The Intellectual Property Office
The Intellectual Property Office (formerly known as The Patent Office) is the Government organisation set up to operate the system of granting registered rights (patents, designs and trade marks) in the UK.
The Intellectual Property Office is also responsible for Intellectual Property policy including copyright policy in the UK.
Registered rights are granted for patents, trade marks and designs following either an on-line or paper application, supported by the relevant fees. Applications are subjected to rigorous examination and at various stages may be objected to by third parties.
The IPO does not grant IP protection outside of the UK, but protection in the UK can also be obtained via international organisations. The European Patent Office in respect of patents www.epo.org, and both the European Community Trade Mark & Designs office in Alicante www.oami.europa.eu, and the International Bureau of the World Intellectual Property Organisation in Geneva for trade marks and designs www.wipo.int.
Patents
If you develop a process or a product that is new or inventive and could be used in industry, in other words it can be made, you can apply to protect it by a patent.
In products such as the iconic Apple iPhone, patents could, for example, protect the electric circuits, the energy storing device (battery), the plastics used in its construction and software that enables it to store information, process photographs and offer e-mail access.
Trade marks
A trade mark is a sign which can distinguish the goods and services of one undertaking from those of another trader.
Trade marks protect brands such as Apple, iPhone and the Apple logo. Trade marks can also be used to protect the distinctive shape of products, their colour, as well as slogans and jingles that may be used in their promotion.
Designs
Design relates to the physical appearance of an item or part of it, and can apply to industrial as well as handicraft items.
The look and appearance of products such as the distinctive Apple iPhone are protected by registered design, whether filed in the UK or the Community Design Office. Registered designs can protect both the two dimensional look of a product or its three-dimensional shape.
Copyright
Copyright is an IP right which arises automatically when someone engages in the expression of an idea. The right controls copying of that expression (but not copying the idea itself).
The instruction manual and text on a product's packing are protected by copyright, but it is more widely recognised by consumers for the protection it offers films, sound recordings and literary works. Most mobile phones can play music and many can play films, this creative work is protected by copyright.