Making creative things or inventing designs is fun. However, when others begin stealing your ideas and call them their own, the fun stops and is replaced by frustration. Nowadays, while using the Internet is very much common, more people are also experiencing intellectual property theft. In order to stop this, the Intellectual Property Law was born.

Read on to know more about this law and how working with intellectual property lawyers can help you.

What Is Intellectual Property?

Intellectual property is a kind of property that refers to intangible creations crafted by our minds. In simple terms, it is a creative work or an invention like a manuscript, music compositions, art and designs. It can also be applied to symbols and names used by businesses.

What Is Intellectual Property Law?

Intellectual Property Law aims to protect the rights of creators with regard to their creations. This allows entrepreneurs and business owners to protect their works and ideas from being stolen and being used for others’ profits.

Common areas under Intellectual Property Law are the following:

• Copyrights

Copyrights cover the protection of original works. It is a term used when referring to the rights of creators over their creative works, such as books, music, visual art, sculpture, films, maps, computer software, architectural/technical drawings, advertisements and more. Copyrights usually last 50-70 years after the creator’s death.

With this type of protection, the owner of the intellectual property holds the exclusive rights to the creation. Works that are registered under this law are eligible for damages and fees that may result from a copyright infringement suit.

• Trademarks

Trademarks make a business’ goods or services distinguishable from other businesses that are in the same field. A trademark usually involves slogans, logos, colours and sounds. It can be identified by the use of a TM symbol.

• Patents

Patents are applied for inventions. This gives the creator of the invention the exclusive right to how or whether the invention can be utilised or sold by others. However, when you apply for a patent, you are required to publicly release the invention’s technical information in a published patent document.

• Trade Secrets

These let companies’ confidential information be protected from getting known by their competitors. Trade secrets include recipes or formulas, manufacturing processes, sales methods, client lists, business plans and strategies, and devices.

What Does an Intellectual Property Lawyer Do?

Intellectual property lawyers play an integral role in the creation and implementation of rights that protect individual creators and businesses. They prepare all the documents needed to file copyrights, trademarks, patents and more. They also handle the infringement of their client’s rights, such as modifying, distributing or selling intellectual goods. They do this by creating a formal letter of ownership or filing lawsuits for intellectual property theft.

Benefits of Hiring an Intellectual Property Lawyer

It saves time and effort.

Hiring a lawyer to handle things for you will allow you to focus your resources on creating more goods or designs. You do not have to worry about making complicated documents and giving them to the right people before the deadline because your lawyer will handle them for you. You do not have to stress yourself by doing all the work with regard to infringements either.

They know the process.

Submitting wrong documents, not being able to pass them on time and not following proper procedures can lead to delay or dismissal of your case. That is why it is important to seek the help of intellectual property lawyers who know the ins and outs of ownership, rights and other legal matters when handling situations connected to intellectual property.

Be sure to work with the right lawyer though. Simply hiring a lawyer is not enough. You have to find and hire a lawyer who is fit for your case. For example, a lawyer whose expertise is real estate development does not have the same knowledge and experience in handling intellectual assets as an intellectual property lawyer does. So, to make things go smoothly, make sure that you are assisted by the right type of lawyer.

They can help you verify the value of your intellectual property.

An intellectual property lawyer looks at different factors and helps you determine the price of your property. They will also offer counsel and teach you how to defend your rights as an exclusive owner.

They handle the assessment of due diligence and create vital agreements.

Intellectual property lawyers assess both the quality and quantity of all the assets or goods that are licenced under you. In addition, due diligence helps in maximising the value of intangible assets, which can bring more opportunities to you in the future. Intellectual property lawyers can also draft documents about transferring ownership, secret clauses for precautionary motives and other important agreements. 

Key Takeaways

 

Protecting your intellectual assets is important to avoid future financial losses or the frustration that comes with your ideas being stolen. As a response to the cases of intellectual property theft, the Intellectual Property Law has been established. It prevents musicians, artists, filmmakers and authors’ works from being distributed being sold by others without permission. It also safeguards businesses’ profits by keeping formulas, recipes, manufacturing processes, sales methods and business plans confidential.

However, protecting your right can be overwhelming. If you do not want to handle all the documents and other important legal matters that come with filing and implementing Intellectual Property Law on your assets, working with a lawyer who is an expert in this field will surely make your life easier.

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