Intellectual property protection guards against imitators

Effective IP protection begins with the right patent attorneys

Intellectual property (IP) refers to the ownership of ‘creations of the mind’ such as new products and brands. Intellectual property protection allows you to retain ownership. Without appropriate protection, your competitors may be well within their rights to copy your latest creations.

The main forms of intellectual property protection are patents, design registrations, trade mark registrations and copyright.

Patents can be used to stop others copying important functional details of new products and processes. They last for up to 20 years.

Design registrations can be used to stop others copying the appearance of new products. In Australia, design registrations last for up to 10 years.

Trade secrets do not protect you from reverse engineering or from your competitors independently developing similar technology.

Trade marks can be used to stop others using your trade mark in relation to selected goods and services. They can last indefinitely.

Copyright is automatic but, generally speaking, does not protect manufactured products once in production.

The surest way to protect your valuable intellectual property is to create layers of protection. Patent, design and trade mark protection can be pursued in parallel. This is often recommended.