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The law of intellectual property means that you can hold ownership over things which are not physical objects, such as inventions, sounds, names and ideas. These things are then protected by the law just like physical property. Intellectual property rights are divided into three basic categories.

Trademarks

A trademark is a distinctive mark or style, which can distinguish one trader or organisation from another. 'Mark' can mean a logo or name, and style can mean the layout and design of a webpage or pamphlet.

If you have a unique mark which identifies your organisation, you should continue registering it as a trade mark, this way, it will be illegal for anyone to use a mark which is the same or similar.

Copyright

Copyright is the ownership which people have over works which they themselves have created, and it assures the protection of this material under the law. Copyright is granted to original works which are created with the 'skill, judgement or labour' of the author; 'Original' means something which has not been copied.
Things which are protected by copyright are:

The Written Word
This includes works of fiction, and articles or other works of non fiction, which are worded in an original way (I.e. are not copied). The work does not have to be entirely original, for example quotations or other peoples research may be incorporated in a written work, and it will still be granted copyright.

Artistic Or Graphical Works
This includes hand drawn pictures, computer generated graphics, animations, photographs, videos, music and sounds. It is usually required for the creation of the work to have involved some skill, for example, you cannot draw a square and copyright it.

Obtaining Copyright
In the UK, copyright is automatically granted on any written or artistic work, including webpages, and it lasts for life. In most cases, copyright will also endure 50 years after the death of the person who owns the copyright. In the UK it is not neccessary to signify the copyrighted material with the copyright sign ©, although this is required in some countries.

Patents

In general, copyright only covers creative works; to protect ideas such as inventions, methods of doing things and manufacturing processes, you must take out a patent. Unlike copyright, patents do not arise automaticaly, and must be registered with the patent office. If you do not register a patent for an invention, your competitors will be free to copy it, and they are even able to register the patent themselves. If this happens, you will not have any rights over your own invention. To visit the Patent Office Website, click here.