INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY

WHAT IS INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY?

INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY protection comes in various form and each is tailored to protect a particular example of intellectual property. Intellectual property can be defined as those products of the mind to which the law grants the author/creator legal protection for a certain period of exploitation – free from competition.

It covers a wide range of areas which include literary works, artistic works, films, computer programs, inventions, designs, brand names, the shape of packaging, and etc.. The different rights are not necessarily mutually exclusive. Two or more rights can coexits in a product.

Intellectual Property

Unlike many forms of property, intellectual property rights protect intangibles and this gives rise to considerable problems over the control of the property and its protection. In most cases, intellectual property rights eventually expires, leaving the subject matter without an owner and so free to be used or exploited by anyone.

The economic interest of the producer of intellectual property and his competitors or customers will be affected when the property is exploited in the marketplace and therefore registration is important to protect your intellectual property rights.

The main purpose of the Intellectual Property law is to prevent others from copying or taking advantage of another’s effort by providing remedies if this occurs. This puts the owner of the right in a privileged position whereby he can restrain others from doing certain things while exploiting the right for himself. The rights impinge upon the freedom of action of others.

The owner has a form of property which he can use as he likes, subject to some constraints, and he can take legal action either to deter would be trespassers or to obtain damages against those who have trespassed just as the owner of real property can do.

There are four (4) principal forms of intellectual property and they are; patents, copyright, industrial design and trademarks (Acts) and passing off (Common Law).

Categories of Intellectual Property. 

There are many simple way of protecting your ideas and business. If you have an idea but you are not sure whether the idea is new, you can use the free patents database to check whether your idea already exists or to identify existing ideas thought by others to help develop it on your own.

There are no “hard-and-fast” rules in developing your ideas. You may licence-in other people’s technology to help develop ideas of yours or collaborate with other businesses or educational organisations. But remember, if you have spoken to another person about your ideas, make sure that you have signed a confidentiality agreement with the other person first.

Patent: You could file for a patent to protect your technology from your competitors but be cautious not to disclose your idea before filing your patent. A patent owner may licence the technology to other businesses.

Industrial Design: If the design of your product is unique and stands out from other designs in the market, you could file your designs to protect it.

Copyright: Original, creative and artistic works are automaticallly covered by copyright. The simplest way to ensure that you are the author of the copyright is to first make a photocopy of your work and then send by registered post or AR registered post, the sealed original work to your own address. Make sure that you do not open the seal and keep the work in a safe place. In the event if there is a need to prove that you are the author or the copyright, the sealed original work could be use to show that you are the first author.

Trade Mark: Registering your company name with Companies Commission of Malaysia (CCM) does not guarantee that your company name is protected. As the name and brand is a valuable asset to your business, you should protect it by registering it as a trade mark. Most businesses now operate by website and you should specifically assign the copyright back to you as the web developers will retain the copyright of any of the work.

Confidentiality Agreement: If you do not manufacture your products in-house, make sure that you protect yourself with a confidentiality agreement so that your products can’t be copied.