Copyright, Patents and Trademarks

An entrepreneur will want to protect an idea to help its success in the market and in order to recover the costs of bringing that idea to the market.

Businesses protect their products, processes and images through copyrights, patents and trademarks.

Copyright

Exclusive rights given to writers and producers that protects their books, plays, films and music from being printed, recorded, filmed or performed without their permission.

A patent

The right to be sole user or producer of an invention, which can be either a new process or product.  The exclusive right lasts for a fixed period of time, up to 20 years.

A trademark

A logo or symbol displayed on a company’s products and advertising to distinguish the firm’s brands from those of the competition.  For exclusive use, a trade mark must be registered at the Patent Office.

The difference between a patent, trademark and copyright

A patent protects a ______________ or a _____________________, a trademark is a _______________, whereas copyright protects a piece of ____________________, such as a ______________ or a _______________.