classes) Timeline: Examination within 2 months of filing Registration (unopposed) in 5 months
14. Trade Mark Registration Overseas Paris Convention - six months priority OHIM – Community Trade Mark e-f iling fee €900 Madrid Protocol
17. True or False If I make 6 changes it’s a new design I can sell some of the designs before registering My UK design protects me in Europe Even if I don’t register I may have protection
18. Registered Designs Protects shape or configuration (3-D) and/or pattern or ornamentation (2-D) No protection for function, materials or technology of manufacture No protection when form is dictated by function (ie: no design freedom )
19. Registered Designs Design protected without limitation to a specific product or article Design protected even if applied to single items or handicraft products Protection for component parts if ordinarily on view when in use
22. Multiple Applications £60 for first design (£40 application + £20 publication) £40 for subsequent designs (£20 application + £20 publication Renewal fees every 5 years Maximum term 25 years
26. True or False The IPO test to see if the invention works I haven’t seen one so it must be new I can patent an invention in the UK that I have seen overseas By patenting my idea it will be kept secret
27. Criteria for ‘patentability’ Patents are for “ technological innovation ”, though the Patents Act 1977 fails to define the word “invention” Inventions must be new - not known anywhere in the world prior to the filing date Inventions must have an ‘inventive step’ - not obvious, a simple adaptation or combination Inventions must be industrially applicable and have a ‘technical effect’
28. What is a Patent ? A Bargain State Inventor Fees Technical Description Exclusive Rights 20 years
30. Patent fees Application fee – £30 or £20 (Electronic filing) Search Fee - £150 or £130 (Electronic filing) Examination fee - £100 or £80 (Electronic filing) Renewals 5 th Year - £70 10 th Year - £170 20 th Year - £600
31. Obtaining Patent Protection Abroad Separate national filings Patent Co-operation Treaty (PCT) European Patent Convention (EPC)
32. Working with others Prior use or disclosure will invalidate a patent application - use ‘Confidentiality Agreements’ Agree in writing who will own any I.P. arising from the collaboration before commercialisation
34. True or False If it doesn’t have a copyright notice, it’s not protected I can copy 10% without it being an infringement If I acknowledge the original work, I can use it I have bought the book/painting/photograph so I can use it as I wish
35. Copyright Conventions Universal Copyright Convention Adopted in 1952 An alternative for Countries that believed that Berne overly benefited Western developed copyright exporting nations Berne Convention - Accepted in 1886 Works protected by national law irrespective of where the work was created 163 Countries are parties to the Convention
36. What Copyright protects Books, technical reports, manuals, databases Engineering, technical or architectural plans Paintings, sculptures, photographs Music, songs, plays, dramatic works Promotional literature, advertising Films, videos, cable or radio broadcasts Computer software
37. How long does Copyright last? Literary, musical, artistic & dramatic works: author’s lifetime plus 70 years Sound recordings, TV & radio broadcasts & cable programmes: 50 years from first broadcast Publishers’ right (typographical layout etc .): 25 years Films: 70 years after the death of the last of: director, composer of the score, the author of the screenplay and the scriptwriter
38. Who owns Copyright? Usually the first creator or author... … or their employer if produced in the ordinary course of their employment However, a contractor will retain ownership unless their contract is explicit to the contrary Even if the creator sells their rights, they have ‘ moral rights’ over how their work is used
39. Top Dead Earners 2011 1. Michael Jackson - $170m 2. Elvis Presley – $55m 3. Marilyn Monroe - $27m 4. Charles Shultz - $25m 5. John Lennon - $12m 6. Elizabeth Taylor - $12m 7. Albert Einstein - $10m 8. Theodor Geisel - $9m 9. Jimi Hendrix - $7m 10. Stieg Larsson - $7m Shakespeare – 7th $12m Source Forbes.com
43. IP Healthcheck Free online diagnosis Patents, Trade marks, Designs & Copyright Licensing and exploiting your IP Confidential Information 7 On line IP Healthchecks
Wacky patents - if you have an idea for an invention make sure there is a market for your product – dust coat for a dog /do you see many dogs walking around wearing dustcoats? Antennae on space suit? Would you buy one Spongy boots and parachute would you buy one?