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Which tools protect the intellectual property of an idea?
Today, on the Studentsville blog we’ll be taking a look into a few interesting topics, such as copyright, intellectual property and all those connections that exist between protecting ideas and monetizing them. So what protects the intellectual property created by artists, scriptwriters, novelists and software developers?
Let’s start from the beginning. Defending an idea means defining its specifications. Whether it’s the design of a new chair or an innovative way to open a padlock through your fingerprint, a song or a revolutionary business development template, is intended for a very small circle of insiders. Lawyers, technicians, experts in the field of design, trademarks and patents: these are all specialized figures with lots of experience in the field.
How to protect your intellectual property as an independent contractor?
When you think you’ve got something important in your hands, the most important thing to do is understand whether it’s really unique and innovative. In other words, if it’s worth protecting or not.
How can you get to know if your idea is worth protecting?
So, how do you do this? How do you know if your idea is worth the protection?
How do you figure out if your trademark is similar to an existing one? How do you know if the method you’ve invented to fully automate sourdough production is just a replica of something that already exists?
To avoid any kind of doubt, it is recommended to contact a specialized law firm qualified in IP law and industrial property-related rights. To understand a bit more about this, we decided to start our research from a law firm in our city, Florence.
Normally, you should always protect your ideas, no matter what. It’s never too late to do it, all you need to do is understand what type of help you need, or rather, who to seek for a consultation.
For nearly three decades Turinigroup has been involved in legal protection of intellectual property. Now we can consider it as one of the only Italian law firms involved in legal protection of intellectual property.
Intellectual property: what is it?
We can refer to intellectual property as a set of laws aimed to protect people’s ideas and creations:
- discoveries
- inventions
- designs
- essays and researches
- methods
- artistic work
- music
- literary works (poems, novels, scripts…)
- audiovisual works
- software
- databases
- graphic works
- symbols
- names and images used in marketing
Furthermore “IP”, short for “intellectual property” refers to the property rights that arise in the outcomes of creative and intellectual processes within a supply chain.
We’re talking about patents and trademarks that can be legally protected in court. This means that with Turinigroup you are safe in both cases: when you are accused of violating other intellectual property rights or when you think others are stealing your ideas.
Startupper? Continue reading to know what do you need to protect
Thanks to legal and expert advice, even a simple idea – if unique and innovative, can gain a huge value that can be protected and claimed.
Today, many startuppers and small entrepreneurs mainly focus on protecting their software and apps. However, you can’t forget about other important assets, such as website’s domain names. Companies of any size need to focus on domain protection activities in order to defend their trust and liability.
Creating products and protecting ideas
While looking at the creation of commercial products not only we find success and amazingly innovative ideas. Sometimes uniqueness can be found even in a small and simple object. Sometimes trademarks are the ones that make the difference.
Here are two concrete, but at the same time common, examples. They can be useful to help people understand which tools are the best ones to protect the intellectual property of an idea.
Here are some perfect examples of ideas turned into business value
Let’s take into consideration the history of GURU, an Italian brand from 2000 that conquered the Italian casual fashion for almost a decade.
Probably you’ll be wondering what have they done to have such success.
Did they use innovative materials?
Did they design unique clothing, never seen before?
Well, the answer is no. Actually, everything they achieved was thanks to a trademark. A simple stylized daisy, in fact, was the cutting-edge idea born in the mind of Matteo Cambi.
In other cases the ones that make the difference are actually patents, although they can appear as something quite common.
An example could be the banana container (patent US7377392B2): a simple container where you can keep your banana, avoiding it being squished or damaged.
If you’re curious to discover other internationally famous patents, you can use this tool provided by Google. Here you’ll be able to find many patents, along with related information such as the registration date, the company and the expiration date.
Well, we could say that the intellectual property topic is very interesting and if you are a creative person you should absolutely dig into this topic. You might need it in the future!
Why is it important to protect the intellectual property of a project?
Protecting the intellectual property of something you have created – this is one of the main rules to follow, whether it’s a software, a production process, an object or a design. This is the only way to give value to it, whatever it is.
This process is fundamental because it’s your project we’re talking about. To demonstrate this paternity? It’s necessary, above all, to establish which assets are the most important ones:
- the brands name and everything around it
- the name of the products and of the services that are sold
- the verbal part of the logo
- the graphic part of the logo
- any other brands connected to the main one
- slogan, catchphrase, payoff, jingle
Obviously this list isn’t enough, but it presents the main assets, the most exposed one.
The role of a law firm
Contacting a qualified law firm means moving forward, understanding what’s really important to protect. There you can find experts who can run a novelty and patentability search to guide you in the process of defining the best tool to defend your idea.
History is full of innovators and creators, and every day their number increases. So, make sure your ideas do not get stolen from someone else. Even when we’re talking about founding a start-up, it is important to take into consideration this.
Ideas and Ways of Protecting them: some examples
You’re a musician and you come up with a nice melody for a new song. Before using it in a concert or posting it on social media, it would be recommended to deposit its sheet music.
You’re a student attending IED (European Institute of Design) and your lab design teacher assigns the class a particular project to do: design an armchair, one that perfectly represents the future.
The idea you come up with is great, your design is well done. Why not register it before turning it in?
Thanks to their creativity, enthusiasm and skills, start-ups have the potential to revolutionize an industry. Despite the limited financial resources, for those who start a business it is important to maintain the initial idea and to forbid anyone to copy it. Additionally, protecting your projects makes them more attractive to investors.
Studio Turini: a team of qualified experts specialized in legal protection of patents and trademarks
Let’s start talking about Laura Turini and her team of specialists, located in Viale Matteotti, in Florence. Founded in 1993, with the initial purpose of protecting the inventions and the creativity of big and small businesses. This Italian law firm relies on the work of licensed engineers like Mario Emmi, one of the highly skilled patent experts in the Belpaese. And also other highly qualified specialists like Giulia Mugnaini, an expert in the trademark search in Italy, and Chiara Morbidi, an attorney who knows almost everything about intellectual property law.
Together with her team, Laura Turini has been a pioneer of the protection of intellectual property throughout Italy.
The evolution of the intellectual property area: new technologies
Regarding copyright, the national and international scenario has changed a lot in the last 30 years. Today there are so many sectors that require legal protection and regulatory compliance. Those laws are continuously updated with regards to legal protection of businesses during the go-to-market phase.
With the advent of new technologies, such as NFT, we are heading towards new frontiers – here is the law firms need to constantly renew themselves and offer an up-to-date service.
If you’re interested in this subject and you want to find out more about it, click on this tool Google Patents offers, based on Big Query.
