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Intellectual Property Essay

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Intellectual property are the legal rights (control and ownership) of creations, such as ideas; inventions; designs, etc. for the use in commerce (Bainbridge, 2012). Intellectual law in countries seeks to deter individuals or organizations from copying or capitalizing upon another’s work. The main areas protected by protect intellectual property law include: patent, copyright, trademark, and trade secret. Intellectual Property can be categorized under the following:

Monopoly Right to prevent copying De Facto Monopoly Contractual

Patents Unregistered Trade Marks Trade Secrets Confidential Information
Registered Trade Marks Unregistered Designs Know-How Registered Design Copyright

This essay focuses on Patents, …show more content…

On the other hand, Patents could be expensive and there is no guarantee of a grant but most important is that the secrecy that comes with patents does not necessarily equate to a better product or a good business idea for the product. This is a decision the inventor must take into account.
There is also a need to have a design protection system. The fundamental idea being that design protection encourages novel design and prevents rapid growth of identical designs because producers are blocked from copying. Visual appeal is a key factor in influencing the decision of buyers. It makes sense even more when the products serve the same function, the design of a product could potentially sway consumers, and therefore aesthetics are important (WIPO, 2004).
The main idea being that everyone needs to come up with their own design. There are two kinds of design rights:
a. Unregistered Design Right: is one where you do not have to apply to protect the product. It covers only 3D items because it protects the shape and configuration of the item and the right lasts from 10 -15 years. An interesting clause with the unregistered design, is that the license can be granted to other parties in the last five years. It also leaves room for an agreement on costs can be reached with the other party and the original producer of the item.
b. Registered Design: must be applied for at some cost. It focuses on

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