Intellectual property (IP) is a category of property that includes intangible creations of the human intellect. There are many types of intellectual property. Also, different countries recognize different species. Intellectual property includes patents, copyrights, trademarks and trade secrets. The modern concept of intellectual property developed in England in the 17th and 18th centuries. The term "intellectual property" began to be used in the 19th century, but it was not until the late 20th century that intellectual property became commonplace in most legal systems around the world.
New creations and technical innovations are the result of large investments by society: imagination, intellectual effort, time and money. Unfortunately, however, innovative services are often copied and misused. Businesses can effectively protect themselves by protecting their intellectual property rights. A company can apply for trademarks, patents or designs. It is essential that you think ahead about what you intend to protect and in turn make sure that you are not infringing on the intellectual property of other companies or individuals.
Owners of property rights have the exclusive right to decide who for a given period will be able to use economically – i.e. to manufacture, use, sell or market their innovations and creations. Use may be prohibited or permitted, for example, by license. Protection rights are therefore company assets and negotiable. Each company must make its own assessment and judgment as to whether it needs protection, what exactly to protect and how, if possible, before its idea goes public. It is recommended that you develop a rights protection strategy and consult with a patent or trademark attorney if necessary.
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Trademark
It serves to distinguish the products or services of one company from another. It may for example consist of words, images or logos (such as the SBB logo) or a combination of verbal and visual elements. The trademark is protected only for the products or services identified by you at the time of its submission and for which you intend to use it (example: the fictitious trademark Beltina is registered as a trademark for bicycles and bicycle repair). As a trademark owner, you can prevent others from marking identical or similar products with a trademark that could be confused with yours. You can also extend trademark protection as many times as you like.
When filing a trademark application, you must meet the following requirements: the trademark must be distinctive. It should be understandable as a reference sign for your company. This does not apply to descriptive signs ("4×4" to denote four-wheeled vehicles, for example). It is not appropriate for the brand to be some generic name like 'super', no matter what the product is. The trademark must not mislead and must not conflict with applicable law or good morals. Naming a 'Beltina Suisse' brand for bicycles from France, for example, would be misleading. Such a mark can only be registered if the bicycles are actually of Swiss origin and if this also appears in the product list. If a trademark is too similar to another already registered trademark, domain or company name to the point of confusion, a conflict may arise. It is a good idea to research whether there are identical or similar marks that are already protected before filing a trademark application, possibly with the help of a trademark attorney.
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Patent
If you invented something original, you can protect it with the help of the state. A patent is a type of intellectual property that gives its owner the legal right to exclude others from creating, using, or selling an invention for a limited period of time in exchange for publicly disclosing the invention. The term of validity of a patent in different countries is different, from 5 to 35 years. In our country, this term is 20 years and comes into effect from the date of submission of the application to the Patent Office. The patent provides the following rights: the owner has the right to produce, use, imitate, sell or import the invention; has the right to prohibit third parties from doing the above and has the right to dispose of the patent ie. to transfer it to another or to allow third parties to use, manufacture, modify the product subject to the patent.
The patent can be issued not only on intellectual property, but also on goods. In this case, the patent holder can prohibit this product from being produced or used by third parties. If the patent is issued for a method, then no one has the right to use and apply this method (production method, work method, etc.) without permission. If a Bulgarian citizen submits an application for a patent in Bulgaria, but it is not approved, he has the right 3 months after the date of submission of the application, to submit it in another country. Third parties may use the patented invention without permission in the following cases: for personal, non-commercial or scientific purposes, if they started using it before the owner filed an application. An important detail is that when you create your invention, it is not automatically patented, as it is with copyright for example. Patent protection occurs after you apply for it and it is approved by the Patent Office.
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Copyright
Authors' rights are part of copyright law. The term originates from the French droit d'auteur (German: Urheberrecht) "Author" is used in a very broad sense and the same applies to composers, painters, sculptors and architects. Copyright aims to protect the fruits of intellectual activity of a creative nature (ie the works must be new and original), by recognizing the original author (or authors in the case of creative collaboration) of the work of a series of moral and hereditary rights. Copyright applies to figurative art, architecture, theatre, cinematography, computer programs and databases. Laws and texts of official acts of the state or public administrations are not subject to copyright. As for translated literature, it is subject to copyright, but the translation of official or civil documents is not. The copyright owner is usually the one who created the work, but there are exceptions: as for a newspaper, for example, the owner the rights belong to the publisher, even if the various articles are written by his employees - reporters, journalists, (who, however, retain their moral rights as actual creators of the work in question); or for a cinematographic work, the owner of the rights is the producer.
Authors' rights are property ("economic") and personal non-property ("moral"). Property rights are limited in time and may be transferred by the author like any other property. In many countries, the transfer takes place in the form of a written contract, because these are the requirements of the respective country. Property copyright allows the author or owner to legally obtain financial gain and reproduce the work in any form (Bern Convention, Art. 9). Authors of dramatic and musical works (plays, etc.) may also authorize their public performance (Bern Convention, Art. 11).
Under "non-property copyright" it is meant that creativity is a kind of expression of the author's personality. Therefore, non-property rights cannot be transferred to another person, except in the form of a will. The moral protection of rights varies from country to country, but everywhere these rights include being recognized as the author of the work and being protected from any kind of deformation that could harm property, honor or reputation. In many countries, the author's moral rights are indefinite.
According to the ZAPSP, art. 2 (Copyright and Related Rights Act) copyright arises for the author with the creation of the work, not as with the patent after the application is approved.
© 2023 Iliana Dechkova