World Association Of Intellectual Owners deals with the protection, realization, licensing and monetization of intellectual property rights (copyright, trademarks, industrial designs, patents, geographical indications, topography of semiconductor products – chips, trade secrets), and promotes Your works, brand, product or service through digital marketing (creation of a modern website and SEO, social networks, marketing campaigns and others).

ʘ Copyright;

ʘ Trademarks;

ʘ Industrial designs;

ʘ Patents;

ʘ Geographical indication / appellations of origin;

ʘ Topography of semiconductor products – chips;

ʘ Trade secrets.

Yes! It covers almost all countries of the world!

It provides recognition of the work, brand, product and service, provides protection against unauthorized copying and use, provides the possibility of licensing and monetization of intellectual property, provides the level of seriousness of the work, brand, product, service and action. Certificates open up considerable business opportunities, and customers, clients, consumers are provided with an additional guarantee of quality, origin and recognition, and an additional sense of trust is created!

By empowering, strengthening and protecting intellectual property, human civilization also strengthens and advances!

Yes! The World Association Of Intellectual Owners always issues a certificate, whether it is a deposit of rights or an additional certificate of registration of rights!

The basic fee for the agency’s service, and additional fees prescribed by the fees of the governments of countries and organizations, and depending on the area of protection, the rights to be protected, the class of products and services to be protected, and similar. Send us an inquiry for a free estimate of specific costs!

Copyright is the right of an author in relation to its’ authorial work. Authors from the fields of literature, scientific and artistic work and the copyright owner have an exclusive right to use their works. The copyright owner may give permission or prohibit the use of the work. Copyright owners have an exclusive right to decide whether and how the copyright is used, which may be done by way of an agreement and the way the work will be used is regulated with this agreement. This can be concluded with both private and legal persons.

In contrast to the economic rights, moral rights are not transferrable !

COPYRIGHT PROTECTS THE EXPRESSION OF AN IDEA regardless of the type or quality of that expression. THE IDEA ITSELF IS NOT AN AUTHOR’S WORK !

An author may be a private person that created the work. These authors, in particular, may be:

© Authors of written work of any kind, literary writers, journalists, authors of scientific work and computer programs, translations, adaptations;

© Author of speeches;

© Authors of dramatic works and musicals, choreography;

© Authors of cinematographic works, and other audio-visual works;

© Authors of artistic works, architectural works, graphics, authors of applied arts and industrial design, photographs and cartographic works;

© Authors of technical presentations or of technical nature, innovations or advancement, drawings, drafts, tables etc. authors of computer programs;

In most countries, copyright consists of the AUTHOR’S MORAL RIGHTS and the AUTOR’S ECONOMIC RIGHTS.

In most countries, moral rights of the author include:

© RIGHT TO FIRST PUBLICATION – the author has the right to decide when and how his work shall become accesible to the public;

© RIGHT OF RECOGNITION OF AUTORSHIP – the author has the right to be recognised and indicated as the author of the work;

© RIGHT OF RESPECT FOR A COPYRIGHT WORK – the author has the right to oppose to any distortion, mutilation and similar modification of his copyright work;

© RIGHT OF RESPECT FOR HONOUR AND REPUTATION OF THE AUTHOR – the author has the right to oppose to any use of his copyright work in a manner jeopardising his honour or reputation;

© RIGHT OF REVOCATION – the author has the right to revoke a right of exploitation of his copyright work, under condition of compensating the damages to the holder of such right, where further use would be prejudicial to his honour or reputation.

In most countries, economic rights of the author include:

© RIGHT OF REPRODUCTION – the exclusive right of making one or more copies of copyright works, in whole or in part, directly or indirectly, temporarily or permanently, by any means and in any form;

© RIGHT OF DISTRIBUTION (the right to place on the market) – the exclusive right to put into circulation the original or copies of the copyright work by sale or otherwise, including rental, and to offer them to the public for such purpose;

© RENTAL RIGHT– the exclusive right of giving the original or copies of a copyright work for use in a limited period, for the purpose of direct or indirect material or commercial benefit;

© RIGHT OF REMAKE – the exclusive right of translating, adapting, musical or other rework or any other modification of a copyright work;

© RIGHT OF COMMUNICATION OF A COPYRIGHT WORK TO THE PUBLIC – the exclusive right to communicate a copyright work to the public in every way, by wire or by wireless means. This right most often includes:

○ Right of public performance;

