The IP laws prove important in the protection of the creative and innovative processes of people or firms. Patents and Copyrights are two of the many formalities of IP protection that are often misunderstood mostly by businesses. Although they are ways to protect creators, they are used with very different goals. This blog is going to explain the primary distinctions between patents and copyrights to highlight what each of them gives protection to and how it influences persons.
What is a Patent?
A patent is a legal right conferred on persons inventing ‘any new invention or singularity of an industrial field of use which is new, has an industrial utility and is not obvious to a person skilled in that field’. Patents are legal documents that offer inventors protection on specific creations such that none can make, use, sell or distribute the invention without the consent of the owner.
Examples of patentable inventions include:
Novel offerings (for instance a new item such as a gadget or device).
Fixed assets of a manufacturing nature (e.g. specifically a new type of engine etc.)
Substance mixtures (for example a newly synthesized molecule for therapeutic use).
Concepts or ideas (such as a novel strategy for creating a good for the market).
For the intention of getting a patent, it is necessary to provide details of membership that can be employed to create the invention once the period of the patent has ended. This transparency breeds innovation in that the works of future inventors are built upon existing technological ground.
Patent Duration
Utility patents (for inventions) are usually accorded patent protection for 20 years from the filing date. As for design patents that concern unique ornamental designs of functional products and articles, the protection term is 15 years. After the expiration of the patent period the invention does go out of the public domain where anyone can employ or extend it further.
What is Copyright?
Copyright is a legal protection given to the creators of original works of authorship such as:
Like documents including, but not limited to, books, articles, poems and essays.
Individual works, pieces, songs, and compositions – vocal and instrumental.
Visual products such as paintings or sculptures and photographs.
Films and videos
Software code and more.
Copyright secures to the creators of a work the right to make and authorize reproduction of the work in various forms or media, to distribute, publicly perform, display or adapt the work. However, copyright vests immediately the work is written, recorded, or saved in any other medium in written, in recording, in film or in computer.”
Copyright Duration
The length of this protection is usually determined by the lifespan of the author plus 70 years in many places such as America. When the work is a work made for hire, or is anonymous, it is protection for the short of 95 years from publication or 120 years from creation, whichever is shorter.
Key Differences Between Patents and Copyrights
Here’s a quick comparison of patents and copyrights based on their essential characteristics:
Aspect | Patent | Copyright |
What it Protects | Inventions and processes as well as machines and tools | Novels, poems, paintings, sculptures, songs etc |
Duration of Protection | Utility patents expire at 20 years from the date filing of the application while design patents take 15 years from the same date of filing the application. | Life of author + 70 years |
Requirements | Novel, useful, non-obvious | Original of a work that is embodied in any capable medium of expression |
Rights Granted | Licence rights whereby only one party has the freedom to commercialize, exploit or practice an invention. | Copyrights also refer to exclusive rights to reproduce, distribute, etc. |
Scope of Protection | Specific invention or process | Just expression of ideas (not the ideas themselves) |
Enforcement | Patent infringement legal actions | Litigation that needs a copyright trial |
1. What They Protect
Patents: Safeguard ideas or novel methods – that is new knowledge or a plan or a way or creating, fixing or doing something new and useful that meets the needs of society. From an invention of a new machineries to a new way of doing a particular thing, patents embrace a wide area of technological and industrial inventions.
Copyrights: They can safeguard the thoughts embodied in the creative product as pertains to creative work including books, Music, motion picture, and painting. Copyright is the legal protection assigned to the tangible expression of ideas, theories or concepts and not the ideas, theories or concepts themselves.
2. Duration of Protection
Patents: Patent protection general operates for a period of 20 years for utility patents, that protects new inventions and 15 years for design patents, which protects the appearance of a product. Once this time frame is up the inventions goes to the public domain and can be used by anyone.
Copyrights: Copyrights last for the life of the author plus 70 years. If the work is a commercial product, created by the employer for the employee then the copyright term is 95 years from the time of publication or 120 years from the creation of the work whichever is less.
3. Requirements for Protection
Patents: Patent law also has certain criteria that must be meet so that an invention can be patented; it must be new, useful, non-obvious. In other words, the idea you need to have is some combination of your creation that is novel, useful, and not immediately obvious to anyone who knows a thing or two about the subject at hand.
Copyrights: Copyright protection is instantaneous as soon as a work is recorded; for example, when a novelist has written his book, or an artist has painted a picture. It is not necessary to register it in the copyright (but this will be useful if there are conflicts).
4. Enforcement and Legal Rights
Patents: It is the right granted to a patent holder to exercise an invention through making, using or selling of it. If the invention is used by anybody else than the owner or without the owner’s permission, the owner can sue for patent infringement.
Copyrights: When someone duplicates, sells, performs or modifies copyrighted work of others they are capable of being sued by the creators of the copyrighted material. Copyright infringement is against the law and depending on the country you are in can lead to either fines or an order to stop the infringement.
5. Scope of Protection
Patents: Patents legalise the specific invention which has been described in the patent application. The protection which is given to an invention is specific to the details of the invention and cannot be or is not granted to ideas or concepts.
Copyrights: Copyrights concern more the particular form in which the ideas are conveyed; for example, the words of a book or the tune of a song. Copyright protection does not apply to the content or theme of a work.
Which One Do You Need?
If you have developed a new device, process or chemical product, a patent is probably what you require. However, if you are an author of the novel, a composer or artist then copyright is exactly what you need.
While there are instances where the two forms of protection will suffice, there may be times when designers as well as creators require both, one for some elements of their creations and the other for the other components. For instance, if a software developer, a hardware manufacturer may patent the algorithms that are used by software developers or a computer game and may protect the rest elements of the program by copyrights.
However, if you need any professional help, you can contact us, our professional with their expertise will guide you to select the best one that you require in your case.
Conclusion
Patents and copyrights are two most important forms of protecting intellectual property, but they are also different types of the tools. Knowing what sets each apart will enable you to gain greater control and more effectively safeguard your ideas and inventions, as all your work should be. Irrespective of whether one is an inventor or an artist or an author or a software developer, it will be very useful to understand when and how to protect your ideas through patents and copyrights.