By Shannon Monk, KMKNO
As part of our discussion on Mi’kmaw cultural tourism, we want to share educational resources that may help with your cultural tourism business. For the next couple of months, we will be doing a series of informative articles on intellectual property (IP) and how it can help protect and grow your business. This month we will be introducing IP and associated rights. Over the following months, we will go more in-depth about why it matters to the cultural tourism industry and the work being done around the world bridging IP and Indigenous Traditional Knowledge.
Intellectual Property is the result of what is created with the mind. It can include literary and artistic works, inventions, symbols, designs and more. These rights protect products of creative activity and can help business owners establish stronger businesses. Essentially, IP rights give you a say over how and/or when others can use or copy something you have created. IP rights protect innovation and creativity through things like copyright, patents, trademarks, geographical indicators, industrial design, and trade secrets.
Copyright is a type of intellectual property right that protects the expression of ideas for creative works such as books, films, plays, music and sound recordings, artistic works, etc. Copyright gives you, as the owner, the right to copy, distribute, and display the work.
Another type of intellectual property right is a patent. Patents protect new inventions and were the first type of IP to receive recognition in the modern legal system. Patents protect newly invented products (defined as a technical solution to a problem) and processes (defined as a new way of doing something) and exclude others from making, using or selling your invention.
Trademarks are signs that distinguish your goods or services from those of others. Signs can be any combination of words, designs, shape of goods or packaging, slogans, etc. By registering your trademark, you are granted exclusive rights to use it, which means only the owner of the trademark can use the sign. Common trademarks include Pepsi, Gucci, Nike, etc. Over time, trademarks come to represent the nature and quality of the goods and services. Some trademarks become so well known, they even replace product terminology in everyday language. Examples include Band-Aid, Vaseline, Kleenex, and Google.
Geographical indicators are signs used on products that correspond to a specific geographical origin. These signs represent certain qualities and the reputation associated with the geographical region, and are often used for agricultural products, wine and spirits, and food. Some examples include champagne from France, cheese from Holland, chocolate from Switzerland, or tequila from Mexico. The signs help identify that a product comes from a specific region and gives producers an advantage when marketing their products.
Industrial design is another form of intellectual property that refers to the features of a product that are aesthetic or ornamental – it is about how the product looks and feels, not how it is made. Industrial design gives you, the owner, rights to exclude others from making or selling designs that are the same or similar to yours. Examples of industrial design features include the shape of a piece of furniture or a pattern on a sweater.
Lastly, trade secrets are intellectual property rights that protect secret or confidential information that gives your business a competitive edge. Trade secrets include things like customer data, a new technology, formula, or recipe. It is important that the trade secret remain just that, a secret, for your business to benefit. One of the most famous examples of a trade secret is the recipe for Coca-Cola.
The information shared in this article comes from the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO). They offer many informative resources on IP including free distance learning courses. Two courses that may be of interest include: DL Primer on Intellectual Property, which is a short 3-hour course, and a general course on intellectual property, which is a longer 55-hour course that includes a final exam. Both courses, and more, can be found on the WIPO Academy Website.