Intellectual Property Law
Read the text and compare with the situation in Bulgaria.
Intellectual property (IP) law is related to the legal protection of the commercial exploitation of legal entitlements that attach to original creative works and the prohibition of their unauthorised use. Infringement of IP rights can trigger off civil remedies but criminal sanctions can also be imposed. Three types of intangible property rights are most commonly associated with IP law: copyright, patents, and trade marks.
Copyright arises automatically with the creation of an intellectual product and its embodiment in the specific medium. Copyright cannot be registered but gives the copyright holder, usually the author, exclusive rights to use and reproduce the work. Use of the copyright symbol ©, followed by the author’s name and date is possible, but not necessary to achieve copyright protection.
Patents are granted to patent holders for inventions and utility models by the relevant patent office for a statutory period. The scope of protection is determined in the patent claim – usually, the exclusive right (monopoly right) in an invention includes the right to use the invention, the right to prevent other parties from using it, and the right to dispose of the patent.
Trade marks1 are original marks that are created to represent particular brand of goods or services graphically. In order to restrict its unauthorised use a holder of a trade mark should apply for its registration with the relevant patent office.
Intellectual property (IP) law is related to the legal protection of the commercial exploitation of legal entitlements that attach to original creative works and the prohibition of their unauthorised use. Infringement of IP rights can trigger off civil remedies but criminal sanctions can also be imposed. Three types of intangible property rights are most commonly associated with IP law: copyright, patents, and trade marks.
Copyright arises automatically with the creation of an intellectual product and its embodiment in the specific medium. Copyright cannot be registered but gives the copyright holder, usually the author, exclusive rights to use and reproduce the work. Use of the copyright symbol ©, followed by the author’s name and date is possible, but not necessary to achieve copyright protection.
Patents are granted to patent holders for inventions and utility models by the relevant patent office for a statutory period. The scope of protection is determined in the patent claim – usually, the exclusive right (monopoly right) in an invention includes the right to use the invention, the right to prevent other parties from using it, and the right to dispose of the patent.
Trade marks1 are original marks that are created to represent particular brand of goods or services graphically. In order to restrict its unauthorised use a holder of a trade mark should apply for its registration with the relevant patent office.