Protecting and managing your Intellectual Property (IP) is critical when establishing your business’ product or service in the market.
Intellectual property refers to new or original creations of the mind such as inventions, words, phrases, symbols, designs, and ideas. These creations can have a commercial value for your business, so it is important you understand how to protect it.
Types of IP Protection
- Trade marks
- Patents
- Copyrights
- Design rights
- Domain names
Trade marks
A trade mark is a right that is granted over a word, phrase, letter, number, sound, smell, shape, logo, picture or packaging your business uses to represent its products and services. It is used to distinguish your goods or services from your competitors. Registering a trade mark gives you exclusive rights to:
- use the trade mark across the Commonwealth of Nigeria
- use the trade mark for commercial purposes
- assign, transfer or sell the rights to the trade mark to another business
- protect the trade mark if others try to use it
visit www.iponigeria.com
Tip: If you buy a business that already has trade mark or registered design, you'll need to transfer these into your name. A patent lawyer can help you do this.
Patents
A patent is a right granted for any device, substance, method or process, which is new, inventive and useful. A patent will:
- stop others from manufacturing, using and/or selling your invention in Nigeria without your permission
- let you licence someone else to manufacture your invention
- gives you exclusive right to exploit the invention for the life of the patent.
Visit the IP Nigeria website to apply for a patent. www.iponigeria.com
Copyright
Copyright protection is free and automatic. It provides the legal protection for the original expression of ideas, not to the ideas themselves. Unlike patents and trade marks, copyrights don't have to be registered for the ownership of a work to be asserted and protection received.
Copyright protects original works such as:
- art
- literature
- music
- films
- sound recording
- broadcasts
- computer programs
- databases
Copyright laws protect your material from the time you first write it down, paint, draw, film, or tape it. International copyright treaties also protect material in Australia. Learn more from the Nigerian Copyright Commission. visit www.iponigeria.com
Design rights
- A design is the appearance of a product that gives it a unique visual style.
- A design can be protected and registered in Nigeria, if it is both:
- new – it is not identical to any design anywhere in the world (including on the internet)
- distinctive – it is not similar to any design previously published anywhere in the world (including on the internet)
Find out more information on design rights, or register your design with IP Nigeria www.iponigeria.com
Domain names for your website
A domain name is your unique address on the internet. It will allow your clients or customers to find your business online.
Consider registering a domain name even if you do not have an actual website yet – this will help to ensure your domain address is available when or if you need it. Read more about choosing and registering a domain name.
Don't forget to arrange email addresses at the same time.
Remember:
If you buy a business that already has a website, you need to transfer the website address into your name. To do this, contact the registrar of records. They will ask you to fill out a form and pay a small fee.
There is no limit on the number of website addresses you can register. Keep in mind if you only register dwealthblog.com.ng other people can use dwealthblog.com or dwealthblog.co.uk.
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