Kildare Artisan Network Presentation IP Law
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Transcript of Kildare Artisan Network Presentation IP Law
JAMES F.D. McElwee
McElwee Solicitors
O’Connell Square, Mountmellick, Co. Laois
T: 057 8624255 F: 057 8644523 M: 087 1693083
PRACTICE AREAS
Civil litigation and commercial litigation
Personal Injuries
Debt Collection
Commercial and Residential Conveyancing
Landlord and Tenant
Company and commercial law including company formation and secretarial work
Intellectual property advices and trademark applications
Wills and probate work
Family law
Employment law
Liquor licensing law
Data Protection
Information Technology advices
Professional and medical negligence
Road Traffic Offences
Private client
Agricultural Law
Intellectual Property
Trademarks
Designs
Copyright
Patents
Passing Off
Domain Name
Protection of Databases and Computer Programs
TRADEMARKS: Guess the Logo?
TRADEMARKS
Protect names used in the course of trade and
in the provision of services.
Trade Marks Act 1996: “any sign capable of being represented
graphically which is capable of
distinguishing the goods or services of one undertaking from those of other undertakings”
Includes: Logos
Pictures
Shapes
Smells (if it can be described in words e.g. The smell of grass)
Slogans (if distinctive character)
Trademarks - Ireland
Search
Nice Classification
10 years protection (renewable)
Exclusive right of owner to use mark
Infringement vs. Passing Off
Series of Trademarks
Collective & Certification Marks
Refusal Distinctive Character – All
Black’s Silver Fern
Generic terms – ‘Bubble Wrap’
Deceptive terms – ‘Pure Whool’
Descriptive terms - Sweet
Similar /Identical
Kind, quality, intended purpose, geographical area
Customary language
Registration & Refusal Ireland
Trademarks – CTM and Madrid
European Union -OHIM
Refusal in 1 country leads to outright refusal of CTM
Option to convert application to international mark
Madrid Protocol - WIPO
Based on national registration first
Can select countries (circa 70 incl. US, Australia etc.)
Community TM (CTM) International TM
Copyright
Property Right
Subsists in:
1. Original literary, dramatic, musical or artistic works;
2. Sound recordings, broadcasts or cable programmes;
3. Films
4. The typographical arrangement of published editions
5. Original databases
Duration
1. 70 years after the death of the author
2. Sound recordings and broadcasts – 50 years after made or made available to the public
3. Films: 70 years after death of director, screenwriter, composer etc.
Protection of expression of ideas not ideas themselves
Industrial Designs - Definitions
“Design” means the appearance of the whole or a part of a product resulting from the features of, in particular`: the lines,
contours,
colour,
shape,
texture or materials of the product itself or
its ornamentation.
Product Industrial or handicraft
item;
Including parts intended to be assembled into a complex product
Packaging, get up, graphics, symbols and typographical type faces
But not including computer programs
New
Individual Character
Worldwide Novelty
Industrial Designs
Element of Copyright
Registration - Ireland and EU – 25 years
Unregistered protection for 3 years in EU – must be on market or known to public
Protection
Patents
Invention
Susceptible of industrial application
New
An Inventive Step
E.g machines and mechanical
devices
Electronic equipment
Computer hardware
Pharmaceuticals
Manufacturing processes
Biotech Products
Not Aesthetic creations
Discoveries, scientific theory or mathematical equation
Program for a computer
Definition
Patents - Protection
Should be filed before publication
Advantage – Statutory Protection, no need for secrecy
Disadvantage – Publication of invention
20 years protection – 10 years short term patent
Patent pending
Supplementary Protection Certs (SPCs)– 5 years
EU - European Protection Convention (EPC)
World – Patent Co-Operation Treaty
Patent Agent
Intellectual Property Transactions
Licensing: owner retains ownership and agrees to the use of the IP by other companies in exchange of royalties > licensing agreement (business expansion/diversification)
Franchising: licensing of a IP central to franchising agreement.The franchiser allows franchisee to use his way of doing business (TM, know-how, customer service, s/w, shop decoration, etc)
Selling/assigning IP to another company (merger & acquisitions/raising of cash)
THANK YOU!
McElwee Solicitors
McElwee Solicitors
O’Connell Square
Mountmellick
Co. Laois
T: 057 8624255
M: 087 1693083
F: 057 8644523