Trademark
Globalization has now required the adoption of preventive strategies to protect assets, guaranteeing the sole exploitation of assets and investment return.
Multiple trademark registrations are made by a company when it follows and determines market segmentation, aiming to specify products and a given target consumer.
Strong trademarks do not require the manufacturer’s name, since they get more faithful consumers with consequent higher profit margins (since a faithful consumer is willing to pay more). Furthermore, doors to competition are closed.
We can take as examples GESSY LEVER, who is in the shadow of the product with the powder detergent “OMO”, or REFINAÇÕES DE MILHO BRASIL, absolutely unknown alongside “HELLMANN’S” mayonnaise or “MAIZENA”.
Strong trademarks can even identify a kind of product, such as “GILLETTE”, which is a synonym for shaving razors, or “XEROX”, which is today a synonym for copying machines.
Therefore, the trademark is an important item for the success of a company, its products and services, which is the reason for the current demand for trademark registration applications searching for identification.
Do not let your trademark be a good business for others.
Patents
Intellectual creation can deserve various forms of protection (Patents, Industrial Design, Copyright, Trademarks, etc.).
Industrializable creations concerning products and inventions are protected by means of: Patent of Invention (PI), for the ones meeting the requirements of inventive step, novelty and industrial application; and Utility Model (UM), in case of a new shape or arrangement involving an inventive step resulting in a functional improvement.
If an industrializable creation refers to the ornamental plastic shape of an object or a set of lines and colors which may be applied to a product, thus providing a new and original visual result in its external configuration which may serve as a kind of manufacture, an Industrial Design Registration should be requested, since in this case it cannot be considered a patent.
A Patent is a legal privilege granted by INPI (the Brazilian Patent and Trademark Office), a Federal Government organism, to authors of new inventions or enhancements over already existing ones, a temporary monopoly for sole exploitation in the Country, thus assuring the property of a non-tangible asset with economic value, which may be sold or granted to third parties.
Therefore, a Patent, as a function of the granted privilege, enables development with economic results, thus legally guaranteeing a market reserve for a given time, consequently acting as an incentive and forcing the society in general to continuously renew and enhance technology, thus promoting the economic and social development of the Country.
A patent guarantees to its owner the sole exploitation of its invention in the market, thus assuring the return of investments as applied for its development.