1.10 Protecting Designs and Intellectual Property

Question 1

patents

Answer 1

• protects how products work (eg inner workings):
• what they do, how they do it, material used & how they are made
• provide legal protection but up to patent holder to enforce the patent
• can take several years to be granted giving competitors times to develop similar products
• cannot get a patent once product has been released to market

Question 2

trademark

Answer 2

• protects brand name
• can be made up of words & logos
• need to be renewed every 10 years

Question 3

registered design

Answer 3

• protects overall appearance of the product (eg aesthetics/shape)

Question 4

copyright

Answer 4

• protects written instructions/other media
• eg literary work, art, music, websites, software, films, promotional material
• names cannot be copyrighted (trademarked instead)