INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY & KNOWLEDGE

The majority of a company’s value lies in its intangible assets, such as intellectual property and knowledge.

Intellectual property rights allow individuals or companies to protect and exploit their commercially valuable creativity in the same way as physical property. Intellectual knowledge extends to all information that has market value, including staff expertise, market intelligence, strategic contracts, and trade secrets. However, knowledge only becomes an asset if it has commercial value or market demand.  

CATEGORIES OF INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY
 

COPYRIGHT

Copyright protects original works of ownership fixed in a physical medium of expression, for example books, films, music, artwork, photographs and software. This gives the copyright holder the exclusive right to control the copying or adaptation of such works for a period.  

PATENTS

The federal government grants the inventor the right to exclude others from making, having made, using, leasing, and offering to sell, selling or importing an invention for new and improved products and processes with potential commercial application. It gives the holder an exclusive right commercially to exploit the invention for a certain period (typically 20 years from the filing date of a patent application).  

TRADE MARKS

This protection covers the branding, which distinguishes the products or services of one business from those of another business. Essentially, trademarks are the brand names and associated imagery that promote competition by giving products corporate identity and marketing advantage.

INDUSTRIAL DESIGNS

This right protects the appearance, style, or design of an industrial object such as textiles or furniture.

TRADE SECRETS

This includes an item of confidential information concerning the commercial practices or proprietary knowledge of a business. It is what gives its owner a competitive advantage and can cover a wide range of information such as chemical compounds, machine patterns, customer lists, and software.

IMAGE RIGHTS

These rights deliver substantial commercial and tax benefits to celebrities and sports people. It gives the individual the exclusive right to control commercial use and exploitation of their image, voice, and likeness.

OUR ANALYSIS

Behan Legal can assist and advise on businesses wishing to measure and obtain value from their intellectual property by identifying and implementing steps to protect and exploit the key assets. The value to your business by taking such steps is that you can:

• License or franchise these assets
  
  
• Use these assets as part of your business and marketing strategy and add value
  
  
• Prevent threats and competition

NEED MORE INFORMATION

Behan Legal assists and advises on these important issues. For an appointment, call 03 9646 0344.