Protecting your ideas

摘要

The creation of new ideas is the essence of profitability of most businesses. Hence protection of these ideas from unwanted use by others is an important consideration. A wide variety of types of protection are available including Patents, Registered Designs, Registered Trade Marks, Plant Breeders Rights and Copyright plus various common law rights and secret working. There is no simple formula for determining which of these means of protection is the most appropriate. This paper discusses the merits of the various types of protection and the factors which might lead to one type of protection in preference to others It is shown that the correct choice may depend on the business plans and financial state of the organisation. It is also noted that just as important as the selection of the correct mode of protection is the identification of the ideas of the business which should be protected.