○ Right of public stage presentation;

○ Right of public transmission;

○ Right of public communication of a fixed work;

○ Right of public presentation;

○ Right of broadcasting;

○ Right of rebroadcasting;

○ Right of direct injection;

○ Right of making available to the public;

○ Right of public communication of broadcasting, rebroadcasting, direct injection and making it available to the public;

○ Right of communication to the public, including making available to the public, within an ancillary online service;

○ Right of communication to the public, including making available to the public, when giving the public  access to the works uploaded by users on online content sharing platforms;

The author may have some other additional rights to an remuneration. In most countries, these are the most common cases:

© Authors of works, which due to their nature can be expected to be reproduced on any medium without their approval by photocopying, recording on sound, image or text carriers even for private use, are entitled to an equitable remuneration from the sale of empty sound, image or text carriers and technical devices.

© The author is entitled to an equitable remuneration if the original or copies of his work are lent by mediation of public libraries.

© The resale right is the right of the author to a share of the selling price in all resales of original works of visual art following the first sale by the author, when art dealers are involved in the resale or if the resale is mediated by art market experts such as showrooms and art galleries.

Usually the right to remuneration for private use and the right to remuneration for public lending can be exercised only in the system of collective management of rights. Usually the resale right can be exercised individually or in the system of collective management of rights, if there is an appropriate collective management organ.

In most countries copyright does not protect:

× Ideas, scientific discoveries, processes, methods of operation and mathematical concepts;

× Ideas and principles which any element of a computer programme is based on, including the ones which its interface is based on;

× News of the day and other news having the character of mere items of press information;

× Official texts in the domain of legislation, administration and judiciary, such as acts, regulations, decisions, reports, protocols, judicial decisions and the like, official programmes, such as school and academic programmes, programmes of operation and the like, space plans, such as the plan of spatial development, town-planning scheme and the like, conservation documents, as well as their collections, from the moment they are submitted to any official procedure or submitted to an official person for the purpose of informing the public or public use or when published for official information to the public.

If translations and other processing of author’s works, such as adaptations, adaptations, etc., are original intellectual achievements of an individual character, they will be protected as independent works of authorship.

The rights of the author of the original work remain intact.

Given that the right to approve or prohibit the processing of a work is one of the author’s exclusive rights, a person who wants to process an author’s work should request the author’s prior approval.

Usually, norms adopted by private individuals can enjoy protection as written linguistic works of authorship if they meet the general requirements for protection, i.e. if they are original intellectual creations of an individual character.

Usually, translations of an author’s work, as a type of adaptation of an author’s work, are protected as independent works of authorship, but only if they are original intellectual creations of an individual character.

The rights of the author of the original work remain intact.

A translation of a text that by its nature is not an author’s work because it is, for example, a diploma, certificate, birth certificate, technical instructions or the like does not enjoy copyright protection. Therefore, only a translation of an author’s work can be an author’s work.

As a rule, translations of official texts from the field of legislation, administration and judiciary are not works of authorship, therefore, even the translation of such texts cannot be a work of authorship.

Usually, journalistic works such as articles, photographs and audiovisual contributions enjoy copyright protection, but only if they are original intellectual creations of their authors – journalists and photojournalists, which have an individual character.

A reportage (as a journalistic report presenting events and circumstances based on collected information) is, in principle, an author’s work.

However, if it is about daily news or other news that has the character of ordinary simple media information, such attachments are not subject to copyright protection!

An Internet (web) page, i.e. its design, is an author’s work, but it may additionally contain other different author’s works, such as photographic works, works of visual arts (e.g. illustrations), author’s databases, written works, audiovisual works, but also objects of protection of related rights such as non-original databases. So, in its entirety, the website as a design is an author’s work, and often contains other individual works of authorship.

Works of photography can be works of authorship if they are works that are original intellectual achievements of an individual character. Originality in photographic works can refer to the choice of motif and shooting angle, the choice of lighting or the moment of photography, and the choice of technical means. On the other hand, photos used for identification or those taken with a camera cannot be considered copyrighted.

Usually, a review as a written presentation and evaluation of an artistic or scientific work IS a linguistic, written author’s work, only if it is an individual original, intellectual creation expressed as a written work.

Usually, proofreading, as correcting and editing the author’s manuscript from the spelling and linguistic point of view, is the work of a profession and IS NOT an author’s work.

