Protecting intellectual property

Different rights protect different things about a product:

• Patent — protects a new invention or how something works. It must be new, inventive and useful.
• Registered design — protects the appearance (shape, pattern, ornamentation).
• Copyright — protects original artistic, literary and musical works, and drawings, automatically.
• Trademark — protects brand identity (name, logo, slogan) that distinguishes a business.
• Design right — an automatic, unregistered protection for the shape of an original design.

Protecting an invention

What each right covers, and for how long

UK durations you should know:

• Patent — up to 20 years (renewal fees due each year from the 5th).
• Registered design — up to 25 years, renewed every 5 years.
• Copyright — the author life plus 70 years; it arises automatically.
• Registered trademark — 10 years, renewable indefinitely every 10 years.
• Unregistered design right — up to 15 years (or 10 years from first sale, whichever ends sooner).

Automatic or applied for?

Which right applies?

Tap an example, then the right that protects it.

Safety marks and consumer legislation

Products must also meet safety and consumer law:

• CE marking — shows a product meets EU health, safety and environmental requirements.
• UKCA marking — the UK conformity mark introduced in 2021 for the Great Britain market, replacing CE for many goods.
• BSI Kitemark — voluntary certification by the British Standards Institution that a product meets a standard and is regularly tested.
• ISO 9001 — an international standard for quality management systems.
• Consumer Rights Act 2015 — goods must be of satisfactory quality, fit for purpose and as described.

What the mark means

Match each mark or law to its meaning

Tap an item on the left, then its match on the right.

Your turn — patent term

The big ideas to know

You have covered how to protect a design in law and the marks and rules products must meet.