The sooner an entrepreneur think about protecting his/her intellectual property the better. This does not mean, not sharing his/her ideas. It simply means sharing ideas in a clever way!

1. Why should you care about
intellectual property rights?
Azèle Mathieu, PhD
3 February 2015
1

2. Azèle Mathieu
2
Business background
• Manager health cluster lifetech.brussels
(www.lifetechbrussels.com )
• Financial Advisor @impulse.brussels
• Business Development Manager@Bone Therapeutics
• Business Development Manager@ULB Technology
Transfer Office
Academic background
• Professor Technology Transfer (7th year) & Business
Planning (3rd year) @ Solvay Brussels School of
Economics and Management (SBS-EM), Master &
MBA
• PhD in Economics and Management

3. !!! Protecting your IP
does not mean
not sharing your ideas !!!
3

4. 4
Why should you care about IP?

5. Benefits for you
5
• Raise your awareness!
• Spare time
– Think before you act
– Experts, online resources, patent attorneys,…
• Spare money
– “IP is expensive” … but lawsuits are!
– Example
– Public financial incentives
• Consolidate your competitive advantage
– Innovative business model
– Innovative product/service
– …
– IP?
• In some cases, can be a leverage to earn money

6. Intellectual property & value
6
Coca-Cola®
TM: EUR 58.7 Billion
Apple® iPod touch®
> 100 Mio sold over 6 years
Harry Potter
Copyright: EUR 681 Mio
Polaroid® instant camera
Patents: EUR 692 Mio
DNA copying process
Patents: EUR 225 Mio
EPO/OHIM Intellectual Property Teaching Kit - IP Basics

7. What do you know about
Intellectual Property Rights?
7

8. 8

9. What is Intellectual Property?
9
IP is
- a collection of
- legal and enforceable rights that
- provide control of the availability and use of
- skills, creativity, resources and technology and
- give the owner or his licensee a competitive
advantage.
These rights are exclusive to the owner, but also come
with some important exceptions.

10. Agenda
10
• Types of IP
– Copyright
– Trademark
– Design
– Trade secret
– Patent
• Key resources

11. Overview of Intellectual
Property rights
11
Legal rights What for? How?
Patents New inventions
Application and
examination
Copyright ©
Original creative or artistic
forms
Exists automatically
upon fixation
Trade marks ™/®
Distinctive identification of
the source of a
good/service
Use and/or
registration
Registered
designs
External appearance Registration
Trade secrets
Valuable information not
known to the public
Reasonable efforts
to keep secret

12. 12
Legal rights What for? How?
Patents New inventions
Application and
examination
Copyright ©
Original creative or artistic
forms
Exists automatically
upon fixation
Trade marks ™/®
Distinctive identification of
the source of a
good/service
Use and/or
registration
Registered
designs
External appearance Registration
Trade secrets
Valuable information not
known to the public
Reasonable efforts
to keep secret
Overview of Intellectual
Property rights

13. When should you start
taking care of your IP?
13
Legal rights When
Patents Before any (scientific) publication
Copyright ©
Ok exists automatically =>
publication
Trade marks ™/®
Before marketing your
product/service
(e.g. info on the net)
Registered designs
Before outsourcing the making of
the object (e.g. Get Well Kit)
Trade secrets Keep it secret… all the time
"Information is the
lifeblood of the
company”

14. Intellectual Property (1/2)
14
• Copyright ©
– protects creative expression stored in a tangible format
(for example, books, recorded music, paintings,
sculptures, films, and software code)
• Trademark ® / TM
– Protection of distinguishing assets to help public identify
source of a good/service (for example, brands and logos)
• Design and Industrial Model
– Protection of aesthetic visible qualities (for example, the
form and shape of a product)

15. Intellectual Property (2/2)
15
• Patent (patented/patent pending)
– Protection of technical inventions (for example, a
product or manufacturing process)
• Trade secret or know how
– Protection of undisclosed know-how (for example, a
recipe, technique, process, customer list, business
plan)

16. 16
What kind of IP Exists in this
iphone?

17. Some IP found in a mobile phone
17
• Trade marks:
– Apple logo
– Product name “iPhone”
– Software “iOS”?
• Patents:
– Data-processing methods
– Semiconductor circuits
– Chemical compounds,…
• Copyrights:
– Software code
– Instruction manual
– Ringtone,…
• Trade secrets:
– ?
• Designs (some of them registered):
– Form of the overall phone
– Arrangement of buttons in oval
shape
– Three-dimensional wave form of
buttons,…

18. Some IP found in a mobile phone
18
• Trade marks:
– Apple logo
– Product name “iPhone”
– Software “iOS”?
• Patents:
– Data-processing methods
– Semiconductor circuits
– Chemical compounds,…
• Copyrights:
– Software code
– Instruction manual
– Ringtone,…
• Trade secrets:
– ?
• Designs (some of them registered):
– Form of the overall phone
– Arrangement of buttons in oval
shape
– Three-dimensional wave form of
buttons,…

19. Agenda
19
• Types of IP
– Copyright
– Trademark
– Design
– Trade secret
– Patent
• Key resources

20. Copyright
20

21. Copyright
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• Definition
– The exclusive, legally secured right to publish, reproduce and sell the
matter and form of a literary, musical, dramatic or artistic work
• Original works of authorship protected, include:
– Literary works (includes computer source code!)
– Musical works
– Dramatic works
– Choreographic works
– Pictorial, graphical, sculptural works
– Motion pictures
– Architectural works
• Example: dictionary (Van Dale)

22. Copyright
22
• Exception/Limitations:
– Limited in duration (though quite long!)
– Ideas vs. Expression
– “Fair use” when being reproduced but no protection
for purposes such as criticism, comment, news
reporting, teaching, research, further improvements,
etc.
– “Private copies”