Computer programs ARE protected as linguistic works if they are original in the sense that they represent the author’s own intellectual creation. The term computer program includes the expression of a computer program in any form, including preparatory design material. Moreover, the design can be treated as a separate author’s work, for example the design of an icon.

The ideas and principles underlying any element of a computer program, including those underlying its interfaces, ARE NOT protected by copyright.

The protection of the rights of the creator (producer) of databases depends on whether it is a database that is an original intellectual creation and is protected by copyright (author’s database) or a non-original database, which is protected by the right of the database manufacturer as one of the related rights .

An author’s database is a collection of independent author’s works, data or other materials arranged according to a specific system or method, the elements of which are individually accessible by electronic or other means. The author’s database is distinguished by the characteristic that, according to the choice or arrangement of the constituent elements, it is an original intellectual creation of its author, which has an individual character.

Non-original databases can enjoy protection by related law (sui generis protection). A non-original database is a collection of independent author’s works, data or other material, arranged according to a certain system or method, the elements of which are individually accessible by electronic or other means, where the achievement, verification or presentation of the content of such a database required qualitatively and/or quantitatively significant an investment that can consist of funds, time and effort spent, and other investments.

A script, as a detailed description of the action of an audiovisual work, is a written author’s work and is subject to copyright protection. (The same goes for the synopsis.)

After the creation of an audiovisual work, for example a film, the screenplay becomes part of that co-authored work, and the co-authors have joint copyright on the created work of authorship. (Co-authors of a work are persons who jointly created a co-authored work, and whose contributions cannot be used independently.)

Usually, the main co-author of an audiovisual work is the main director, and the other co-authors are: script author, main cinematographer, main image and sound editor, composer of music specially composed for use in that work, and they can also be the main cartoonist or the main animator, if drawing or animation is an essential element of an audiovisual work.

Professional lectures in regular classes that are carried out within the curriculum will often represent the work of the profession and NOT author’s works (cases in which it is a routine, repeated presentation of a certain teaching unit, mostly structured according to the requirements of the curriculum).

However, professional lectures at all educational levels CAN also be works of authorship, if they are original, intellectual achievements of an individual character in the field of literature, science or art, which are expressed in this case as spoken works, and under the same conditions protection can also be enjoyed by professional or scientific presentations prepared for use and presentation via computers and other auxiliary technical devices, so-called webinars.

Representations of a scientific or technical nature, such as drawings, plans, sketches and tables, can be protected by copyright, but only if they are original intellectual creations of an individual character.

It should be noted that ideas, procedures, work methods and mathematical concepts do not enjoy copyright protection.

In the case of works of architecture, sketches, studies, plastic and other representations, blueprints, conceptual solutions, conceptual projects, master projects, implementation projects, plans and derived buildings and interventions in space from the field of architecture, urban planning and landscape architecture enjoy protection, if they are original intellectual creations of an individual character.

In the case of works of architecture, sketches, studies, plastic and other representations, blueprints, conceptual solutions, conceptual projects, master projects, implementation projects, plans and derived buildings and interventions in space from the field of architecture, urban planning and landscape architecture enjoy protection, if they are original intellectual creations of an individual character. Therefore, built buildings can also be works of authorship.

Copyright protects the expression of ideas, and ideas, concepts, methods are not subject to copyright protection, they are free.

So an idea is not an author’s work, but rather an expression of an idea.

The idea could still be protected through a trade secret.

Related rights are the rights related to copyright, that have their special subject matter of protection, which is mainly related to copyright works. These rights are called the rights related to copyright or simply related rights.

In most countries related rights are:

ʘ Right of performers in their performances;

 ʘ Right of producers of phonograms in their phonograms;

 ʘ Right of audiovisual producers in their videograms;

 ʘ Right of broadcasting organisations in their programme signals;

 ʘ Right of publishers of press publications in their press publications;

 ʘ Right of producers of non-original databases in their non-original databases;

 ʘ Right of publishers in their written editions.

Co-authors are person who jointly created single work protected by copyright and the contribution of each other is not distinct from that of the other. These are generally joint authors of copyright and each person would be the author of the part they created depending on individual contributions.

This is the right of an artist to receive royalties on their work when these are resold such as. paintings, drawings, lithography, sculptures, ceramics, photograph etc.  These rights give the artist ability to control the resale of the work and the artist participates in the economic right during each resale.

The World Association Of Intellectual Owners helps realize that right as well.

