Do I have the right to Copywrite or should I Trademark?
Before we get into the meat of this discussion, let’s define what these two entities are: Copywrite and Trademark. Both are forms of intellectual property protection, but each protects different types of assets:
A Copywrite is used to protect the rights of an author or creator of one of the following: written stories, books, artwork, songs, films and radio or television programmes. The ownership of such items normally lies with the creator, unless a contract states otherwise and is valid for 50 years from the end of the year in which the item was created.
A Trademark is a legally registered ownership over a picture, signature, colour, numeral, shape, configuration, pattern, container or any combination of these. Normally a trademark will be used to protect a brand, product or related slogan and logo. A Trademark is valid for blocks of 10 years at a time.
A Copywrite protection can be issued by the creator or owner at any time simply by stating this on the works or by association to that creator or owner.
A Trademark needs to be registered with the Trade Marks Office and should or must be registered using a legal company to ensure that you file the correct forms and against the correct class of product group related to your item. There are 45 different classes under which you need to select from – see them here
The process will first require a detailed search of what currently exists, as any similar or conflicting applications will not be registered. You can do a preliminary search here: http://esearch.cipc.co.za/ first before you incur any legal fees and potentially waste your money on lawyers doing what you can do yourself.
Once the application is registered it can take up to a year for final registration. This is mainly due to the backlog and slow process of the registration offices. Once registered you have the right to use and prevent others from using your slogan or brand etc.
Is it a good idea to register a trademark?
Yes: if you have something that will be used to make money or that can be sold as an asset later. A Trademark ads value to the item and will be valuable in sale negotiations. But if you are just creating smaller items, products or brands, do not waste time or effort going through the process. It is best to chat with someone and get advice on your circumstances. Just remember that if you ask a Trademark Lawyer if you should register a Trademark, guess what they will say….
Please remember as, in all legal issues, there are exceptions to what I have stated above, so do not use this as a legal binding guide on IP.
Next week we chat about Patents and Designs.
A conversation with Eric Schmidt and Jonathan Rosenberg
Eric Schmidt and Jonathan Rosenberg are co-authors of their new book ”How Google Works”. Eric is Googles’s Executive Chairman and former chief executive officer. He joined the company in 2001, and he has helped Google grow from Silicon Valley start-up to a global technology leader.
Jonathan serves as an advisor to Google CEO, Larry Page. He joined the company in 2002 and managed the design and development of Google’s consumer, advertiser, partner products including search, As, Gmail, Android and Chrome.
Failing to plan is planning to fail
As promised last week, this week we discuss Financial Planning, which has another name that we are all more familiar with, a BUDGET. A budget can be any size, for any purpose, from the Finance Minister’s budget for the country to the budget for your daughter’s birthday party. Any business, no matter what size should have a functional budget.
A budget is a way of ensuring that a limited amount of money is used in an effective way. It helps to ensure that expenditure doesn’t get out of control. We all have nightmare stories of the business project that ran over budget and out of control. Can you imagine how bad it would have been if there was no budget and the consultant or staff didn’t have any target to stay within!
A budget also assists you in knowing how much money you need to find, earn or borrow, to achieve your goal in your business. Once you have the funds, it helps you to stay within your available resources.
Your business budget should the following:
– A specific timeframe – there is a start and end date for a budget, either an event, a year, a month, a project.
– Be forward focused – a budget never deals with the past, only the future
– Detail income as well as costs – you need to know where the money is coming from to pay for the costs, this can be as detailed as necessary.
When preparing your budget for next year here are a few things to consider:
– What activities will be involved?
– What resources will be needed to perform these activities?
– What will these resources cost?
– Who will complete the activities – staff, out-sourced personnel, volunteers?
– Where will the activities occurrent for your premises, or hire a venue, or outdoors?
– What are your existing commitments – contracts and non-negotiables?
– How do these anticipated costs compare to the actual payments in the past for the same things?
Remember that your budget will be based on assumptions as the future is uncertain. Make sure you document these assumptions in case circumstances in your business change and the budget can be updated.
Next week, we’ll look at recordkeeping, a vital process for any successful business that helps track spending against your budget.
Launch of the Innovation Initiative Forum
The Cape Chamber of Commerce invites you to the launch of our Innovation Initiative Forum.
Vision
To develop and support entrepreneurial businesses with an innovative product or service, from initial idea through to sustainability of an inclusive ecosystem.
Mission:
To assist entrepreneurs in both the development of their innovative product or service and the development of the legal entity to house the product or service, from start to sustainability.
To build a network of stakeholders necessary to create an environment of entrepreneur incubation, development and support.
To raise global awareness of the uniqueness and specific challenges facing South African entrepreneurs.
To establish and manage a grant fund to assist in these processes.
Guest Speaker: Professor Gary Atkinson-Hope
Professor Gary Atkinson-Hope is a retired Professor with many years of academic and invention/innovation experience. He has a PhD in Electrical Engineering and a B Proc Law degree, specialized qualifications in Intellectual Property and is a Registered Technology Transfer Professional. He is the Founder and Managing Director of TECHIPI, a company focusing on Technology, Intellectual Property and Innovation, which provides consulting, mentoring, training and advisory roles.
A light lunch will be served.
EVENT DETAILS:
DATE:
Thursday, 09 November 2017
VENUE:
Council Chamber
4th Floor
Cape Chamber of Commerce
33 Martin Hammerschlag Way
Foreshore
Cape Town
TIME:
10:00-13:00
REGISTER NOW:
• Register now
021 402 4300
Linda Roopen
Year-End Planning 1
It is that time of year again when we begin to see Christmas decorations in the stores and people begin to wind down for the holiday seasons. But there are still some very important things to do before we close off 2017.
This series of 5 videos will walk you through a process we do ourselves and with clients each year at this time. A process that helps you reflect back on the past year and then begin to map out a way forward for the new year.
This first video will give you a set of tools to use to look back over the past 10 months and map out some of the notable achievements and those all-important non-achievements and then what to do with each.
Take some time with yourself or your management team to do these exercises each week to give your business the unfair advantage in the starting blocks for 2018.
Enjoy. Your comments and ideas are most welcome.