Your business may have a lot of intellectual property (IP). Intellectual property includes things like the name of your business or a breakthrough process. Your intellectual property is the ideas which are considered business assets that deserve protecting.
There are a variety of intellectual property and different advantages to each.
- Registered trademarks protect:
- Brand names.
- Logos.
- Scents.
- Different packaging.
- Sounds.
- Patents protect inventions.
- Design registrations protect the look of specific patents.
Important things to keep in mind with Intellectual Property:
- Keep your idea confidential until it’s protected by applying for your IP.
- Trade secrets are when you keep an invention or design secret rather than applying for a patent. This is because you have to disclose the details of the invention in a patent application.
- Do not let anyone see your IP without a confidentiality agreement or non-disclosure agreement in place in order to legally protect yourself and your business.
- Exhibition or commercial use of an invention before a patent is filed may prevent you from filing the patent.
Search the Australian trademark, patent, design, and plant breeder’s databases to ensure that your idea is original.
- Australian Trade Mark Search
- Australian Patent Search (known as AusPat)
- Australian Design Search
- Australian Plant Breeder’s Rights Search
Register your IP using the system to register a design, trademark, patent, or plant breeder’s right. But be mindful of the benefits and risks of unregistered and registered rights.
If you register your business name as a trademark be sure to first determine if your business name is a registered trademark or in use elsewhere in Australia first.