No, You do not have to be a member of any association, World Association Of Intellectual Owners represents all authors who use their works and do not charge a members’ fee. World Association Of Intellectual Owners charges commission to the user of  Your work which is also calculated on top of  Your gross royalties.

All works from the fields of science, literature and art, as well as other intellectual creations, can be deposited.

In most countries, copyright protection lasts for the lifetime of the author and 70 years after his death.

A word or a combination of words, letters, and numerals can perfectly constitute a trademark. But trademarks may also consist of drawings, symbols, three-dimensional features such as the shape and packaging of goods, non-visible signs such as sounds or fragrances, or color shades used as distinguishing features – the possibilities are almost limitless.

In most countries, the trademark is valid for 10 years, counting from the date of application. The time of protection can be extended indefinitely for periods of 10 years, with timely submission of the request (as a rule, before the expiration of the validity of the previous 10 years).

As a rule, it will not be possible to register signs that:

× Due to the way of presentation, they are not clearly and accurately determined;

× They do not have any distinguishing character;

× Are common in everyday speech;

× Serve to describe some properties (type, quantity, quality, geographical origin, etc.);

× Are misleading.

In most countries, the owner of an earlier registered trademark must himself file an objection against a later registered trademark within the deadline.

Therefore, the institutions almost never pay attention to it ex officio, but each owner must regularly monitor the registration applications themselves, or can authorize World Association Of Intellectual Owners for this.

This is, first of all, by extending the value of the trademark after the expiration of the protection period, to the next period of 10 years. The owner of the trademark should take care of the expiration of the protection period himself, and submit a request for the extension of the value before the expiration of that period.

The holder is obliged to use the trademark and to ensure that the trademark does not mislead the public or become a common name in trade for the products and/or services for which it is registered. An interested person can submit a request for trademark revocation to the Institute, in which case the holder is obliged to prove the actual use of the trademark in relation to the products and/or services for which it is registered, or to justify the stated reasons for not revoking the trademark.

Therefore, it is not enough to just register a trademark and properly extend the registration, but it is also necessary to actually use it in the right way!

It is possible for the vast majority of countries in the world!

The name of a trading company / association / organization can be protected by a trademark only if that name is used to mark the product and/or service.

So, these are two different terms, which may or may not overlap!

An industrial design can also be an author’s work, if it meets the conditions for the protection of author’s works. In this case, the industrial design will enjoy copyright protection regardless of whether the procedure for registering the industrial design will be carried out subsequently.

Copyright protection is often a more convenient way of protecting the interests of authors – designers who will not be involved in the production and trade of designed products, while industrial design protection is a more suitable form of protection when the production of designed items is planned.

In most countries, these two forms of protection are not mutually exclusive, and can exist in parallel for the same design.

It is advisable to regulate the business relations of the designer as the author and the holder – the owner of the protected industrial design as the industrial manufacturer (which does not necessarily have to be the same person) by a written contract (author’s contract or license). Usually, in such a contract, the author assigns all his economic rights to use the work to the industrial producer – the owner of the protected industrial design, who then eventually disposes of the rights to the industrial design (grant licenses and the like). World Association Of Intellectual Owners covers all these professional issues.

In most countries, industrial design protection lasts for 5 years, counting from the filing date of the industrial design application. The duration of protection can be extended by filing a request in a timely manner (as a rule, before the expiry of the previous 5 years) for a period of five years, up to a maximum of 25 years of the total continuous duration of protection.

As a rule, industrial design will also be the author’s work, and enjoy additional copyright protection (up to 70 years after the death of the author)! It should be taken into account that, as a rule, it will be two different people – the author and the owner of the industrial design!

Yes, it can, but only the external appearance of the board game. In addition to the overall external appearance of the board game, the external appearance of only some of its individual parts, such as the game board, packaging for the board game, game pieces, playing cards, can be protected. The rules of the game cannot be protected by industrial design.

It can!

It can!

Although the logo is primarily protected by a trademark (as a rule, the trademark will be the logo), in principle the very appearance of the logo can be additionally protected by an industrial design!

It can!

Although, as a rule, the appearance of a website will first of all represent an author’s work and enjoy copyright protection, in principle it can also be protected as an industrial design!

Patents may be granted for inventions in any field of technology, from an everyday kitchen utensil to a nanotechnology chip, (the topography of chips can also be protected through special protection of intellectual property – the topography of semiconductor products.). An invention can be a product – such as a chemical compound, or a process, for example – or a process for producing a specific chemical compound. Many products in fact contain a number of inventions. For example, a laptop computer can involve hundreds of inventions, working together.

