Protecting your business idea

Once you have had a fantastic business idea the last thing you want is for someone else to come along and copy it. Or worse, come up with the same idea and get it to market before you! [2]

That is why there are several options for protecting your intellectual property (as long as you have got it down on paper and it is not still in your head).

Patenting

Owning a patent on your invention means that you have the legal right to use and exploit it for a set period of time and that you have the authority to stop other parties from manufacturing, using or selling your invention.

There is no international patenting – you must decide which countries you would like to own your patent in, and then apply for it with each individual country. Patents are valid only as long as the owner pays fees to the country or countries where the patent is registered, and most regions stipulate that the patent is only valid if the invention is physically realised or put to commercial use within a certain period of time.

Certain things cannot be patented in the UK, such as scientific discoveries that do not have a purposeful application.

Once you have a patent on your invention, the details of it will be made publicly available. This includes any background information given, the nature of any technical issues solved by the invention, a detailed description of it and how it works, and any illustrations of the invention. The cost of applying for patent varies.

Trademarks

If you have created a specific, unique image for your business you can register for a trademark to protect it from being used by competitors and other interested parties.

A trademark can protect your business’s name, slogan, domain name, logo, shape/3d form, colour or sound, but only if it is distinctive for that business within its class (i.e. industry type specified by the IPO), and only if it is not deceptive or contrary to law or morality. If your sign is the same as, or resembles an internationally symbol or name, you cannot register it as a trademark.

You do not have to register your trademark, however it is wise to do so to ensure no-one else can copy it or use it for their own gain.

It costs £200 to apply for trademark in one class of goods or services, and £50 for each additional class.

Copyright

Copyright protects those who have intellectual property other than an invention, for example writers, photographers, musicians, actors, artists, designers, producers, broadcasters etc.

You do not have to register for copyright – it is automatically given when an idea is fixed, i.e. written down. However to ensure that your work is protected, it is wise to insert the © symbol on all your work, along with your name and the year of publication. Many professionals advise that as an additional form of protection, a published version of the work with the relevant copyright information should be posted to oneself and kept in the sealed envelope as proof of ownership.

If you own the copyright to a piece of work, you can choose to sell it or licence it to other parties for use on your own terms. If you are contracted to do some work for a company, be sure to read the section of the contract that deals with copyright carefully to ensure that you retain some form of claim on the work. It is possible to share copyright on an entire product, for example on a music single the copyright might be split with the lyricist owning the words, the musicians owning the musical arrangement, and the producer owning the recording rights.

Different types of work are protected for differing lengths of time. For example, copyright for a piece of writing lasts for 70 years, whereas for the original composition of a piece of music it lasts for life plus 70 years after your death.

Design Protection

As a designer, your creations are automatically protected by Copyright laws, as long as they are unique. They are also covered by Design Protection. This means that no-one should be allowed to copy or use your design for up to 15 years unless given permission.

Design protection covers the outside appearance of a product as well as designs for printed materials etc. There is also an option to register your design for a fee, which will cover it for 25 years.