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The Differences between Trademark and Patent
The creation of any intellectual property, such as; technology, artwork, and inventions, needs to be encouraged. But how can this be done? By giving the creators the intellectual property rights they deserve. In this article, we’ll discuss the differences between a trademark and a patent.
Intellectual property rights are provided to protect the owners’ original work, inventions, the appearance of products, scientific developments, and so on, which they create. There are many types of intellectual properties. But the most well-known types are; copyrights, patents, trademarks, and trade secrets.
However, this particular page is only allocated to the beloved two types. They are trademark and patent.
What is a Trademark?
Trademarks are distinctive marks that enable customers to distinguish particular products or services from other people, brands, or companies. As an example, take one upstart company like McDonald’s. We will know it’s them straight after we saw the word Big Mac, or a logo (golden arches), slogan (I’m lovin’ it), or even a package design (a Happy Meal bag). These whole distinctive signs of McDonald’s are the ones that we called a trademark.
What is a Trademark Protect?
Quoted from International Trademark Association (INTA); a trademark is a word, phrase, symbol, and/or design that identifies and distinguishes the source of the goods of one party from those of others.
So, more, and less, trademarks can be used to protect:
• The products or services.
• The features/characteristics of the products or services.
• They who provide the products or services.
The Period of Trademark Protection
The registered trademark is valid for an unlimited period of time, as long as the mark is being used in commerce. But still, peoples need to renew their trademark. Every country has its own rules about how long until they must extend it. For example, in the USA registration must be renewed every ten years.
What is a Patent?
A patent is used to prevent another party to make, sell, use, or import a certain product or service without permission. The patent can be commercialized by the patent owner. They may buy and sell the patent or granting a license to the invention to any third party under mutually agreed terms.
What is a Patent Protect?
Below are three different categories of patents and the specific things they protect.
• Utility: This patent protects the creation of a new or improved product, process, the composition of matter, or useful machine.
• Design: This patent protects the ornamental design of a useful item.
• Plant: This patent protects new kinds of plants produced by cuttings or other nonsexual means.
The Period of Patent Protection
Some nations in Europe and the USA will need 20 years before they renew their patent. It can be varied depends on the country’s law.
If you want to establish a company in Turkey and/or trademark and/or patent your brand, be sure to get legal help from an experienced law firm in Turkey.
