Check if your idea is already protected by intellectual property rights
Do you want to protect your idea for a new product, brand, or logo with intellectual property rights? First, check if your idea has already been thought of and protected by someone else. Also do this if you do not want to protect your idea. It will help avoid misunderstandings or even legal action.
What are intellectual property rights?
If you have invented or created something, it is your intellectual property (IP). You can protect this with IP rights. This is the collective term for rights that protect developed ideas, concepts, and inventions. Examples of IP rights include trade mark rights, design rights and patent rights.
Check if your brand name or logo is available
Trademark rights protect the brand name or logo of your company, product, or service.
- In the BOIP Trademarks Register, you can check whether a name or logo is already protected as a trade mark in the Benelux (Belgium, Netherlands, Luxemburg) for activities similar to yours. You should also search for words that are similar to your name.
- Also check the internet and the Dutch Business Register to make sure the name is not someone else’s company name. A trade name is legally protected if it is actually actively used as the name of the company
Register your brand name or logo
Is the name or logo still available and does it comply with the legal requirements? If so, you can register the trademark, making you the owner. Using the registered trademark symbol (®) with your brand name or logo shows that it has been trademarked.
Protect your company name
Are you going to choose a company name (also known as a trade name)? First check if the name already exists for similar activities. It could be someone else’s company name, a trade mark, or both.
Do you want to register your company name? Then you need to register your company in the KVK Business Register. If you are already registered, you can change your company name or add an additional company name.
Protect your product design, appearance, or style
Design rights protect product design, appearance, and styling. Think, for example, of a new model for a watch, headphones, clothing, or bag. To claim a design right, a product must be new and have a distinct character. It must not closely resemble a design that is already well known.
Check design registers to see if your design is new and has a distinct character. For example:
- WIPO's Global Design Database
It is also wise to search the internet or trade magazines and visit trade fairs.
Is your design new? Then you can register the design. Patents, trademarks, and copyright can also sometimes offer protection.
Protect technological inventions
With a patent, you protect your invention of a technological product or process. A patent, in Ducth also called octrooi, means you forbid anyone else from copying, selling, or importing your invention.
Use the Espacenet patent database to find out if your technological invention is really new. This database contains 120 million published patents from more than 90 countries. The Netherlands Patent Office (Octrooicentrum Nederland) offers free help with searching patent databases (in Dutch).
Do you think your invention is new and would like to apply for a patent? Then ask for a free consultation with a patent adviser.
Text, lyrics, photo, illustration, app, or video
If you have created a text, photo, illustration, app, or video, you automatically hold a copyright for it. The work must be your original creation. It must also be able to be seen, read, or heard. There is no register or database where you can look up if someone else has already created it. This is because no one has to register their work for copyright.
You can also use the copyright symbol (©) to show you own the copyright.
Getting started with your idea
Has your idea not been thought of before and do you want to take it further? Or do you want to temporarily record your idea to continue with it later? Then take a look at the step-by-step plan protecting a product, service, or invention.