Applicant/area
Conditions of protection
Creative
Visibility
Innovative, creative, practical
Ii. Multiple protection of the same object
A lot of people think there's only one thing for the same thingIntellectual property rightsProtection - not really. The same object may be protected by multiple intellectual property rights simultaneously。
For example
A brand of logo:
1 copyright protection - logo is itself a work of art and automatically has the right to work from the date of the design. Rights
TwoTrademarkProtection of rights - logo, when registered as a trademark, can prevent others from using approximation markings on similar goods
3 appearance designPatentsProtection - if logo is used for the appearance of the product, patenting for the design of the appearance
Three protections go hand in hand. So many companies, while protecting brand labels, simultaneously register trademarks, register copyrights, apply patenting for appearance design, and form a "triple safety net"。
Iii. Conflict of rights - when copyrights encounter trademarks rights
In practice, there is a situation in which copyrighted works of a are registered as trademarks. What do we do now
According to article 32 of the trademarks act: "the application for registration of trademarks shall not prejudice the existing pre-existing rights of others..." in the case of first writing rights, it is a prior right. If b registers a work with copyright a as a trademark, a may apply to the trademark evaluation commission to invalidate the trademark。
The same is true in turn - if you are going to design a trademark and not directly use another person's works of art or fonts, it may be an infringement of the right of first writing。
Iv. Practical art - the grey zone where the three brothers meet
A well-designed chair — is it a physical item (possibly patented) or art (protected by copyright)? This is the controversy of practical art。
In our judicial practice, functional works of art are protected by the right to copyright, which requires the fulfilment of one functional function, two artistic aesthetics and three artistic properties that can be separated from practicality ( "separability standards". If an art component of a design cannot be separated from a functional function (e. G. A chair whose shape is entirely functional), it does not enjoy copyright protection and only seeks the protection of a patent for visual design。
Consideration: comparison of the duration of protection of three rights
Copyright: work of a natural person = author for life + 50 years; work of a legal person/video = 50 years after initial publication
Trademark rights: 10 years renewable indefinitely (theoretically permanent protection)
Patent rights: 20 years of invention/new practical 10 years/ 15 years of visual design (non-renewable)
Summary for the period
- copyright protection "works" (auto-generated), trademark protection "marks" (registered acquisition), patent protection "inventory" (authorized acquisition)
- the same object is protected by multiple intellectual property rights at the same time
- first copyright is a first right and may be opposed to subsequent trademark registration (article 32 of the trademarks act)
- practical art protection: the key is to separate art from utility
- protection period: longest copyright (author life + 50 years), renewable trademark rights, fixed duration of patent rights
