What is intellectual property?

The term intellectual property (IP) refers to things people create with their minds, such as:

• Inventions
• Literary and artistic works
• Designs
• Symbols, names and images used in business.

The good news is that your intellectual property is protected by law.

For example, through copyright, trademarks, patents and design registration, you can ensure you earn recognition or a financial benefit from what you invent or create.

Intellectual property law is divided into two categories:

• Industrial property (which includes patents for inventions, trademarks and industrial designs)
• Copyright (which covers literary works, films, music, artistic works and architectural designs).

What are intellectual property rights?

Intellectual property rights are like any other property rights. They allow creators, or owners, of patents, trademarks or copyrighted works to benefit from their own work or investment in a creation.

Why is protecting intellectual property important?

Intellectual property rights reward creativity and human endeavour. For example:

• The film, recording, publishing and software industries would not exist without copyright protections.
• Without the patent system, researchers and inventors would have little incentive to continue producing better and more efficient products.
• Without trademark protection and enforcement mechanisms to discourage counterfeiting and piracy, consumers would not be able to buy products confidently.

In short, without the protection provided by intellectual property law, you could lose control over many of the things that not only make your business profitable but enable you to stand out from your competitors.

Does your business have intellectual property?

Yes, all businesses have intellectual property, no matter what kind of business they are. Examples of intellectual property (IP) include:

• business names
• domain names
• logos
• product designs
• product names
• inventions
• trade secrets.

What does that mean for you?

Protecting your intellectual property rights is also important if you are looking to raise capital for, merge or sell your business. Why? Financiers and purchasers often look for enforceable intellectual property rights before they make a final decision to lend you money or purchase your business. Therefore, you should take all the necessary legal steps in order to protect your intellectual property rights. In short, protecting your intellectual property rights increases the value of your business. Our Intellectual Property team has experience in:

• Copyright issues
• Patents, trademarks, designs
• Commercialising Intellectual property
• Integrating intellectual property into businesses
• Licensing and transferring intellectual property.

What happens if you are involved in an intellectual property dispute?

Since Sajen Legal is a law firm that specialises in litigation, we can also help you if you find yourself in an intellectual property dispute.

Finally, and most importantly, because we offer a fixed-fee service for all our legal services, we can tell you exactly how much it will cost you for us to protect your intellectual property or resolve an intellectual property dispute.