Difference between Copyright, Trademark and Patent | Unilex

• Admin
• June 8, 2021, 7:46 a.m.

Intellectual property is a category of property that refers to the creation of the mind. Artistic works, like composing music, writing lyrics, creating unique trademark symbol and other scientific and non-scientific discoveries are intellectual property.  The copyright, trademark symbol and patent are the types of intellectual property. With the growth of competition and awareness, many companies are strictly obeying the intellectual property law. The law says you cannot reproduce and distribute the author work, without his/her permission. In the event, if you do that intentionally or by mistake the author has a right to charge an action against you.

Copyright, trademark, and patent are all different types of intellectual property, people often confuse them. A brief description of them is listed below. So, let’s get started.

What is Copyright?

Copyrights were made to protect the original work of the artist. The art work can be literacy, music, and theatrical creations. It is a collection of rights automatically vested to you once you create original work. These rights include the right to reproduce the work, the right to distribute the work, the right to perform the work publically and showing the work publically. By copying a copyrighted work, an artist has a right to take legal action against a person who copied it.

Copyright is represented by the symbol “©” or the word “copyright itself”. In some other cases, it can be displayed as “Copr.” Or credential of the copyright owner.  The power of copyright enables you to choose a way your work is made available to the public.

What’s protected?

An original work of the author such as books, blogs, articles, lyrics, sculpture, photographs, sound recording, choreography, motion pictures, and other creative works. However, an idea mustn’t be copyrighted, the existing  form of an idea can be.

What’s the requirement to be protected?

If an author’s work is original and creative then it is protected, otherwise, he/she cannot charge copyright action against the person who copied his/her work. The terms of protection of work are the author’s life plus 70 years.

What are rights granted?

An author has a right to control the original and creative work. If someone reproduces/distribute his work for commercial uses, an author can case a copyright file against him/her.

What are the benefits of copyright laws and what is the duration?

Copyrights laws provide a person with legal evidence and public notice of ownership. A person can be sued in the court that his/her work is original and creative. A copyright is valid for lifetime.

What is cost grant?

The cost depends on the type of copyright register. For eg, for registering a software code the cost is Rs. 3350 respectively.

What is a trademark?

A trademark is a mark that can be word, symbol and graphic design legally registered by use as identifying and distinguishing a company from other companies. It gives the right to protect the name similar to your mark. If someone copies the registered trademark symbol of a company,  the company has a right to take legal help against this infringement. It is an asset that investors are interested in and attract more investors to the company. When trading goods and services business uses certain names, trademark symbol and graphics designs to distinguish themselves from other businesses. Some known examples of the trademarks are the company’s logos, brand names, and slogans.

What is the protection of the requirements?

A unique brand name, trademark symbol, slogan, design or motto which distinguish a company as the source of certain goods, protects and services. All trademark’s needn’t to be registered- owners can establish “common law” rights on their marks on the basis of use solely in commerce, in which registration is not necessary.

What is the right provided to an owner?

An owner has a right to protect his brand name, trademark symbol, slogan and motto to reproduce or distribute for the commercial purposes that create confusion in the market.

What is the duration of rights?

Once you paid the due fees and necessary documents the trademark last forever provided that the mark is actively used by the association.

What is the cost of a grant?

The government fee for each trademark is Rs. 4000 respectively.

What is a patent?

A patent is an intellectual property that rights granted to the invention which must be manufactured products, and apparatus chemical composition or a manufacturing process. The major goal of this intellectual property to encourage innovation and commercialization of the technology. This law inspires inventors to disclose their invention publically in exchange for certain exclusive rights. Unlike copyrights, the patent law gives protection for the functional aspect of the software, which cannot be protected by the copyrights laws. Furthermore, the patent law registration process is expensive, complex and time-consuming as compared to copyrights. The patent registration cannot be accomplished without taking help of a consultant, attorney or a legal advisor.

What are the protection requirements?

An invention must be innovative and previously undiscovered. It may be a product, manufacturing process and has a practical implementation in any industry.

What is the duration of a patent?

Patent  is limited duration, it is run up to 20 years from the date of the registration.

What are the rights provided to the owners?

The patent laws protect strangers to use the invention, recreating importing or selling it without taking concern of the owner.

What is the cost of the grant?

Government fees around Rs. 10,000 along with the patent lawyer who will charge a fee around 10,000 to 15,000 respectively.

Final say:

I hope, now you completely know the difference between copyright, trademark, and patent. If you are seeking a consultant who will help you in registering any one of them, you have come to the right place. At unilex consultant, we offer you complete solutions regarding registration and legal issues. Feel free to contact us round the clock.