Other Intellectual Property: trademarks, designs, copyright, trade secrets
Trademarks and designs
Trademarks are registered under the Trademarks Ordinance. A mark must be distinctive and not deceptive or contrary to public order. Registration lasts 10 years and is renewable. Opposition and cancellation are available. Designs protect the appearance of a product under the Designs Law; protection requires registration, novelty and individual character, and does not protect purely functional features.
Copyright and trade secrets
Copyright arises automatically under the Copyright Law for original works fixed in a medium. Protection generally lasts for the life of the author plus 70 years. Ideas, facts and methods are not protected, only the expression. Trade secrets are protected under the Commercial Torts Law against misappropriation; the information must be secret, have commercial value and be subject to reasonable secrecy measures.
Worked example
A company sells a distinctive bottle shape. It can seek design registration for the appearance, trademark registration if the shape has acquired distinctiveness as a source identifier, and copyright in an artistic label. A patent is not the right tool for the bottle shape unless there is a technical invention. Trade secret protection may cover the manufacturing recipe if secrecy is maintained.
Traps
Do not assume copyright protects a business idea or a functional shape. Do not confuse trademark distinctiveness with design novelty. Do not disclose a trade secret without an NDA and then claim it remains secret. Check overlap: one product can carry several rights with different terms and tests.