Protecting intellectual property from theft: what is important to know? | Business

Individuals, companies and organizations creating intellectual property should remember to apply for design, trademark registration and patenting of inventions in order to protect it.

How to prevent intellectual property theft?

It is important to know that trademarks and product designs are protected by registration, inventions by patenting. These tools allow you to protect your rights through legal means, protecting your registered intellectual property objects from copying and unwanted use, and help you fight against unfair competition, as well as contribute to business growth and success. In addition, it can be one of the conditions for easier investment attraction, since the work protected by exclusive rights is more valuable.

A trademark is intended to identify the goods or services provided by a specific manufacturer and to distinguish them from the goods or services of other manufacturers. It can be words, names of persons, surnames, artistic pseudonyms, names of legal entities, slogans, letters, numbers, drawings, emblems, spatial shapes, colors, even sound or movement.

Often, as soon as we see a brand, we imagine what kind of product or service it will be, its quality or features. A trademark of a successful product can be a means of promoting the company’s reputation. Such a mark, especially with popularity and consumer recognition, can quickly become a target for trademark counterfeiters who seek to take advantage of the product’s already established reputation and offer their product to the unwary consumer. Therefore, a registered trademark will allow you to easily prove your rights and defend them, thus saving the company’s investment in the development and popularization of a product or service.

Once a new image of a product or part of it is created, it can be protected by registering it as a design. Design is defined as the image of the whole product or part of it, consisting of the specific features of the product and its ornamentation – lines, contours, colors, shape, texture and material. The owner of a registered design has the exclusive right to use this design, so only he can allow or prohibit other persons to produce, offer for sale, put it on the market.

In this case, when a product is created that is new at the global level and is not obvious to specialists in the relevant technical field, it or the method of its production can be patented as an invention. The patent can also be licensed, which can facilitate the search for commercial partners.

Often, a product can be protected by several methods of intellectual property protection: marking the product with a registered trademark, registering the external image of the product as a design (up to 100 examples of the same design in one application) and patenting the invention.

An idea can also be protected

Every product usually starts with an idea, and information about theft of ideas sometimes appears in the public space: one person comes up with something, and another person appropriates this idea and implements it. Although the idea itself cannot be registered or patented, there are still legal means to protect the idea.

One of the ways to protect an idea is the legal protection of trade secrets or confidential information. In such a case, the interested parties who contributed to the emergence of the idea enter into an agreement that determines what information is considered confidential and agrees on confidentiality obligations.

Before disclosing an idea to others, it is important to assess whether the idea is adequately protected by legal means. If not, then it is advised not to reveal the idea or make it public.

Similarity must be proven

If a mark that is identical or similar to an already registered trademark appears on the market, after the State Patent Office (VPB) announces the registration of such a mark in the official bulletin, it is possible to protest this action by submitting a reasoned written protest.

In such a case, the trademark owner, in order to file a protest against the subsequent registration of an identical or similar trademark, must have one or more prior valid rights belonging to him. Also, when submitting such a protest, it is necessary to indicate the legal basis and to be convinced that both trademarks are identical or similar.

One of the possible legal grounds for filing a protest is the likelihood of misleading a section of the public, where consumers are misled by a brand new to the market and purchase goods marked with it, believing that they are products of another manufacturer’s brand.

If the later trademark is already registered with the VPB, a request for invalidation can be filed, and if the later trademark has not been used in Lithuania for a continuous period of 5 years, a request for its cancellation can be filed.

When the protest is satisfied, VPB does not register the competitor’s trademark, and the person who filed the protest thus protects the exclusive rights to his trademark.

It is also important that the applicants themselves, intending to register their trademark, should check whether such a trademark does not infringe the rights of third parties, make sure that there are no already registered identical or similar trademarks on the market.

You should also know that it is possible to challenge a mark registered with fraudulent intent, if it can be proven that such registered mark does not belong to the person registering it, or if such a person does not intend to use the mark in good faith for various reasons.

How to avoid mistakes?

When starting your trademark registration journey, it is important to prepare properly. A list of common mistakes and solutions will help you overcome this challenge.

Ways to solve the most common errors:

• Incomplete research. Before starting the registration, it is important to conduct a search and make sure that the rights to the mark are not owned by other persons. This will help to avoid possible conflicts with the owners of other brands.

• Incorrect classification. You should evaluate the areas of activity where the trademark will be used and carefully choose the appropriate classes for your goods or services that the mark will be used to denote. A classification that is too broad or too narrow will not ensure full trademark protection.

The correct list of classes and/or services is important because:

• helps determine the scope of protection requested;
• in the event of a dispute, not only marks, but also lists of goods/services are compared;
• incorrect classification of goods and services prolongs the registration procedure;
• not using the mark for all the goods or services for which you have applied will make it easier to challenge your mark.

• Inaccurate documents. Incomplete or inaccurate documents may delay the registration process or be rejected. Ensure all required forms, supporting documents and fees are submitted correctly and on time.

• Specialists are not consulted on time.

Advice from an intellectual property expert can help you avoid mistakes. When registering a trademark on your own, important information may be omitted, the form may be filled out incorrectly, or the required document may not be submitted, so it is important to consult with experts in the field to help ensure a smoother and more successful process.

Disputes can be resolved peacefully

Trademark and design registration disputes can be resolved amicably by using the free mediation service provided by the State Patent Office.

You can register for a consultation on intellectual property protection issues here.