What does IP or intellectual property rights mean?
Intellectual Property (IP) refers to intellectual creations, such as inventions, literary and artistic works, designs and symbols, names and images used in commerce. There are several types of intellectual property rights (IPR) with patents being one of them. You can also protect a design, a logo, a name or copyright and trademarks. IPRs are protected by law and enable people to gain recognition or gain financial benefit from what they invent or create.
How do I protect my idea through a patent?
It is important to consider early on whether you want to commercialize or make use of your research and whether this means that you need to protect your idea. One of the most important forms of this is through patenting. In order to obtain a patent or IP, it is an absolute requirement that the results have not been published or made public in any other way. Remember that some applications count as public documents, as do lectures and other occasions when you talk about your discoveries to a larger group.
At KI patent is the most common option when it comes to protecting your idea
So what is a patent?
A patent is an exclusive right granted for an invention, which is a product or a process that generally provides a new way of doing something or offers a new technical solution to a problem. In general, the patent holder has the exclusive right to prevent others from commercially exploiting the patented invention. Patents are territorial rights. This means that you usually have to apply for a patent separately in all the countries where you want to act. The protection is granted for a limited period, generally 20 years from the date of submission of the application. For patents covering pharmaceuticals, there may sometimes be a patent extension of up to five years.