Rouse Law Firm
Two lawyers came in to talk to us about copyrights and trademarks
and informed us on all the basic information we needed to know.
trademarks; Apple logo on mac is an example of a trademark, Logos and words can be trademarks. The point is to tell you who made the product. Sound and smell can also be included,
Trademarks have to be registered. you can register your trademark just in the u.k but this means that people in other countries can use it unless you register it in Europe for example however you can’t register your trademark worldwide. estimated half a million to trade mark in every country.
a lot of clothing is made in asian countries so it would be important to trademark in these countries.
trademarks can be man things apart from words an example the burberry pattern, it can also be the way something is layerd out like the colours
you have to make sure your trademark is registrable, has to be capable of graphics representation, capable of distinguishing goods/services, distinctive and not descriptive, not con tray to public policy/morality (swear words)
trademarks last for 10 years, and are renewable but if you don't use it someone else can revoke it.
you can still have rights for something even if you don't file your trademark, but its better to.
infringement stealing someones trademark, if you altered the trademark but looked very similar that as well is infringement.
copyright
protects creative and artistic work, sound recoding and films.
if you drew a sketch, then you have the copyright in the sketch.
if you have a website with information you should always have a copyright at the bottom so that if someone copies you. you have proof of this.
It needs to be original, quite low level. Needs to be some skill and effort that has gone into it.
films; producer director, commissioned work the creator, work you do as an employee the employer even though not the creator.
copyrights existed forth life plus 70 years
but their are exceptions,
their are examples of what a 3rd party can do without authors permissions
examples, review and criticise, teach in schools, non commercial research, report current events.
design rights
has to be new and have individual character, you can have registered and unregistered design
if its unregistered you have to prove that someone has copied it.
Designs that have been registered for example, the croc shoe.
moral rights, the right to be acknowledged as the creator of the work. this can be waived but no assigned.
confidential information, the recipe for cola a certain recipe you don't want to be known.
