We all talk about protecting IP, but how much do we actually know?
There are many ways to protect your intellectual property. To name the relevant list for BMS and business practices, they are:
1.    Patents
2.    Copyright
3.    Registered designs
4.    Trade marks
5.    Layout-designs of integrated circuits

Certain protections need to be filed and applied while others don’t.
IP protections that are automatically awarded to creators consist of the following:
1.    Layout-designs of integrated circuits
2.    Copyright

Patents

Patent is most relevant IP protection for researchers and technological companies as it is fundamentally used to protect inventions and research findings. A patent is a monopoly right that is given to the inventor for his inventions. This patent is issued by the government and is only the protection only applies in the country where it is filed. Yes, patent protection is only applicable in the country where the patents are filed, i.e. a patent filed and awarded in Singapore will not have patent protection in the US. There are processes and guidelines in place for filing for patents overseas.
The reason why large companies are protective of their intellectual property is because of the commercial benefits behind. Having a patent not only gives the company the right to the invention; they can also license it out for generating commercial returns. In times of crisis, patent rights can also be sold for money.
One interesting point to note is that during the process of drafting a patent, it is not a “must” to engage a lawyer to do it. Although it is advisable for first timers to engage a lawyer to assists in the navigation of the legal processes, subsequent drafting can be done by the inventor himself if he or she is fully confident in doing so.

Trademarks

A Trade Mark is a sign used by a person in the course of business or trade to distinguish his goods or services from those of other traders . A trademark is special in a way as there are registered and non-registered trademarks. A trademark does not need to be registered but yet can attain the protection of the law in the use of its trademark. On issues of infringement, the court will decide how strong the trademark is by looking at the how much the reputation of a company depends on the mark (proving it) and goodwill. Registering for a trademark will definitely be easier as statutory monopoly of the mark will be given and thus there will be no need to go through the tedious process of proving how important the business depends on the trademark.

Copyrights

This is probably the protection that we are all most familiar with as it has been seen in the media so often together with the symbol ©. Copyright protects works like novels, computer programs, plays, sheet music and paintings, which explains why it is seen so often. Generally, it protects the expression of an idea (but not the idea itself).

Registered design

Registered designs are a specific class. Note that we are talking about industrial designs in this case. Therefore, we can exclude works of art or designs related to print and artistic characters, i.e. book covers, card designs etc, which would be covered by copyright instead. A design can only be registered if its purpose is for application on an article and intended industrial production. It must also be original and not published anywhere.

Layout-designs of integrated circuits (IC)

This protection specifically targets at electronic circuits. Like copyright, the protection is given automatically as long as it is original, of the creators own intellectual effort and is unique, i.e. it is not commonly found among commercially available IC. It is also interesting to know that semiconductors and silicon chips are synonymous with IC.

The above are just brief summaries of the information that can be found in the IPOS website. It is to bring to our attention what each kind of protection are so that we are aware of not just the available form of protection that is given, but also the difference in the protection themselves. Do take note that there are also unmentioned protections in this article. An example will be trade secrets and confidential information.

Furthermore, this article does not contain the limitations of these protections. Limitations of such protections include what kind of inventions are patentable, and also what are the trademarks that cannot be registered.

For more detailed information on local IP policies, readers are encouraged to visit the IPOS website.