23. Agenda
23
• Types of IP
– Copyright
– Trademark
– Design
– Trade secret
– Patent
• Key resources

24. Trademarks
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• Definition
– Any means to identify and distinguish products or services
• Duration:
– Period of 10 years indefinitely renewable
• Requirements:
– Should have a distinguishing character, without being too
descriptive
– National registration
• Examples:
– words, sign, sentence, odor, shape, color, tune, noise,…

25. Trademarks
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• “(…) Our registered trade mark (…) provides us with a consistent image to the
marketplace. It's all about consumer recognition".
• The Coffee Club trade mark is registered
– with IP Australia across a variety of classes.
– in more than a dozen countries; providing protection for what could
conceivably be a global market.
• “Intellectual property - our trade marks, copyrighted menus, brochures and
so on - all of this is just as important to us as any other business issue. Maybe
more so because that is what makes us distinctive, different from the rest”.
• The Coffee Club's secure IP is attractive to potential franchisees. “(…)
protected from local and international competitors trying to imitate The
Coffee Club brand, which could threaten our investment.”
Source: http://www.ipaustralia.gov.au

26. When
buying/investing/partnering
in/with a company, be careful of
who holds the IP rights and if
they are included in the deal...
Trademarks
VW vs. Rolls Royce case
26
Source: http://www.ipaustralia.gov.au

27. Trademarks
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• Is my trademark already used/registered by another
company?
– Search on:
https://register.boip.int/bmbonline/intro/show.do
– Example: search for the mark “PREOB”:
http://www.wipo.int/romarin/advSearch.do?ID=0&searc
hString=+/MARKGR/INTREGN+contains+972042&search
DatabaseAct=on&searchDatabaseDel=on
– Refused marks:
https://register.boip.int/bmbonline/search/publication/p
erform.do
Source: www.boip.int

28. Agenda
28
• Types of IP
– Copyright
– Trademark
– Design
– Trade secret
– Patent
• Key resources

29. Designs or industrial models
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• Definition
– Industrial models or design protect the aesthetic
qualities of a particular shape or form of a certain
product having a specific function
• Duration:
– 5 + 5 + 5 years

30. Designs or industrial models
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• The problem: competitor copying designs
• Is my industrial model already used/registered by another
company?
– Search on: https://register.boip.int/designsOnlineWeb/?l=fr
– Example: search for chair
http://www.wipo.int/wipo_magazine/en/2012/06/article_00
04.html
• The lesson: register designs before releasing them to the market
Source: www.boip.int

31. Agenda
31
• Types of IP
– Copyright
– Trademark
– Design
– Trade secret
– Patent
• Key resources

32. Trade secrets or know how
32
• Secret information giving an advantage over
competitors.
• Will need to be kept secret…
– Take all reasonable steps such as confidential
agreements, clauses in contracts,…

33. Agenda
33
• Types of IP
– Copyright
– Trademark
– Design
– Trade secret
– Patent
• Key resources

34. A patent: definition
34
 Exclusive right
 “Negative” right
 Granted for an invention, product/process offering a new
technical solution to a problem
 Duration: 20 years
 Implication: the invention cannot be commercially made,
used, distributed or sold without the patent owner's
consent

35. Conditions to be fulfilled
35
 Practical use
 Industrial application
 Can be made or used in any kind of industry
 Element of novelty
 Not publicly available
 Not part of the state of the art
 Inventive step
 Not obvious to a person skilled in the art
 Accepted as "patentable" under law

36. A patent is a contract between an
inventor and a state
36
Inventor State
1. Protection for about 20 years 1. Publication of the invention
2. Exclusive rights to produce, use, sell
and import the invention
- To recup investment in R&D
- To strenghten market position and
competitiveness
- To spread new technical knowledge
- To avoid R&D duplication
- To foster innovation

37. Which roles a patent may fulfil ?(1/2)
37
 Competitive advantage
 Attraction of capital
 Negotiating power
● Technological negotiations
● Business negotiations
 (Cross/sub)-licensing agreements
 Bargain against financial difficulties

38. Patent portfolio = a valuable
intangible asset
38
1.100 patents
$500 millions - $2.6 billions
=

39. The multiple roles of a patent: (2/2)
39
 Securing international and national markets
 Defensive and offensive strategies
 Improving the reputation
 Facilitating the coordination amongst partners
 …

40. Agenda
40
• Types of IP
– Copyright
– Trademark
– Design
– Trade secret
– Patent
• Key resources

41. Resources
41
• https://www.iprhelpdesk.eu/
• http://www.ideasmatter.com/
• http://www.ipaustralia.gov.au/understanding-intellectual-property/case-studies/
• OHMI - Trademark, Design, Industrial secret:
https://oami.europa.eu/ohimportal/fr/
• EPO - Patent:
http://www.epo.org/
In Belgium:
• OBPI – Trademark, Design, Industrial secret
https://www.boip.int/wps/portal/site/home/!ut/p/a1/04_Sj9CPykssy0xPLMnMz0vMAfGjzOKdg5w8HZ0MHQ0MfJ
3MDTx9Hb28_Xz8jC0CDPSD04r0C7IdFQH92-xE/
• OPRI - Patent
http://economie.fgov.be/fr/entreprises/propriete_intellectuelle/Aspects_institutionnels_et_pratiques/OPRI/#.U8
JKXk2KAkI
• Public financial incentives:
http://newinnoviris.irisnet.be/fr/soutien-financier-entreprises/programmes-bruxellois/protect-patent
http://www.ecosubsibru.be/index.cfm?fuseaction=aides.aides_one&aide_id=28&language=FR

42. Q&A
42