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Designs, Intellectual Property, Patents, Trade marks
Did you know that patents, trademarks and designs go hand in hand?
Even if you have done everything to protect a product, you may miss an intellectual property right. Many conventional offices specialize in trademark and design registration only or in patent registration only. Unfortunately, there is a good chance that you are not fully protected if you only have a registered trademark and / or design or only a patent.
Conventional trademark or patent offices
However, conventional trademark or patent offices (Figure 1) will state that they can refer you to an outside trademark or patent expert if they discover that a particular product cannot be protected by a registered trademark, design or patent. It is then essential that the specialist in the field of trademarks and designs or patents first discovers something that is patent-worthy. That will be a difficult job for the brand and model specialist or patent specialist. Many of them do not specialize in patent law as well as trademark and design law.
Work against instead of supplement
Some Intellectual Property Rights, if not applied for in the correct order, can work against each other rather than complement each other. If a technical invention is patentable, it is important to apply for this patent in advance of all other activities. Also, a patent or design may not be sold before a registration has been filed. This is because no patent right or design right can then be granted.
A trademark attorney will first have to discover something patent-worthy before a client can be referred to a patent attorney. However, a trademark attorney is not specialized in patent law, which means that there is a chance that it is possible to apply for a patent on your product while it went unnoticed by the trademark attorney. The same situation, vice versa, is also possible.
At a full-service agency, patents, trademarks and designs go hand in hand
Fortunately, with a full service agency Patents & Trademarks (fig. 2) patents, trademarks and designs go hand in hand with each other! Your product will always be viewed by both patent and trademark and design experts. This means you are always assured that your product is fully reviewed by all intellectual property specialists. And you can do business with peace of mind while the attorneys take care of adequate protection of your product.
Summarizing
Main points to consider:
- At a full-service agency, patents, trademarks and designs go hand in hand.
- The correct order for the application for intellectual property rights is important.
- LIOC Patents & Trademarks is a full service agency and your product is always viewed by experts in the field of patents and trademarks and designs.
- See also our blog “when can I publish my invention“.
Discover how we protect your product and which form of protection best suits your product. Contact one of our advisers and let us advise you.
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