WHAT IS INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY?
Intellectual property is a category of property that includes intangible creations of the human intellect, and primarily encompasses copyrights, patents, and trademarks. It also includes other types of rights, such as trade secrets, publicity rights, moral rights, and rights.
Patent
A patent is a right that is granted for an invention and it can take the form of a new product, process or technical improvement to existing technology. You will be granted exclusive grants after you have registered a patent successfully.
Trademark
A trademark is a sign that you can use to distinguish your business’ goods or services from those of other traders and it can be represented in the form of the company’s name or logo.By having a trademark, your products and services will be easily identified, thus you are able to build customer loyalty and also protect your market share.
Once you register your trademark, you are granted monopoly to the same. You will be able to (1) license it to third parties or (2) sell it for profit.
FRANCHISING & LICENSING
Extend your reach, grow your business and brand within the region in a shorter amount of time. Save up on costs by franchising your business, whereby your Franchisee is granted the right to engage in the business offering and selling of products or services, under your prescribed marketing plan and system.
Design
A design can be the shape, configuration, colours, pattern or ornament that are applied to any article or non-physical product that gives the article or non-physical product its appearance.When you register a design, you will have the right to control its use and also prevent others from using the same unless they seek for your permission.
You can also protect your market share by barring others from copying; license it to third parties for commercial returns or sell the design for monetary returns.
Copyright
Copyright protects work like novels, computer programmes, plays, music, film, photographs and paintings. You control the use and commercial exploitation of these works if you own the copyright of the same.
Plant varieties protection
You may consider to seek protection for your new plant varieties after you have discovered and developed a new plant variety by applying for a Grant of Protection for a plant variety with the Intellectual Property Office of Singapore. By doing so, you will have the exclusive right to prevent others from doing any of the following acts in respect of the propagating material and/or harvested material of the protected plant variety without your permission:
- Export
- Import
- Production or reproduction
- Conditioning for the purpose of propagation
- Offering for sale
- Selling or other forms of marketing
- Stocking for any of the purposes mentioned above
You will be able to license the right to another party, collect royalties and commercially produce the new plant variety.
Geographical indications
A geographical indication refers to a sign which identifies a product as originating from a particular territory which has given the product its special quality or reputation and usually consists of the place of origin of the product.Geographical indications can be used by all producers or traders whose products originate from that place and share typical characteristics.
Layout designs of integrated circuits
A layout-design of an integrated circuit (“IC”) refers to the three-dimensional character of the elements and interconnections of an integrated circuit.An integrated circuit (IC) is an electronic circuit in which the elements of the circuit are integrated into a medium, and which functions as a unit. The medium used to create this unit is a solid semiconductor such as silicon. The circuit is integrated into the piece of silicon, commonly called a "chip" or a "silicon chip". The terms "integrated circuit", "semiconductor" and "silicon chip" are used synonymously as commercial ICs are usually fabricated from silicon semiconductors.
Confidential information and trade secrets
“Confidential information” (“CI”) refers to information which is not known to the public, or in the public domain, but is private to the company/individual who possesses that CI in the form of business operations, customer engagements or details of a company’s financial affairs.A person who has access to the CI is generally obliged under the law to keep the information confidential and cannot usually disclose the same to third parties.
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