- Joined
- Mar 28, 2002
- Posts
- 1,147
Let me bring some light about the possible boxes legal protection.
One thing is the pure copyright or, as we understand it in the non Saxon legal systems, the intellectual property rights (author rights) which will protect a logo or a picture. An the you have the industrial property rights, like trademarks (SNK is a Trademark), as well if you print a design into an item that would be industrially produced, you can also protect this drawing as an Industrial Model or as an Industrial Draw, the difference between them is very small (both called together Industrial Designs).
On the other hand if you invent something new you can protect it as a Patent (like a box), and when you implement an existing invention so you do not really invent something new but you improve this invention, you can register this new partial invention (a snap lock box) as an Utility Model. Depending on the country the Patents and the Utility Models are protected for a certain period of time, normally between 10 and 20 years, after this period of time any body can exploit these inventions. The copyrights can be protected for much longer, normally the authors life and more years.
So with the snap lock cases we have copyright or intellectual property rights (SNK logo) and industrial property right (Utility Model and Industrial Design).
One thing is the pure copyright or, as we understand it in the non Saxon legal systems, the intellectual property rights (author rights) which will protect a logo or a picture. An the you have the industrial property rights, like trademarks (SNK is a Trademark), as well if you print a design into an item that would be industrially produced, you can also protect this drawing as an Industrial Model or as an Industrial Draw, the difference between them is very small (both called together Industrial Designs).
On the other hand if you invent something new you can protect it as a Patent (like a box), and when you implement an existing invention so you do not really invent something new but you improve this invention, you can register this new partial invention (a snap lock box) as an Utility Model. Depending on the country the Patents and the Utility Models are protected for a certain period of time, normally between 10 and 20 years, after this period of time any body can exploit these inventions. The copyrights can be protected for much longer, normally the authors life and more years.
So with the snap lock cases we have copyright or intellectual property rights (SNK logo) and industrial property right (Utility Model and Industrial Design).