A business method or way of doing business cannot be protected by a patent because it belongs to the category of achievements that are not considered inventions.

As a rule, that is protected by a trade secret.

As a general rule, a project, event, quiz, game rules or teaching program cannot be protected by a patent.

As a rule, the name or title of a project, event, quiz, game rule or teaching program could be protected by trademark.

An idea cannot be protected by a patent, nor by any other form of intellectual property protection, except possibly through a trade secret.

An idea is considered to be what is still in the innovator’s head. Only when the idea is worked out and realized in some way, can one try to protect the realization of that idea. So, a patent does not protect an idea, but a concrete solution to a technical problem for which intellectual effort has been invested.

The protection is granted for a limited period, generally 20 years from the filing date of the application.

A trademark is a sign used by a certain entrepreneur to distinguish his products and services from the products and services of other entrepreneurs. A trademark gives the owner the right to exclude others from using the trademark. The geographical indication / appellations of origin informs the consumer that the product was produced in a certain place and has certain characteristics that are attributed to that area of production. It can be used by ALL producers who produce their products in a place marked with a geographical indication / appellations of origin and whose products share specific qualities.

The collective mark is the most similar to the geographical indication / appellations of origin. It is a trademark used by a collective (organization or association of producers), i.e. its members, to indicate belonging to that collective, to which certain qualities and characteristics are attached, thus adding value to its products and services.

A collective mark can be registered regardless of whether a manufacturer has registered his individual trademark, and regardless of the registration of the geographical indication / appellations of origin!

No, the use of the geographical indication / appellations of origin is not limited to agricultural products only. Labels can also highlight product qualities that are due to human factors associated with the product’s place of origin, such as specific production capabilities and traditions.

The specified area or place of origin can be a village or a city, a region or a country.

No! The designation of geographical origin/origin protects the name used to label the product.

The above protection of the mark does not include the protection of stylized figurative representations of the product (e.g. lace, glasses, etc.) on the market, i.e. the use of such representations on various product packaging, promotional materials, brochures and advertisements does not constitute a violation of the geographical indication / appellations of origin, because the protection the mark does not include a monopoly over the use of the very figurative appearance of the product covered by the mark on other products. (As a rule, the appearance of the product is protected by industrial design).

If a geographical term is used as a common indication of the type of product, and not as an indication of the place of origin of that product, then such a term can no longer exist as a geographical indication / appellations of origin. In such cases, there may be a refusal to recognize such a term as a designation of geographical indication / appellations of origin, or the protection of such a term. For example, the term cologne nowadays refers to a certain type of perfumed eau de toilette, regardless of whether it was produced in the German city of Cologne.

There is no limited period of protection! Registered designation of geographical indication / appellations of origin can be protected for an unlimited period of time!

Topography is protected as a representation of the three-dimensional arrangement of layers of conductive, insulating and semiconducting material in semiconductor products intended to perform a certain electronic function.

The protection does not refer to any concept, procedure, system, production technique or information as such, but only to the topography as such!

Under certain conditions, the above could be protected by patent, trade secret and other rights.

In most countries, the rights of holders of protected – registered topography cease to be valid after a period of 10 years from the end of the calendar year in which the topography was first commercially exploited anywhere in the world, or from the end of the calendar year in which the proper application for registration was submitted, depending about which deadline occurred earlier.

In general, any confidential business information which provides an enterprise a competitive edge and is unknown to others may be protected as a trade secret.

Companies should take preventive measures to protect trade secrets against theft or misappropriation, including mainly:

ʘ Non-disclosure agreement (NDA): employees and business partners should sign a non-disclosure agreement that prevent them from disclosing a company’s confidential information;

ʘ Non-compete agreement (NCA): employers should ask employees, contractors and consultants to sign a non-compete agreement to prevent them from entering in competition when their employment/service agreement ends.

World Association Of Intellectual Owners expertly drafts both such contracts (without the need to disclose secrets)!

Yes! Trade secrets are property rights and can be assigned or licensed to other persons. The holder of trade secret has the right to authorize a third party to access and use the trade secret information.

There is no limited period of protection! A trade secret can be protected for an unlimited period of time, unless it is discovered or legally acquired by others and disclosed to the public! (The Coca-Cola recipe is over a hundred years old, and is still one of the world’s biggest secrets!).