Module 1 - How to protect your IP - The IPR Toolbox

In the previous section we talked about what IP and IPR is and in this section we will dig into how you can protect your IP using the different Intellectual Property Rights.

But before we move on to talk about that, there's a more fundamental question to answer:

1. Why should you bother protecting your IP?

We see a number of reasons why it is important to consider protecting your IP:

1.1 Define what's yours and how others can (and cannot) use it

Registering or applying for some type of IP Protection enables you to protect and control your IP, but it's also a way of "packaging" something intangible to make it more tangible. Protecting your IP makes it much easier to define what is yours in any kind of relation with other parties, regardless of the purpose of the relationship or collaboration, and to define on what terms other people can use your IP. It's both a way to enable you to do what you want and create value with your IP, and to protect you against others doing things with your IP that you do not want.

1.2 Make it possible for yourself and others to create economic value and impact from your IP

Protecting your IP with any type of IPR gives you, or any other party that you transfer your rights to, the right to stop others from using that IP commercially. This can create value in several ways, for example:

The owner of the IPR can get a competitive advantage if the IPR makes the products/services/solutions better than the other alternatives on the market and your competitors are not allowed to copy you. This can translate into economic and commercial value through higher profit margins, larger market share, higher value, better reputation, etc.
You can sell your IPR or give other people a license to use it, which can give you direct revenue and other benefits from your IPR.
IPR can be a bargaining chip in collaborations or other types of partnerships.

It is worth noting that the potential to create economic value in many cases is a very important factor to make sure that research results get out into society and create impact.

1.3 Enable the necessary investment to get your results to the market

In any case where your research results can be taken to the market in some sort of product or service by you or by some other partner, protecting the IP can be crucial to be able to create impact. The road from your research result to a product, service or solution implemented in the market often requires a substantial investment in time, money and other resources, and in many cases this investment can only be justified if the IP is protected.

2. The IPR Toolbox

There are a couple of different types of Intellectual Property Rights covering different types of IP, as you see in the table below. Remember that different types of IPR are important and relevant in different industries and technology areas.

Type of protection	What can be protected	Typical IP Categories
Patent	Inventions – Technical solutions to a problem	”Solutions” and certain types of ”Instructions”
Design	The appearance of a product or part of a product	”Solutions”, ”Visualisations”, ”Creations”
Trademark	A distinctive symbol or mark for a product or service	”Creations” - It can consist of words, figures, letters/digits, personal names, slogans or sound
Copyright	(Artistic) Creations/Works such as music, film, text, etc.	”Creations”, ”Narratives”, ”Computer programs”, ”Instructions”, ”Visualisations”
Database protection (a special form of copyright)	Databases	“Databases”
Topography	Topographies for semiconductor products that are distinctive and haven’t previously been prevalent within the semiconductor industry.	“Solutions”
Trade secret	Information concerning commercial or operating circumstances in a business which the company is keeping secret, and whose disclosure would be likely to result in competitive disadvantage	All categories (perhaps with the exception of “Creations”) could be trade secrets

The table is based on Ulf Petrusson’s book ”Forskning och nytta” p 310, and information from www.prv.se

Link to the table in a document here Download here

Now, let's talk about how each type of IPR is used in practice and what some typical considerations are from a practical point of view. There's good information about the formal aspects of IPR on the Patent offices' websites, for example PRV in Sweden Links to an external site., but in the videos below you'll get a practical overview of the main types of IPR.

2.1 Patent

The first thing that comes to mind for many KTH researchers when talking about IP and IPR is patents. Patents are indeed important to create value and impact in many cases, so it's relevant for you to know a bit about them, but it's also important to remember that a patent in itself does not guarantee success or glory...

Here's the business development coach at KTH Innovation, Gustav Notander, to give you some basics about patents.

2.2 Copyright

Copyright is the most common type of IPR that you have, you create it all the time in your research work! What do we mean by that? You'll understand why when you see this:

2.3 Trademark™®

You see trademarks everywhere and they can be immensely valuable. Trademarks are like plants - you have to plant the seeds, nurture them, and make them grow by carefully tending them. If you do this, the trademark can be your most valuable asset for a long time!

Here's Gustav again to give you some basics about trademarks.

NB. In this video, we use both the terms "brand" and "trademark". Just to clarify, both terms are related, but they are not the same.

A "brand" is all the attributes that identify and position your product, service or business in the minds of your target audience. It's what you want the customers to associate with you.

A trademark is the legal form of protection for specific elements of the brand - like names, logos, slogans, etc. It is the tool that enables you to stop others from freeriding on your brand image and recognition by copying your brand elements.

All trademarks are brands, while not all brands are trademarks.

2.4 Design

Everyone likes good design! Good designs are also usually easy to copy, so if you are working in a design driven industry, design protection can be critical to be able to create value.

Gustav explains more in this video.

2.5 Trade secret

All the types of IPR that we've mentioned so far exist to protect the creator from other people copying or using their IP once it is out in the public in some way. For some information, though, the best way to protect it is to keep it secret...

3. IPR is a tool to create value

Most types of IP protection require investments in time and money, so you should think of it as an investment decision where you evaluate the cost vs. potential benefit of the protection.

Take a patent application for example (the most expensive form of IPR). A patent application goes through a couple of different stages before it is granted and in each stage there are costs involved. At first you may be looking at 30-80 000 kr to file a first patent application, then some 40-70 000 kr for the next stage, and finally some 30-75 000 kr in each country where you want to file for protection. So you're looking at a couple of 100 000 kr over the course of 2-3 years for a useful patent application.

Is this a lot of money?

It depends on how you look at it.

For most of us as individuals this is definitely a lot of money. But if the patent is a fundamental component for commercializing a technology that can become a startup company worth many many millions, or licensed to a company and generate many millions in sales of new or improved products, then it's probably a very reasonable investment.

Remember that IP Protection is a tool to reach a goal, it’s not an end goal in itself!

However big the potential future value of the patent application is, though, someone still has to put in the cash here and now to pay for it... Fortunately there are various external funding schemes to help out with patenting and other IP protection costs.

KTH Innovation has a lot of practical experience of all issues related to IPR, including the funding of IP protection, so don’t hesitate to contact us with any questions.

Wrap-up of IP and IPR

Before we wrap up this module about IP and IPR and move on to the next, let's apply these learnings and concepts on your own research project. Take a few minutes to do this IP inventory of your own research.