There are four basic intellectual property protection devices, two or more of which can apply to a single product or service: The brand name or trade mark is statutorily protected by trade mark registration, which confers exclusivity of use on the name's owner; artistic expression used in the identification and selling of a product or service is protected by copyright, and this can extend to the artwork, wording, and photographs which differentiate a product from its rivals; design features, such as a distinctive packaging or bottle shape, are covered by design patents.
It is now also possible to register a distinctive shape as a trade mark where it is uniquely identified with one firm, such as the famous Coke bottle shape; patents relate to functional inventions and so are concerned with the intrinsic qualities of a product or production process. It is not only the ground breaking innovations that are covered, and an advance that makes a material difference to the performance or capabilities of an existing product may be patentable.
Offering production for a maximum of 20 years, patents can be taken out on non-mechanical inventions, for instance in the electrical or chemical fields. The Internet poses its own particular challenges for the protection of intellectual property. It is a prime example of technology racing far ahead of the law, so even where the right steps have been taken, enforcement may not always be possible.
That said, however, low the chances of enforcement may be for those taking out some form of protection, they are far better than for those venturing into cyberspace with no defences at all. The advice from Peter Kelly is that trade names and brands on the Internet be protected using a "domain name", which is registered with the national administrator. It is up to the applicant to check whether the proposed name or brand has already been claimed, or whether it is unacceptably close to another - a process that obviously needs professional assistance.
