So…you have created something cool…but can you stop other people stealing your coolness? And if so how? Well this is a sample of your weapons of defense… ready, set, GO!
Patents
This helps you protect your ‘inventions’ for 20 years and will help you stop anyone else from producing, using or selling the patented product. To be patentable, an invention must be: new, involve an inventive step, be capable of industrial application and not be excluded from patent protection.
Copyright
The magic of copyright is that you don’t need to do anything other than create something. It automatically resides in the creator of a ‘literary work’ or ‘artistic work’. With copyright in your arsenal, you are the only person allowed to copy or exploit your work.
Registered design right
You will need to register a design right to protect an aesthetic or functional design, which will give you, and only you, the right in South Africa to make, import, use or dispose of any article embodying the your design.
It is also critical to keep records of the design process in case you are accused of trying to steal someone else’s design, or you try to accuse someone of stealing yours!
The Patents County Court in the UK handed down judgment in favour of Nampak. Albert Packaging Limited accused Nampak of copying his carton design when his supplier terminated his contract and started using Nampak. Albert had an unregistered design. Because Albert’s carton was already in the market when Nampak released their version, Nampak had to show that they had come up with the design independently. Through good record keeping they could. But they didn’t have a registered design on the carton either so could not prevent Albert using it should they have wanted to do so.
The take-home message for those involved in design is that while unregistered design right offers some protection, registered design can provide a much stronger form of protection. This also shows the importance of good record keeping and how it can save your bacon in a sticky spot!
Trademarks
Your name…how you write it…and the pretty picture you put next to it…your trademark in other words. Trademarks are normally registered and once registered will have the ® symbol after the mark. Trademarks have certain protection when not registered. These will have the ™ mark next to them.
The best advice immediately is to seek out legal counsel who can advise you on arranging and planning all of this to be affordably within reach and perhaps planned into a timescale of when you would like to achieve each stage.