Related IP Concepts: Copyright, Patents, Industrial Designs, and Geographical Indications
Related IP concepts appear in trademark practice because clients often seek cumulative protection for a product's name, shape, content, and origin.
Core distinctions
- Copyright protects original literary and artistic works, including logos and packaging artwork, from the moment of creation; registration is not a prerequisite but strengthens evidence.
- Patents protect inventions with novelty, inventive step, and industrial applicability for 20 years; utility models protect smaller functional improvements for a shorter term.
- Industrial designs protect new and original ornamental shapes, patterns, or configurations for a limited term, commonly five years renewable for two periods under the IP Code.
- Geographical indications identify goods from a place with a given quality or reputation; the Philippines currently protects them mainly through collective or certification marks, trade dress, and unfair competition rather than a standalone GI registration.
- Collective marks are used by members of an association; certification marks certify origin, material, or quality.
Worked example
A chocolatier wants to protect a cacao-shaped box, a brand name, and the phrase 'Made in Davao'. The name can be a trademark; the box shape may qualify as an industrial design and, if distinctive, as trade dress; the phrase may be descriptive or a GI reference and cannot be monopolized as a trademark without distinctiveness. Copyright may cover the box artwork. Each right has different terms and infringement tests.
Traps
Do not assume one registration covers all IP. A patent does not protect a brand name, and a trademark does not protect an inventive process. Copyright does not protect ideas or functional features. GI protection is not automatic; evidence of reputation and link to place matters. Industrial design terms and renewal deadlines are easy to miss.