|
|
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) | Forms
Design copyrights, Patents and Trademarks
A trademark is a work, symbol or picture or the combination used to distinguish the goods of a person or organization from the goods of others in the market place. A registered trademark gives a proprietor exclusive rights to use the mark for the designated services of the mark.
There are forty-eight different types of trademark certificates. The registration is initially for fourteen years and is subject to renewal.
A patent for an invention is a grant by the Government to an inventor for certain rights. A patent is granted by the Government acting through the Industrial Property Office. The right conferred by a patent excludes others from making, using or selling the invention.
There are thirty types of certificates for patents. The duration of a patent grant is sixteen years.
Design copyright is not an article, its features in the finished article appeal to and are judged by the eye but it does not include a method or principle of construction or features, shape or configuration which are dictated solely by the distinction that the article to be made in that shape or configuration has to perform.
The period for a design copyright is fifteen years divided into three periods of five years.
Application for Registration
Applicants for patents and design copyrights follow similar procedures with differing certificates being granted.
All three registrations are similar in that they all require individual index cards for each file. In addition:
A trademark also requires the number, class, classification of goods, proprietor, agent, and logo or name of trademark.
The patent register holds information pertaining to the convention country (if patent was registered outside of the country) date, number, address, date of issue, address of service (agent’s address) and renewal payments.
The design copyright register lists information on the design’s number, name, date, proprietor’s name, agent, and the logo mark.
Copyrights
The Copyright Act 1997 came into effect in January, 2000. Copyright is a form of protection provided by law to the “authors” of “original works of authorship” which may be fixed in a tangible form of expression.
Copyrightable works include literary, dramatic, musical, artistic and architectural works, sound recordings, pictorial graphic and sculptural works and certain other intellectual works. This protection is available to both published and unpublished works.
Copyright Notice
A copyright “Notice” must be visible on all deposit copies. The copyright notice informs the public that the work is protected by copyright, identifies the copyright owner and shows the year of first publication.
The use of the copyright notice is the responsibility of the copyright owner and does not require advance permission from or registration with the Copyright Office.
Registration of Copyright
To register a work one must
Submit a completed application form
A non-refundable filing fee of $10
A non-returnable deposit of the work being registered.
|