At the end of your visit today, would you complete a short survey to help improve our services?
Thanks! When you're ready, just click "Start survey".
It looks like you’re about to finish your visit. Are you ready to start the short survey now?
Names, such as trademarks, brands, logos, domain names, business names or company names
Tip: When customers want to find your business, they look for a trademark and other names associated with the business. Protecting those names can help your business be more competitive, and achieve greater economic benefits.
Tip: A trademark doesn't just protect a name. It can protect many things that will help your customers recognise your products and services; for example, brand names (Shell), shapes (the shell shape), or letters ('BP').
Tip: Trademarks, business names, company names and domain names are part of a business's identity. Together they form part of an overall branding strategy, but each has a different purpose and registration requirements.
Tip:
Tip: A registered trademark offers greater protection than an unregistered trademark.
Tip: There are many factors to consider when deciding whether to register a trademark or not, including timing and costs.
Tip: There are a number of formal and technical requirements for registering a trademark.
Tip:
Tip: This could be important if you export, or plan to export or license, your products or services using a trademark.
Tip: The holder of a registered trademark has certain rights, including the right to sell or license their trademark.
Tip:
Tip: In certain situations you have a legal obligation to register a business name.
Tip: Before registering a business name, you should find out if someone else is already using it.
Copyright works such as text, images, art works, music, sounds, or movies
Tip: Copyright protects the way in which something is expressed. It does not protect ideas.
For example, if you wrote a computer program to perform a function, the software code would be protected by copyright. Someone else could then write their own computer program to perform the same function. They would only infringe your copyright if they copied your software code.
Copyright is infringed if someone copies a substantial part of your work.
Tip: Copyright protects many kinds of original material that people have used their time, skill and other resources to create, ranging from literary, dramatic, musical, sound and artistic works to computer programs and business documents.
Tip:
Tip: Copyright protection begins automatically as soon as a work is recorded in a material form. The length of copyright protection depends on the type of copyright work created.
Tip: Do you exercise your copyright rights in other countries (e.g. by exporting software, or granting software user licences on the internet), or are you considering doing so?
Tip: A copyright holder’s rights depend on the type of work that is protected by copyright.
Tip: Moral rights are non-economic rights someone has when they create a copyright work. Because moral rights stay with the creator even if the work is sold to someone else, the new owner should know about them.
Trade secrets, know-how, and confidential information
Tip: Confidential information means information that you do not want disclosed to anyone else, including know-how and trade secrets.
Tip: Protecting trade secrets, know-how, and confidential information can help your business be more competitive and realise greater economic benefits.
Tip:
Tip:
Tip: There are practical measures you might consider taking, such as using a confidentiality agreement or having a 'need to know' policy.
The external appearance of a product (design)
Tip: You can protect the external appearance of your product by a registered design, so that a competitor cannot have a product with the same shape and/or appearance.
Tip:
Tip:
Tip: Do you currently export or plan to export in the future?
Tip:
Tip:
The layout or plan of an integrated circuit
Tip: Circuit layout rights are the rights that protect computer chips and semi-conductor chip designs and layouts.
Tip:
Tip:
Tip: Do you currently export, or plan to export, products involving circuit layout rights?
Tip:
New plant varieties
Tip: Plant breeder's rights give the holder the commercial right to grow, propagate and profit from any new plant variety that has been developed.
Tip: Note that the applicant must be the plant breeder, or a person who has acquired ownership rights from the breeder, and the plant variety must meet set requirements.
Tip: When you apply for PBR in relation to a new plant variety, you have to name the variety as part of the application process.
Tip: There are factors you may wish to consider before applying for a PBR, such as cost, and the time that is required for the formal application process.
Tip: Do you export, or plan to export, your plant variety? As there is no 'worldwide' PBR application, you should make a PBR application in each country to which you expect to sell, export and/or license your plant variety.
Tip:
Tip:
Place names identifying the origin of a product (geographical indications)
Tip: Place names that identify the origin of a product are called 'geographical indications'. When a geographical indication is available and used in relation to a product, it indicates the origin of the product, and therefore communicates to a consumer the quality, reputation or other characteristic of products from that geographical origin.
Tip:
Traditional knowledge and Indigenous cultural expression
Tip: 'Traditional knowledge' covers, for example, medicinal knowledge associated with plants or trees from which scientists may develop therapeutic drugs. 'Indigenous cultural expression' refers to, for example, cultural song, dance, music and art, passed down from generation to generation, with which Indigenous communities identify and of which they are custodians.
Tip: The intellectual property framework does not easily protect traditional knowledge and Indigenous cultural expression.
Tip: There is some modest protection for traditional knowledge and Indigenous cultural expression through copyright law and confidentiality agreements, for example, but more protection is needed.
Confidentiality agreements
Tip: A confidentiality agreement protects information that is not to be disclosed to anyone.
Tip: A confidentiality agreement can protect trade secrets, know-how, and other information that should not be disclosed.
Ownership of intellectual property created by your employees and contractors or consultants
Tip: An employer will own the intellectual property created by employees in the course of their employment.
Tip: There are 5 essential terms covering intellectual property rights to consider including in the employment contracts that you ask your employees to sign.
Tip: Not all employees will need written employment contracts. Of those who do, some may need intellectual property provisions in their employment contracts more than others, if they are likely to create intellectual property.
Tip: There are practical measures you might consider taking, such as using a confidentiality agreement or having a ‘need to know’ policy.
Tip: The ownership of intellectual property created by a volunteer or contractor that you engage is treated very differently to the ownership of intellectual property created by your employees.
Tip: When you engage a contractor or consultant who will create intellectual property for you in the course of the engagement, there are 5 essential terms that should be included in your agreement with them.
Tip: The position of a volunteer who creates intellectual property is similar to that of an independent consultant or contractor.
Your rights as a joint owner of intellectual property
Tip: Joint ownership of intellectual property can be agreed formally at the beginning of a project, or it may arise unintentionally. The joint ownership of intellectual property will sometimes have unexpected results, either restraining the owners jointly, or hindering one while leaving the other/s unaffected. Joint ownership of intellectual property therefore does not always benefit joint owners as they might have expected.
Tip:
Tip:
Tip:
Tip:
Your options if your intellectual property rights are infringed
Tip: If your intellectual property rights have been infringed, the law provides certain remedies.
Frequently asked questions (FAQs)
Tip:
Tip:
Tip:
Tip:
Tip:
Tip:
Tip:
Tip:
Tip: