Which Industrial Property Right?

Home – Which property right?

Patents

What do patents protect?

A patent protects a technical invention - i.e. a new solution to a technical problem. It can be a product (e.g. a machine, a medicine or a technical component) or a process (e.g. a manufacturing or measuring process).

Requirements for a patent

Novelty - The invention must not have been publicly known at the time of application.
Inventive step - It must not be obvious to experts in the relevant field of technology.
Industrial applicability - The invention must be practically usable.

What does this mean for the owner?
A granted patent gives the owner the exclusive right to prohibit others for up to 20 years from manufacturing, offering, placing on the market or using the protected invention without permission - or importing or possessing it for the aforementioned purposes.

It is therefore a powerful means of protecting innovations and securing economic advantages in the long term.

Trademarks

What do trademarks protect?

A trademark protects a sign that distinguishes the goods or services of one company from those of other companies. This includes, for example:

Words and names
Logos and logotypes
Word/image combinations, colors or even sound sequences

Unlike patents, trademarks are not based on technical inventions, but on the recognition and distinctiveness of a product or service on the market.

What does this mean for the owner?
A registered trademark gives the owner the exclusive right to use the protected sign in the course of trade. He can prohibit others from using identical or similar signs for identical or similar goods or services if there is a risk of confusion under trademark law.

Trademark protection is initially valid for 10 years and can be renewed as often as required for a further 10 years - as long as the trademark is actively used and the renewal fees are paid.

Designs

What do designs protect?

A design (also registered design or formerly: "design patent") protects the external appearance of a product. This includes:

Shape and contour
Colors
Surface structures
Ornaments

It is not the function or technology of a product that is protected (as with a patent), but the design - i.e. what the eye perceives.

Typical examples of applications for registered designs are

Furniture and lamps
Clothing and accessories
Packaging, samples
Digital icons or user interfaces

Requirements for design protection

Novelty - The design must not have been published before the application.
Uniqueness - The design must be sufficiently different from what is already known.

What does this mean for the owner?
The owner of a registered design has the exclusive right to prohibit others from using, imitating or distributing the design without consent.

Design protection is initially valid for 5 years and can be extended for up to 25 years.

Utility models

What do utility models protect?

Like a patent, a utility model protects a technical invention, i.e. a new solution to a technical problem. In contrast to a patent, however, only products (e.g. machines, medicines or technical components) can be protected. Processes are excluded from utility model protection.

Requirements for utility model protection

Novelty - The invention must not have been publicly known at the time of application.
Inventive step - It may not be obvious to experts in the technical field.
Industrial applicability - The invention must be practically usable.

What does this mean for the proprietor?
A registered utility model gives the proprietor the exclusive right to prohibit others for up to 10 years from manufacturing, offering, placing on the market or using - or importing or possessing for the aforementioned purposes - a product that is the subject of the registered protective claims.