What is Intellectual Property?
The results of the creative activities of a man require legal protection, i.e. intellectual property requires legal protection.
Different objects of intellectual property (works of art and literature, trade marks, inventions etc.) each of which requires specific legal protection.
The works, which are not industrially manufactured, are protected by copyright. (see Estonian Authors' Society). Industrial property is distinguished from the copyright and the related rights by the fact that these rights do not appear automatically, so particular procedures should be followed in the Patent Office to obtain the rights.
The main objects of industrial property are:
- A trademark is a sign used to distinguish the goods or services of a person from other similar types of goods or services of other persons. Noticing a trade mark a consumer should understand that the product is offered by a particular company.
- PATENTS AND UTILITY MODELS
- Patents and utility models are forms of legal protection for inventions. Invention is a solution to a technical problem in any field of technology, which is new, involves an inventive step , which is not obvious to others with good knowledge and is capable of industrial application.
- INDUSTRIAL DESIGNS
- An industrial design is a two-dimensional or three-dimensional design of the product, which, either separately or in combination, form the shape, configuration, ornamentation, colours, texture and material of the product.
Industrial property includes also:
The Rights and Obligations of the Owners of the Objects of Industrial Property
The owner of the object of industrial property (trademark, patent, utility model, industrial design) is obliged to pay a fee for the renewal of the validity of the registration of the object of industrial property to maintain the object of industrial property.
The Estonian Patent Office should be informed about any changes in the data concerning the owner of the object of the industrial property.
The owner of the object of industrial property has the right to abandon, to pledge, to transfer his/her rights fully or partially to other persons etc.