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There are many items we use in our daily lives such as bottle openers or safety pins which have unique benefits and functionalities that simply cannot be matched by any other item. However, we do not give much thought to the innovative design of these devices. There are innumerable other such products too which make our tasks so much simpler for us that we use them quite often, and several of them exist just because of industrial design.

The number of certain types of legal monopolies over creations of idea, both artistic and commercial, and the related fields of law is called Intellectual property (IP). Under intellectual property law, proprietors are given certain exclusive rights to a variety of intangibles, such as musical, literary, and artistic works; ideas, breakthroughs, and inventions; and words, phrases, symbols, and designs. There are four main types of intellectual property – trade secrets, patents, copyrights, and trademarks.

If you have done some original work such as music, art or a product design by yourself then this asset becomes your intellectual property. In order to make sure that no unscrupulous persons misuse your original work and infringe on your rights you should know what these rights are and how you can take necessary legal action to enforce them.

With a trademark your product is given an exclusive presence in the market, which allows customers to identify it easily. It is an excellent way to inform people about the source of a product and it assumes a lot of importance for brands that have gained success in the market. Trademarks are legally protected so that spurious items bearing an identical brand name do not enter the market.

Registering a trademark is no easy task, as it involves a lot of deliberation and careful strategizing. You might think that your trademark is completely unique and distinctive, but there is still a chance that it might get turned down on basis of lack of distinctiveness or for copying someone else’s trademark. These are the factors why you require a trademark lawyer to assist you.

Industrial design is a field that is witnessing a lot of growth currently. It is all about designing a variety of commercial and consumer products and it is an essential component of the automobile, consumer electronics, office equipments and a lot of other industries. It provides fresh graduates in industrial designing many openings to work with big firms that are engaged in large scale production.

Tangible assets like a shop, jewellery, currency, investments, car etc are not the only types of property that one can own and claim safeguards under the law. There are various other types of non-material property known as intellectual property that have been provided for under the law and granted safety against infringement. Copyrights, trademarks and patents are the three main categories of intellectual property.

While in a lot of other fields legal intervention is needed only after disputes crop up, a patent lawyer is useful from the time you begin thinking about filing for a patent. A lawyer will, to begin with, offer advice on acquiring the patent, tell the customer how to protect his patent from unscrupulous people and in case of infringement, represent the patent holder legally in court.

The external appearance of any object comprises of its form, design, colour, texture and other aesthetic aspects fused together in a three dimensional and symmetrical manner. Industrial design essentially focuses on these features for coming up with unique and innovative products.

The most important benefit of a patent is the legal acknowledgement of an inventor’s authority over his innovation. Many unique inventions can fetch good profits for the inventor, and if they are misused by unscrupulous people, the inventor will lose his fair share of profits that can be accrued through commercial exploitation of the invention. In simple terms, patents allow the inventor to harvest the benefits of his expenditure and efforts in the product in terms of monetary gains for a specific period of time.

Trademarks provide legal protection for certain words, logos, graphics and other symbols used by firms for running their business. They not only ensure that the customers are not confused by counterfeit products but also permit the trademark owner to take legal action against unscrupulous persons or firms, who try to copy the mark for their commercial gain.

Patents help an inventor to prevent unauthorized use of his or her invention by others for their own economic advantage in an illegal and unauthorized manner. They allow the inventor to sue a person or firm for trying to make such illegal use of the product or the process. However, you have to keep some important things in mind when looking for a legal option against patent infringement.