WIsH - Welsh Innovations in Healthcare
What is IP?
Intellectual property (IP) is the tangible result of intellectual or creative activity in the form of novel ideas, information and knowledge. It can include inventions, industrial processes, software, data, written work, designs and images. (The term invention is used more generally to cover all of these aspects of IP.) It is a commodity that can be exploited by licensing, selling or buying.
IP is protected by Intellectual Property Rights (IPR). Some types of IPR include:
- Patents
provide legal protection for inventions for a period of up to 20 years. A patent is a monopoly right which allows the owner of the patented invention to prevent unauthorised persons from using or exploiting the invention for commercial gain. In order to obtain a patent, the invention must be novel, it must not be obvious and it must have some practical use. Patent protection can be very expensive to maintain, especially if protection is extended to other countries in addition to the UK.
- Copyright
is a type of intellectual property right which protects a wide range of material including written work, drawings, software and databases, music and dramatic works (e.g. a role play). Copyright is an automatic right; it does not require registration and once a work is created copyright comes into effect. Copyright gives the owner the right to control the use of their material. There are also a number of rights which are ancillary to copyright e.g. database right, software right.
- Unregistered Design Right
is used to protect functional designs. Like copyright, the unregistered design right is an automatic right and does not require registration. The right protects a design document and / or a 3-dimensional article made to the design. Examples of products that can be protected by unregistered design rights are medical devices, electronic circuitry and disability aids. In the UK, designs may be protected for up to 15 years from the design’s creation. European unregistered design right provides protection for designs for up to 3 years.
- Registered Design Right
is a monopoly right which is used to protect the outward features of a design and is mainly used to protect aesthetic (appealing) designs. In order to satisfy the criteria for protection under the registered design right, the design must be new and have individual character. Examples of products protected by registered design right include a motif on textiles or a new shape for an inhaler. Registered design right protection must be applied for and incurs fees. Registered design right can last for up to 25 years subject to renewal fees.
- Trade Marks
are signs or symbols used to distinguish a product or service of a business from products or services of other businesses. Trade marks help the owner to establish a brand which is distinctive and therefore identifiable amongst similar products or services. Trade marks must be registered and can last forever provided that the renewal fees are paid every 10 years. Examples include brand names of medicines and the NHS logo.
- Know-How
(or confidential information) can also be protected, provided that the information protected is secret and has some commercial value. The information is protected by the law of confidence and is normally protected by the use of a written agreement. Examples of know-how may be information on the subject matter of a patent (prior to a patent application / publication), industrial processes or information disclosed to a company under a consultancy (e.g. a new method for carrying out blood tests).