How to Protect Your Idea, Get a Patent and Trademark

The first step in starting a business is having an idea. It’s important that your idea remains yours and that others don’t profit from it before you even get the chance to.

Of course, an idea is not everything. For your startup to be successful, execution is just as essential. However, protecting your idea must not be overlooked. From copyright and NDAs to getting a patent or trademark, we will discuss everything you need to know about idea protection in this article.

Let’s look into all the options you have for keeping your idea exclusive to your business, their benefits, and how-tos! But first, let’s establish once and for all why we at EB Pearls stress the importance of idea protection.

Legal protection for your startup idea is vital because it safeguards the unique elements that set your business apart. Trademark protection, obtained through entities like IP Australia, ensures that your business name, logo, and other distinctive features are exclusive to you. 

This exclusivity is crucial for building brand recognition and trust among consumers. 

In essence, legal protection for your startup idea is about ensuring the longevity and success of your business. It minimises the risk of intellectual property disputes, builds a strong foundation for growth, and enhances your standing in the competitive business landscape. 

By investing in legal safeguards, you not only protect your brand, but also contribute to the overall sustainability and reputation of your startup.

There are four major ways to ensure that your startup ideas are legally protected

The foundation of copyright is the creative skill and labour of an individual. While copyright does not safeguard the ideas or information themselves, it does safeguard the unique ways in which they have been conveyed. The four most prevalent types of copyright are text, pictures, music, and video.

A content’s owner is granted exclusive economic rights to undertake specific acts with that material through copyright. The right to reproduce and disseminate the content is one example of these rights.

In addition to financial protections, copyright grants people what are formally called moral rights. Australia recognises three moral rights: the right to honesty, the right to proper credit, and the right to be free from defamation of character.

Copyright registration is not necessary in Australia. Copyright in Australia is an automatic safeguard for every creative work the moment it is committed to paper or digital form. The Copyright Act of 1968 guarantees unrestricted and complimentary copyright protection.

An innovation, whether it’s a product or a process, is considered an invention when it gives a novel technical solution to an existing problem or a more generalised method of accomplishing something. 

A patent grants the exclusive right to use the patented invention. The technical details of an invention must be made public in a patent application for it to be granted a patent.

In theory, the owner of a patent has the exclusive authority to forbid anybody else from making money off of the patented innovation. What this means is that no one else can make, use, distribute, import, or sell the patented innovation without the owner of the patent having given their permission.

These are all the steps for securing a patent in Australia, according to the IP Australia website:

Making common mistakes during the patent application process can have serious repercussions. One frequent error is prematurely publicizing or selling an invention before obtaining patent protection, leaving it susceptible to theft and rendering it unpatentable after 12 months of public disclosure. 

Another critical misstep is insufficient detail in patent applications, where a lack of thorough specifications can lead to application failure or complications during infringement cases. 

Neglecting a prior art search, which compares your invention to existing ones, is another error that can result in application rejection. 

Lastly, failing to seek advice from an Intellectual Property (IP) expert, such as a lawyer, is a significant oversight. Consulting with an IP lawyer increases the likelihood of a successful application and streamlines the process, making it more time-efficient. 

In legal contexts, a trademark identifies any distinctive sign, expression, term, or symbol used to distinguish one thing from another. Both a registered and unregistered trademark serve to distinguish a product as belonging to a certain business and acknowledge that business as the owner of the brand. 

Trademarks, which can or cannot be registered, are often thought of as intellectual property.

Let’s look at the step-by-step process to get a registered mark in Australia:

The establishment of a confidential relationship can be formalised by a legally binding contract known as a non-disclosure agreement (NDA). By signing this agreement, you guarantee that no third party will have access to any personally identifiable information that you may collect. 

Companies often use non-disclosure agreements while negotiating with other companies. They make it possible for the parties to exchange confidential information on matters such as goods and services without worrying that it might fall into the wrong hands. 

When deciding how to safeguard company ideas effectively, it’s important to weigh the pros and downsides of copyright, patent, trademark, and non-disclosure agreements. Think about what makes your intellectual property special and what you hope to achieve.
Once your business idea is protected and ready to take off, contact us for your mobile app, web app, or staff augmentation needs.