Understanding Importance of Copyright and related Design Patent
Benefits of knowing Copyright Laws and Details about Design Patent
Law in the form of patents, copyrights and trademarks, protect the rights of ownership of an individual but in different ways. Discussed herein are copyright and design patent, to get an understanding, if one seeks to pursue any of them. A patent protects the ownership of a process or an invention while a copyright serves to protect an individual’s creative work.
A copyright
It serves to protect the rights of an individual or a group that has
produced an original work. The owner of a copyright has rights
(exclusive), to sell, perform, display in public, do follow ups based
on the original work and reproduce the copyrighted work. It is divided
into various groups like:
• Musical work which include, the music, the melody and the lyrics
• Dramatic work, i.e. plays, screenplays and scripts
• Artistic work, i.e. sculptural and pictorial arts
• Audio-visual work
• Choreographic work likes dancing and pantomime
• Sound recordings, e.g. DVDs, CDs, LPs and audio tapes
• Architectural work, e.g. building designs, renderings and blueprints
Once an original work has been put into a format that is fixed e.g. on tape or paper, the original work is automatically copyrighted. In short, if a musician records a song on a CD or tape, or an author puts his or her story in writing, then the work, if the original, is automatically protected by the law through a copyright.
Typically, from
the moment, the copyright comes into play, the work is copyrighted for
the entire lifespan of the owner and for 50 years more after him or,
she dies. It is not a necessity to copyright an original work, but the
process is quite basic and relatively inexpensive. It is also advisable
in case a dispute arises. Another person might infringe on this right,
and legal action requires such registration with the US Copyright
office. Registration can be done via the internet without the need for
a lawyer for a minimal filing fee.
A Design Patent
The law protects the rights of inventors and/or the process of the invention for a maximum period of 20 years in the US commencing from the date application was made. This is done through a patent. The law protects the invention and discovery of a new and useful process, manufacturing technique, and composition of matter, machine and any improvement on any of them that make them more useful. In short, it gives the patent owner the right to control, regulate or stop anyone from selling, buying or using the invention or the process without his or her permission.
This also applies to any invention or process that
is exceedingly similar to the patented process or invention, which is
not easy when proving an infringement and may take a lot of time in the
court before a solution is reached.
Conclusion
Copyright and design patent can only be understood if discussed as such because they serve the same purpose using different methods, and protect different forms of an individual’s rights. Whereas the copyright process is basic, inexpensive and not a necessity since, it comes about automatically, the patent process is somehow complicated, expensive and takes forever to complete.
However, if, an
invention is that OK, then it would be worth the hassle to complete the
patenting process because it could make someone a fortune for a long
time. In the end, when pursuing a copyright protection regulation and
design patent guideline, it is
not a terrible idea to run it by the lawyers since they understand the
law better.