Intellectual property (IP) involves specific, exclusive rights concerning creativity and intellectual capital.
An important characteristic of intellectual property is that it includes non-material ideas or objects that are highly valuable and require protection in most instances. In other words, the primary objective of intellectual property is to find a proper way to exercise the rights concerning the non-material assets of individuals or companies, and at the same time, to provide sufficient protection against unauthorized actions and illegal behaviours by third parties. In the general sense, it is possible to distinguish three types of assets:
∙ Movable assets, such as computers or cars,
∙ Immovable properties, such as houses, etc.
∙ Non-material assets or intellectual capital, such as an invention or design.
The need to establish group rights for protecting the products of creativity is related with the idiosyncratic features of these assets when compared with movable or immovable material assets. In this regard, one of the most significant features of non-material assets is the opportunity to provide impossible, unlimited production for material assets. There are two types of intellectual properties: Industrial rights and copyrights.
Industrial Property
Industrial property includes inventions (Patent and Utility Models), integrated circuit topographies, industrial designs, brands and appellations of origin.
Copyright
Copyright includes literary and artistic works, such as novels, poems, plays, films, musical works, drawings, paintings, photographs, sculptures, architectural designs and computer programs. Performances of performance artists, phonograms in producers’ records and works of broadcasters in radio and television programs are also within the scope of copyrights. I would like to focus on industrial property rights further. Companies should officially register all of the products or services that they produce, and all of the brands and logos that they sell at home or abroad. Otherwise, I call this “commercial suicide”, because then, they invest on a brand which may possibly belong to another (now or in the future). The chang- es in product images resulting from long-continued efforts, or the inventions developed during innovation processes such as R&D or P&D operations are in the same vein. Companies can remain standing as long as they make differences. Now, this is a fact known by everyone. Most of the time, a difference is made by modifying products or services, or altering the methods for reaching customers. Industrial rights are a matter of products or services. If we are planning on producing a different product or service from that of our rivals, we should first consider protecting it. Do more appealing designs with different shapes than the standard, constantly-offered product not excite the customer? For instance, do we not prefer a certain cell phone only for its design or brand? The product design that draws the attention of our customers is worth protecting. The important thing is to apply for official registration before launching our product to the market, thinking that it may appeal to customers.
What about patent?
In industrialized modern nations, technological advancement and economic power substantially depend on the patent system. In our time, the wealth of a nation does not primarily depend on its natural resources anymore. The innovative capacity and the awareness for the need of protecting the aforementioned new ideas have become a basic instrument for the development and prosperity in modern communities. Patent has become the “key point” in this field.
Alright, what kind of a thing is a patent consequently?
It is the right that bestows the privilege of exclusive use for a limited time (20 years beginning from the application date) on the owner of the invention (inventor or applicant) and is given by the state. The term “patent” originates from the Latin patere, which means “to make available for public inspection” and patent certificate originates from “letters patent”, which was a royal decree granting exclusive rights to specific persons or institutions. According to its literal definition, one of its social objectives is to lead the inventor to share the information for the progress of society in exchange for exclusive rights for a limited time. Patents provide the inventor with the opportunity of monopoly during the production process of the invention, and this encourages research and development. Without the protection of patents, most of the individuals and companies may not take risks, or invest money and time for designing and developing new products. The society could have been destitute of thousands of innovations from mouse traps to new medicines, communication systems, energy resources, etc., and the global economy would have rapidly stagnated without the new products and technologies. So, we can say that patent is the most effective way to encourage technology transfer: each patent certificate defines a different aspect of technology with clear and distinct terms and can be read by anyone. Patents are especially made accessible for the public in order to support information sharing. As we will discuss later as part of this course later, patent is rendered accessible for the public by means of not only official publications, but also the numerous patent databases in all corners of the world. Patent is both a vital source for the progress of societies, and an important resource for employers, researchers, inventors, academics, and others who want to keep pace with the developments in their fields. As is seen, there are several rights on intellectual works. Each of these rights protects immovable assets in different ways. In fact, these rights can act together for the purpose of protecting the aforementioned assets in order to provide a more common, more effective and stronger protection. As such, it is possible to see that a product is protected by patent, industrial design and brand.
The design of a cell phone can be protected under industrial design;
A technical solution can be protected by a patent;
A cell phone can be protected by a brand.
Have a nice day…
