Intangibles, such as patents, trademarks and designs, are all important aspects of any business. The useful intangible assets can be protected with a patent or trademark to make sure they don’t get copied by another company.
But what are intellectual property rights in Australia? How can you use patents, trademarks and copyrights effectively? Let’s find out.
The Importance of Intellectual Property Rights
The Australian Intellectual Property Law aims to encourage innovation and offers a competitive advantage for businesses that develop original intellectual property. Australia also signs numerous international agreements protecting the country’s innovative output in other countries around the world.
IP Australia is an agency of the Australian government that administers intellectual property rights.
Intellectual property rights are a way for creators to protect their work and receive credit when it’s used. This encourages new creations that might increase economic growth, like technology or artwork with an invented concept.
Intellectual property rights provide incentives for individuals to produce things that further create job opportunities and new technologies. These advancements allow the world to improve even faster.
About Patent Protection
The Australian patent system helps inventors and entrepreneurs to protect their hard work from third-party infringement. It may also be used as an agreement with someone else where they will manufacture products or use your idea under certain terms set out in advance by both parties involved, such as licensing fees.
The Different Types of Intellectual Property
These are the overview of different intellectual property types:
- Trademark
Trademarks are an important part of a business’ branding strategy. They help consumers identify the source and quality behind certain goods or services. This can be vital for success in today’s competitive marketplaces where many companies battle with similar products.
A trade mark is any distinctive symbol or configuration that identifies your business. They can be words, logos, images or a combination of all.
It’s important to know that in Australia, protection over a unique trademark applies only if you are the first one who created the said identifying symbol and not who registered it first.
- Circuit layout rights
In Australia, the Department of Communications and Arts is responsible for handling copyright law, as well as circuit layout rights. The visual features of a product are not limited to its shape or colour. These can include the feel and materials used, as well as an indefinite dimensionality/repetition in patterns.
- Plant breeders’ rights
Plant breeders’ rights are an innovative way to promote plant variety and innovation by rewarding developers for their work.
The Plant Breeders’ Rights Act 1994 (Cth) protects the rights of breeders and owners to the exclusive ownership of plants. The registration process must be completed with Australian breeding companies.
- Patents
To be protected by law, an invention needs to be patented before it can become enforceable. The Patents Act 1990 (Cth) provides protection for Australian intellectual property.
It is crucial to be aware that if the details of your invention become public knowledge, you may lose copyright over it. In order to protect your invention, it is important that you get them to sign a non-disclosure agreement (NDA) before telling anyone else about the idea.
Patents are not a simple topic. They can be difficult for the average person to understand without help from an attorney.
How to Use Trademarks
To register a trade mark, you have to pay an expensive fee. If running a small or medium-sized business is in your plans, then consider testing out your new brand before registering it.
The trademark system is a little more complicated than most people think, but it’s not as difficult to navigate. The first person who uses an already registered trade mark has priority in getting that patent registration, provided they either miss or don’t object during any given period of time (there’s usually up until three years after initial filings).
How to Use a Copyright
The copyright should be a tool to get the most out of your business deals. You can use it as leverage or strategically protect what you’ve created before giving away free samples, etc.
The licence agreement is a very important part of your business operations. It’s the document that sets out how you are allowed to use someone else’s intellectual property, such as their song or story idea for profit. Make sure there aren’t any holes in this section so they cannot plagiarise parts without permission.
How to Use Plant Breeders’ Rights
Plant breeders’ rights are a great option if you’re looking to start your own business or have an idea that could benefit from being patented. Registration gives you official recognition of your newly discovered plant species, which can be a great incentive for those who want to make money off their plants.
How to Effectively Use Patents
The key to patents is simple — keep them a secret. Unlike trademarks, which you might want to test before registering for commercial viability, you cannot ‘test’ whether your invention will be profitable enough in the marketplace so as not to put you at risk of losing money by publicly releasing it.
Whether or not to register your invention as a patent is an important decision that you need to make after inventing something. The choice between these two options will depend on the type and complexity of your idea.
The key to getting a patent is filing your invention with all the proper documentation and information. To do this, you should first conduct market research using NDA.
Key Takeaway
Intellectual property rights are the exclusive legal rights that owners have over their creations. This can include inventions, designs, artistic works and brands. Owners have the right to control how these creations are used, reproduced or exploited commercially.
It’s important to understand and protect your intellectual property rights in Australia, as they offer a range of benefits, including exclusive use, protection from copying and the ability to generate revenue from licensing or selling your work.
