1.10 Protecting designs and intellectual property

copyright

unregistered rights that protect original works such as books photographs and plays

intellectual property

a novel, physical creation that is entitled to protection for its originator in the form of copyright, design rights, patent, registered design or trademark

Intellectual property rights IPR

the legal protection of intellectual property

how long does copyright last?

70 years after the death of the creator

does copyright need to be registered?

no they are automatically applicable to any piece of work that is created

Unregistered design rights

rights that give you automatic protection to prevent copying the appearance of a product and doesn’t cover the functions of the product

how long do unregistered design rights last for?

protects the appearance of a product to not be copied for 10 years

how is copyright represented and why is it useful?

it’s is represented by a ©, name of the creator and the year it was published. It’s useful to apply to different kinds of work to follow up legal infringements

What other steps can be taken to provide proof of original work?

• adding metadata (encoded data) or water marks to digital images

• keeping early drafts, sketches, recordings to show the development of your idea

• proof of deliberate modifications

Patent

legal protection of the function of an invention

who gives parents and how long do they last?

granted by the government and last up to 20 years of protection of use without permission. A patent attorney is employed before the process to ensure that the application is valid.

complications with patents

• must ensure it doesn’t already exist by extensive searching

• important that the design is kept confidential to ensure it doesn’t get used before it’s patented

how do apply for a patent?

must go through Intellectual property office which is expensive and complicated. Most essential part is the detailed and numbered drawings which are referred to when explaining how it works in the application. Annotations of drawings are encouraged.

Registered design

the appearance of a product is legally protected from being copied

how long are registered designs effective for?

25 years after applying with intellectual property office and submitting drawings of the exterior

Trademarks

unique combination of words, colours, sounds and logo used for marketing to legally protected brand identity

logo

a graphical symbol used in brand identity

how do you get trademarked?

registering and paying IPO and has to be renewed every 10 years. Marked by ‘TM®’ to warn people of the trademark. Allows companies to take legal action against counterfeit use of their brand identity. Also gives them the right to sell and licence their brand.

open design

a design that is not protected by IPR and can be used freely by any designer

why do people opt for open design?

for the greater good of the community and to be able to improve upon designs that need it but are legally not possible because of IPR.

which licence is used for open designs?

a creative commons licence so that the intellectual property of the designer is acknowledged while allowing others to use it.

Practical Action

advocate for poor countries having less access to technology. they are an international, nongovernmental organisation that promotes free access of designs, tools and equipment so they can lead healthier and safer lives. For example water pumps and purification systems.