Intellectual Property Law
It is important to have multi-platform knowledge of specific law communicating in accordance with multilayered, more modern legislative areas. Our Law Office has such knowledge.
There are multiple options available for protecting intellectual property (intellectual creation), each form of these protections may be combined in some cases, like the protection for the same solution, product or tool provided by a number of legal forms. By protection options we mean only protection properly applied for registration according to the provisions of the relevant law.
In business life, almost all fields of business activity use (benefit) or create some type of intellectual property. These intellectual properties include inventions, trademarks, patents and know-how – but they also include literature, and artistic works, copyright protection software, as well as separate legislation materials, that are not named, although widely used socially, but had not yet become public property – which are often an important part of that specific business (enterprise) market value. Therefore, it is crucial that the intellectual creations of business life receive proper protection and are used and utilized under increased legal security.
On the one hand said protection serves to make the product or service distinguishable from other similar or even identical content of products or particular services, as well as to provide exclusive use and exploitation rights for the holder, and on the other hand also provides legal protection and thus makes the rightholder eligible to take legal action against an infringer.
The most common forms of protection are as follows:
1. Trademark
The trademark is maybe the most important type of trade indications. The trademark’s main purpose is to identify the goods and services as well as to distinguish them from each other, and to promote the legal protection of consumer orientation. One of the basic asset of economic competition and plays a prominent role in the fields of marketing and advertising as well.
According to the legal provisions in force, trademark may consist of words, combination of words (including personal names and mottos), letters, numbers, figures, pictures, colors, combination of colors, sound or light signals, holograms, flat or three-dimensional designs, including the shape of goods or of their packaging and their combinations, provided that the conditions of protection persist.
Trademark protection may be obtained in two ways, both national and international. The protection is obtained in Hungary via an application procedure at the Hungarian Intellectual Property Office, which provides limited protection domestically, while the European Community trademark provides protection in all member states of the European Union.
Both the domestic as well as the EU offices carry out a so-called preliminary search in order to ascertain that the application does not conflict with already registered domestic (or national) protection, and a short report on the results of the research will be sent to the office conducting the procedure, therefore it is important that the conditions of application are met, capable of distinguishing and of being represented graphically and there is no reason for exclusion in terms of registration.
§ Have you been aware of this? The Hungarian Intellectual Property Office does not register domain names. This activity is performed separately by specialized domain registrars.
Trademarks may be registered for a period of ten years from the date of filing of the application, which may be lengthened for several periods of additional 10 years by renewal.
§ Did you know? The Office for Harmonization in the Internal Market (OHIM) never sends invoices for the applicants or their representatives; OHIM even warns on its website that some may try to make the appearance of official invoices in order to elicit money.
2. Patent
The patent provides legal protection for inventions and procedures. The patent right-holder has an exclusive right to utilize the invention. The patent has a scope and territorial limitation and provides protection for a period of twenty years from the date of filing of the application. The patent protection may also be obtained in Hungary as well as at international (community) level.
§ Did you know? A so-called world-wide patent protection covering all the countries of the world does not exist. If you wish to file an application valid for several countries, it should be done so with an indication of specific countries or regions.
A patent has to be new worldwide, thus in case, someone already has the patent protection, either home or abroad, it is no longer available for patent application. Therefore, as a first step of this procedure an in-depth survey is suggested in the registry systems (the so-called formal search phase), excluding those that have been registered as patent regarding the same invention; the next phase (substantive examination phase) will commence following the date of publication.
A patent description from the available materials needs to be prepared for the application, the patent drawings should be included in the patent description, the current level of technology, and the difference between the new patent protection and the existing ones should also be reflected.
§ And did you know that? The novelty of utility models is not examined by Hungarian Intellectual Property Office during applications. The novelty of pattern and the examination of the existence of inventive step are such criteria, which will be considered only after the authorization process.
3. Know how
The know-how is also a type of intellectual property, which involves economical, technical and organizational knowledge as well as experience protected by intellectual property law, which may be utilized in practice, but has limited access to it.
The right to know-how will apply in favour of the one, who has developed or acquired it lawfully. Since the essence of know-how is confidential, keeping it undisclosed is also a legitimate interest of the right-holder. Protection for know-how forms with its creation, and does not require any formal procedure, so it is generally utilized through specific contracts, such as non-disclosure agreements and declarations.
4. What we can help you with
Our Law Office’s legal activities covers all areas of intellectual property law, including comprehensive legal advice on the various forms of protection, the overall management of the registration procedures and full representation of our clients, drafting and reviewing of copyright related documents, as well as legal representation in front of courts and other authorities.
Our legal activities related to intellectual property law mainly cover the following areas:
§ Legal advice on national, international or Community trademark registration
§ Survey of national, EU and international trademark registries
§ Legal representation in process of trademark registration, amendments and related proceedings in front of the Hungarian Intellectual Property Office and other international authorities (OHIM, WIPO)
§ Comprehensive legal advice on copyright protection
§ Reviewing and drafting of contracts related to copyright law; Agreements for acquisition and use of copyright
§ In case of copyright violation exercising legal actions against the infringer; legal representation in court proceedings
§ Counselling and legal representation protecting know-how and other intellectual properties not covered by specific Acts
§ Legal advice regarding internet copyright issues
Should you have any questions arisen in relation to the protection of intellectual property, please contact us, as our Office is at your service concerning your intellectual creation!
