Intellectual property protection in the digital age: definitive guide
In the context of globalization and digitalization, information can travel instantly from one point in the world to another, and companies also have the possibility of internationalizing more easily than ever. Therefore, we must be aware of the value of our creations and work to protect them. Intellectual property must be understood as a fundamental asset of the company, which must therefore be protected.
What is intellectual property
Intellectual property is an asset generated through a creative or inventive activity that acquires the legal right to prohibit unauthorized use.
Intellectual property rights are the formal mechanisms by which ownership of intellectual assets is established.
These rights are territorial, so Each country or region has its own terms legal provisions that protect intellectual property.
For this reason, and since intellectual property rights They are an indispensable component of the legal business framework of any territory, there are controversies arising from differences in the functioning of the various national legal frameworks.
The problem is especially pressing for intellectual resources.
Its nature is public, which facilitates its “free” use by other agents outside the creation process through imitation.
This use quickly depletes the economic value of information, limiting the incentives to create it.
An effective legal framework that protects the intellectual property of the company is essential to ensure that they will be able to exploit the intellectual fruits of their research activity, thus promoting it and, therefore, influencing the development of society.
Intellectual Property Business Challenges
The main challenges that companies face when it comes to protecting their intellectual property have to do with the unfair competition.
At the international level, this reality is even more prevalent due to the distances that exist between the national market and the destination market where the offending companies operate, since there are differences in the legal frameworks under which they are subject, leading to these offending behaviours often going unpunished under the jurisdiction of the destination country.
There are different forms of protection, and the most advisable thing is to use a IPR strategic combination (Intellectual Property Rights).
- For example, defend your competitive space: protect your brand. If it is in Spain, through the OEPM.
- Always use confidentiality and non-disclosure agreements (NDA).
- Protect your company's trade secrets.
- Register your design.
Intellectual property: industrial property and copyright
La intellectual property It has two arms: industrial property and copyright.
Industrial property
It is protected through:
- Patents: grant the right to exclude, for a limited time, all others from making, selling or using the described product or process without authorization. They protect the translation of knowledge into new products or industrial processes. The patent coverage extends to the uses of the novelty claimed by the inventor, which must meet technical criteria of novelty, non-obviousness and industrial utility. To know more click here: International patents.
- Industrial designs: aesthetic creation related to the appearance of industrial products.
- Trademarks, names and commercial and service names. The exclusive use of the name with which a company markets its goods or services in the market is protected. In this way, companies can invest in the recognition of their brands and the quality of their products/services to differentiate themselves in the market. To learn more read the following articles: How do I protect my brand y How to protect a Spanish brand abroad.
- Integrated circuits.
- Geographical indications.
Copyright
Copyright law is part of the broader body of law known as intellectual property (IP), which broadly refers to the creations of the human mind.
IP rights protect the interests of innovators and creators by granting them rights over their creations.
The Artistic and literary properties are largely protected by copyright, that grant exclusive rights to copy and disseminate the specific expression of an idea for a specified period.
Since it is the expression and not the idea that is protected, copyright is granted without reference to the quality of the work.
They can be protected:
- Books, pamphlets and other writings;
- Lectures, speeches, sermons;
- Dramatic or dramatic-musical works;
- Choreographic works and entertainment in silent shows;
- Musical compositions with or without lyrics;
- Cinematographic works to which works expressed by a procedure analogous to cinematography are assimilated;
- Works of drawing, painting, architecture, sculpture, engraving and lithography;
- Photographic works to which works expressed by a procedure analogous to photography are assimilated;
- Works of applied arts;
- Illustrations, maps, plans, sketches and three-dimensional works relating to geography, topography, architecture or "translations, adaptations, musical arrangements and other alterations of a literary or artistic work", which "shall be protected as original works without prejudice to the copyright in the original work"; and
- "Collections of literary or artistic works, such as encyclopedias and anthologies, which, by the selection and arrangement of their content, constitute intellectual creations."
Intellectual property legal framework
On an international level
- Paris Convention (1883).
- Patent Cooperation Treaty.
- Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights.
At national level (Spain)
- Patents and model: Law 24/2015, of July 24.
- Distinctive signs: Law 17/2001 of December 7 on Trademarks.
- Industrial designs: Law 20/2003, of July 7, on Legal Protection of Industrial Design.
- Semiconductor topographies: Law 11/1988.
Relevant international organizations
International organizations such as the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) and the World Trade Organization (WTO) play a key role in promoting cooperation for the protection of intellectual property and the establishment of international standards.
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