If you are establishing a new brand or have recently developed a new idea on how to get your intellectual property protected from getting infringed. Therefore, you need to closely understand the difference between all these available intellectual property so that you may get yourself registered under it and ultimately secure your rights. Let’s unravel its intricacies with us and understand it in more detail.
Copyright
A Copyright is a type of intellectual property right granted to the creators for the protection of their original works. Original and Artistic Works include music, poems, songs, short stories, paintings, arts, sculptures, cinematographic films, computers, electronic databases, etc. It is granted to individuals for the expression of their thoughts but not for their ideas.
A Copyright owner has been granted several rights after registering their rights which may run from the right of reproduction of their respective works, exclusive right of distribution, and the exclusive right to display their artistic work to the general public. These rights have been granted with a twofold view; first is to give the authority to the copyright owner to preserve their work and second to give them the authority to protect their work by solely having the authority to have commercial gains by distributing their work.
The number of years for which the Copyright works can be protected is 70 years. Not only does the Copyright Holder have the authority to exercise the rights, but the authorised persons who have taken their authority from the Copyright Holder are authorised to exercise their rights, which are available to the Copyrighter. These rights are for transmission, communication, publication, and reproduction of the Copyright material.
Benefits of Copyright Protection
- Public Record: With the registration of the Copyright a public record for documentation purposes is created
- Right of Legal Action: It allows the Copyright Holder a right to take legal action and file a lawsuit against it.
- Economic Benefits: It gives monetary benefits to the Copyright Holder by allowing them to circulate the work and avail themselves of these benefits.
- Form Changing: It also gives the right to the Copyright Holder to change the form of their registered work.
- Motivation: The Copyright holder enjoys monetary benefits, which gives the individual the necessary fuel and sense of accomplishment to boost their creativity.
Trademark
A Trademark is a design, logo, phrase, sound, or other element that helps establish an organisation’s separate identity. Trademarks are a communication tool to inform and attract consumers to an organisation’s goods and services. They also establish and offer value for those goods and services.
Trademarks do not have a fixed period. They expire when the term of the Trademark expires, which is 10 years. Therefore, a Trademark never expires; it is just the validity of the period that expires, which can be renewed for an indefinite year.
For Instance: Pepsi has been a well-known brand for centuries, and because of its Trademark registration, everyone is well aware of its formula and logo. This is what makes a company different from others.
Protections under Trademarks
- Design, Symbols, and Logo
- Phrase, Word, or Slogan
- Audio and Sound
- Packagings
Not protected under Trademarks
- Descriptive Marks
- Misleading Marks
- Immoral or Scandalous Marks
- Flags and Emblems
- Marks that lack the Indistinctivness
- Generic Terms
Types of Trademarks
- Collective Marks
- Product Marks
- Service Marks
- Shape Marks
- Sound Marks
- Certification Marks
Benefits of Trademark Registration
- Developing Customer Base: A Trademark is a tool that establishes the identity of the organisation and develops its customer base.
- Limits Market Confusion: Trademarks help diminish market confusion among customers.
- Establishes Monopoly: Trademarks help in establishing the monopoly of the business hence attracting the economic benefits to the table of the organisation.
- Protects the Brands: It protects the Brand Protection by stopping the misuse from the other competitors in the market.
- Legal Action: With the registration of the Trademark it allows the organisations to take legal actions against the competitors if they try to mislead or misuse the Trademarks already registered.
Patent
A Patent is a type of intellectual property right that has been granted for an invention. Unlike Trademarks, Patents are granted for the individual protection of the invention as it is the hard work, expenditure of wealth, and sweat of the individual who has been granted the Patent. A Patent gives the inventor a right to use the Patent property for 20 years from the date of its registration.
The patent’s Inventor is the owner, but if the Patent was developed in the course of employment by an employee of the organisation, then the organisation holds the Patent for that invention. The registration of a Patent allows the owner to prevent the invention from further selling, manufacturing, using, and distributing the Patent technology.
Conditions to Register a Patent
- New Invention: The Patent should be the new invention of the applicant to get the Patent for your innovation.
- Inventive Step: Inventive Steps can also be Patentable. In simpler terms, if an inventive step is taken in a field that is different from the already available technologies in the market, then this Inventive Step can also be Patentable.
- Non-obviousness: The invention should be non-obviousness as to be granted a Patent. It means that no one in the industry has developed such an invention.
