Imagine that you’re a small business owner that has spent a lot of time and money developing your branding, from logo, colours and your online presence you have really put an effort to make your business stand out. Then, one day you find out someone is copying your branding, taking “inspiration” from your products or using a name that is suspiciously too similar to yours.
If this has happened to you recently or you want to know what to do in case you’re in this position, this is everything you need to know about Intellectual property in Ireland:
What is a Trademark?
Trademark refers to anything that can distinguish your brand from competitors. This includes the name of your business or brand, symbols, illustrations, icons, logos, colours and taglines, all the graphic elements that make your brand unique in the market and that your customers can identify you with. Domain names can also be protected with trademark registration.
For example, the classic red soles from Louboutin are trademarked which means that no other brand can legally sell or create shoes with red bottoms.
What is a Copyright?
Unlike a trademark or a patent that you need to register, you’ll have the copyrights of your work immediately. This means that no one can take your presentations, scripts, videos or software and use them without your consent.
You can give people a license to use your material for free or charge a fee.
What is a Patent?
If you have an invention or an innovation of any type (software, food, design, etc) you need to register the patent for this product to avoid people from using it to make a profit. This process is longer than a trademark since you need to prove that it is indeed a new idea or product and it’s limited to a specific amount of time.
Like with copyrights you can sell a license to others to monetize your product.
I recommend you watch the movie Joy! To get an idea of why it is so important to parent your innovations.
I have a Limited Company, is my business protected?
Yes! Registering a Limited Company in Ireland will immediately protect your business name. The Companies Registration Office (CRO) will prevent other people from registering a business with a similar name. But you still need to trademark your trading name since this is not protected by the CRO.
If you’re a sole trader you should also trademark your business name to avoid any issues.
And the big question… Who owns the logo, me or the designer?
Paid or not, legally, the original creator of the logo (designer), owns the copyrights. Before you start working with a graphic designer make sure there’s a contract that states how much you’re paying and that the designer will give you full ownership of your logo and any graphic materials after the invoice is paid in full. If you don’t have a contract then the designer keeps full ownership of all the material.
Maybe you cannot avoid someone copying you and your work at some point, especially as your business grows but you can stop it and protect your business by having legal ownership of your brand and designs.
For trademarks and patents, you can contact The Irish Patents Office and its Intellectual Property Unit.
