1. Protecting your product
What is Intellectual Property (IP)?
Legal rights that result from intellectual activity in the industrial, scientific, literary and artistic fields.
Copyright, Trademark, Patent , Industrial design
Learn more about Canadian intellectual properties law

2. Copyright Copyright: Bernard Liengme ©2012
Copyright applies to all original, dramatic, musical, artistic and literary works (including computer programs). It also applies to performances, communication signals and sound recordings.
Copyright exists automatically when an original work is created; however, registration gives you a certificate that states that you are the owner, which can be used in court as evidence of ownership
Limited lifetime. So some books can be downloaded from the Internet free

3. 1875 The first registered
trademark
Trademarks
A trademark is a sign used to identify a product. They help customers identify your product.
Unregistered: symbol is TM . You are not required to register your trade-mark — using a mark for a certain length of time can establish your ownership under common law.
Registered: symbol is ®. Registration of your trade-mark gives you the exclusive right to use the mark across Canada for 15 years; registration is renewable every 15 years after that
Microsoft has registered Microsoft Excel®.
McDonald’s Corporation has taken many people to court over its trademark

4. Patent
A patent is a right, granted by government, to exclude others from making, using, or selling your invention in Canada.
You can patent a process not an idea
It must be new, practical, and not obvious
During the lifetime of the patent, no one can copy your design, except if they purchase a licence from you.
Lab books – readable, singed, witnessed, dated
Bell’s telephone – importance of being first
Electric light bulb was invented by MacDonald at McGill University but Edison got a patent in first.

5. Example of a patent
Advantages vs Disadvantages
What is a trade secret? To patent or not to patent, that is the question.
What is reverse engineering?

6. Industrial Design
The design must have features that appeal to the eye. To be eligible for registration, your design must be original.
A well-designed chair is not just a pleasure to sit on, but also a pleasure to behold. For most manufactured products the value depends not only on what they do, but how they look.
Registration can prevent your design from being copied and imitated by competitors. It pays to protect your hard work.