- Industrial Use: The invention should be of industrial use. This means that the new invention should be capable enough to surpass all the existing inventions in the industry already present.
Protections under Patents
- New Products or Processes
- Improvements to Product, Process, or Technology
- Computer Software and Applications
Not protected under Patents
- Simple Scientific Discoveries and Theories
- Discovering any rules, regulations, or schemes to play games, any kind of mental acts, or for doing business.
- Natural occurrence of the Plants or Animals or any method of medical treatment
- Immoral Inventions
Types of Patents
- Utility Patents: These Patents are issued for new discoveries, composition of machines, processes, or matters.
- Plant Patent: These types of Patents are granted when there is a development or discovery of a new variety of plants.
- Design Patent: These Patents are granted when a new ornamental design is created.
Difference between the Copyright, Trademark, and Patent
| Points of Distinction | Copyright | Trademark | Patent |
| Law of Governance | Copyright is governed by the Copyright Act, 1957 | Trademarks are governed by the Trademark Act, 1999 | Patents are governed by the Patent Act, 1970 |
| Need of Provisional Application | No kind of provisional application is required | Copyright protection is almost universal, and no separate application is required to be presented in each country. | Yes, a provisional application is required and a provisional application gives the time of 12 months to file the provisional application and a priority date claim can be made with this. |
| Registration | The registration of the Copyright is governed by the Copyright Office, Department of Higher Education, Ministry of Human Resource Development. | Registration of the Trademarks is governed by the Controller General of Designs, Patents, and Trademarks | Registration of the Patents is governed by the Controller General of Designs, Patents and Trademarks |
| Protection offered to | Copyright is provided to protect the artistic works of the individuals | Trademarks are provided to protect the brand logo, sound, design, etc | While Patents are provided to protect the innovative works of the individuals. |
| Duration | Copyright is provided for the lifetime of the individual. It is also applicable even after 60 years of their death. | Trademarks lose their validity or tend to expire within 10 years from the date of issuance. Therefore, it is required to renew the Trademark after every 10 years. | Patents are valid upto 20 years from the date of the presentation of the application for registration. |
| Applicability | Copyright protection is almost universal, and no separate application is required to be presented in each country. | Trademarks are territorial in nature so if they are required to be applicable in a different country the application for Trademark is also required to be made in that country. | Patents have only territorial rights, so if they are required to be applicable in a different country, application for Patent is also required to be made in that country. |
| IP Protected | It secures the creative works | It secures the branding | It secures the innovative works of the individuals. |
| When can Rights be exercised? | As soon as the author is granted the Copyright, the right against the world can be exercised from the moment | The organisation can exercise its rights over the Trademark as soon as the registration is completed | The registration of a Patent takes a lot of time, ranging from 3-4 years. But the individual can exercise their right in favour of their Patent to stop others from using it. |
| After death applicability | Copyrights are applicable after the death of the owner. These are also applicable even after 60 years of the owner’s death | Not applicable after the death of the holder | Not applicable after the death of the holder |
| Use of Symbols | No symbolic representation is provided | Yes there is a symbolic representation- ZEETM This is used when the registration of the trademark is pending and when the registration of the Trademark is Completed it will be ZEE@ | No symbolic representation is provided |
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Conclusion
Copyright, Trademark, and Patent are the types of Intellectual Property Rights. These rights have been established to preserve and protect the efforts of the individual, or organisation that has created them. Copyright is granted to protect other people from accessing your artistic work, a Trademark is required to protect and develop the brand value and a Patent is provided to protect new inventions from being mutilated or used.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q1. What is the difference between Copyright and Trademark?
Ans1. A Copyright is to protect the creative work of an individual and a Trademark is to protect the name and logo of the brand
Q2. What is the difference between a Patent and a Copyright?
Ans2. A Patent protects new inventions, creations, or scientific processes while a Copyright protects the creative work of individuals.
Q3. What is the difference between a Patent and Trademark?
Ans3. An organisation files a patent to protect new inventions, creations, or scientific processes; however, a Trademark protects the organisation’s name and logo.
Q4. Do Trademarks your Intellectual Property?
Ans4. Yes, Trademarks protect the Intellectual Property of the organisation.
Q5. What is Copyright Protection in India?
Ans5. Copyright Protection is the act of protecting the artistic and original works. Protection of Copyright is provided under the Copyright Act, 1957
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