12. intelectual and formalities
- 2. • Protecting intellectual property is a practical business decision. The time and money invested in perfecting an idea might be wasted if others could copy it.
- 3. • The purpose of intellectual property law is to encourage innovation by giving creators time to profit from their new ideas and to recover development costs.
- 4. • Intellectual property rights can be bought, sold, licensed, or given away freely. • Every entrepreneur should be aware of intellectual property rights in order to protect these assets in a world of global markets
- 5. The main forms of intellectual property rights are: • Patents: A patent grants an inventor the right to exclude others from making, using, offering for sale, or selling an invention for a fixed period of time - in most countries, for up to 20 years. When the time period ends, the patent goes into the public domain and anyone may use it
- 6. • Copyright: Copyrights protect original creative works of authors, composers, and others. In general, a copyright does not protect the idea itself, but only the form in which it appears - from sound recordings to books, computer programs, or architecture.
- 7. • Trade Secrets: Trade secrets consist of knowledge that is kept secret in order to gain an advantage in business. • “Certainly, secret processes, formulas, techniques, manufacturing know-how, advertising schemes, marketing programs, and business plans are all protectable.”
- 8. • Trademarks: A trademark protects a symbol, word, or design, used individually or in combination, to indicate the source of goods and to distinguish them from goods produced by others. For example, Apple Computer uses a picture of an apple with a bite out of it and the symbol (®) which means registered trademark. • Trademarks and service marks give a business the right to prevent others from using a confusingly similar mark.