Learn The 3 Key Differences Of Copyright vs Patent. Watch This!
Copyright versus patent. What are the three key differences? Well, stick around and I’ll tell you.
Hi everyone, Simon here from The Contract Company. We also run another website called askacontractlawyer.com.au If you got any questions, go either website and we’ll answer them. Righto.
The Three Key Differences: Copyright vs Patent
1. Copyright does not need to be registered once it’s been created.
So once you’ve put your idea or thought into written form, i.e., you’ve written it down, you do not have to register it. Guess what? With a patent you do. You have to seek patent registration for your patent to be valid, and that’s why patent attorneys exist. Interesting lot. I spent two years working with them, smart guys.
2. Copyright needs to be original.
So for copyright to attach in a work, that work needs to be original, which means it can’t have been copied from something else. Now guess what? With a patent, the question is all about novelty. Is the patent novel? Which means is it new and unknown? And if it is, then your patent is going to get registered.
3. Identical works’ copyrights can coexist.
Copyright ties to originality. That is under copyright, two authors can actually create the same work. They can both coexist as long as one author had no knowledge of the other author’s work when they did it.
So in other words, let’s say I typed out War and Peace. Then you wrote War and Peace and you ended up with the exact same novel. This is one chance in 25 trillion, but if you did that and those works were identical, as long as you created your work not knowing anything about mine, then copyright law says that’s fine.
Both works can coexist, even though they are identical. Interesting.
But guess what? With a patent, it doesn’t happen. If there is a patent registered and I come up with an idea that is new or inventive, well I think it’s new or inventive, but if that patent has been pre-registered or registered and exists, then my idea is an infringement of that patent and I’m going down in a screaming heap.
(Read related post: Copyright author from a seance)
In Summary
So they are the three key differences between copyright and a patent. Registration, originality, and coexistence versus infringement. I hope that helps. Any questions, feel free to get in touch, simon@contractcompany.com.au or one 1-800 355 455. Thanks very much.
