The protection of intellectual property has become a fundamental pillar to promote creativity and innovation. In Colombia, copyright and trademarks not only protect the work of artists, writers and entrepreneursbut they also play a crucial role in the country’s economy.
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However, despite their importance, many still do not know how to correctly use these rights and the legal implications they entail.
According to Laura Ángel, senior associate at Brigard Castro, the Intellectual property is a system of rights that protects intangible or incorporeal goods.
“Traditionally, it is divided into two large branches. On the one hand, there is the branch of industrial property that groups, broadly speaking, patents, utility models, industrial designs, trademarks, commercial names and emblems, and indicators and designations of origin.says the expert.
And he adds that, on the other side, There is the branch of copyright that protects scientific, artistic, musical, architectural, and literary works. and the ‘software’.
According to Ángel, it is important because it protects the creations of the human intellect, the intangible assets of the entrepreneur, investments in innovation and state-of-the-art solutions, and strives for a transparent and less confusing market for the consumer.
Yuliana Salamanca, Intellectual Property partner at Baker McKenzie, explains that copyrights are those that protect literary and artistic creations, which are known as works.
“Understanding that any work is protected from its creation, without the need for registration, is essential to make correct use of them”says the expert.
And he adds that using a work without authorization implies a infringement of this right, so care must always be taken to acquire the license or transfer.
For his part, Ángel points out that it is a system of prerogatives that are granted to the author or creator of the scientific works (or their assignees or assigns), artistic, musical, architectural, literary and ‘software’.
This in order to prevent third parties from distributing, reproducing, transforming, importing or communicating them publicly without authorization; and violate the moral rights of paternity, modification, conservation, opposition to deformation, and removal from circulation.
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According to Brigard Castro’s senior associate, we must avoid using the works of third parties, which are protected by copyright, without authorization from the rights holder, for example, artistic works, photographs, literary writings, among others. .
Trademark rights
Trademarks are protected from their registration and with a territorial and specialty delimitation, according to the product or service for which it has been registered.
“The person who can use a trademark is the owner of the registration, or the person who is authorized by the owner, so use without authorization, unless it is established as an exception, is understood as a trademark infringement,” says Salamanca.
They are exclusive rights (only the owner can use them) and exclusive rights (there are legal actions to prevent third parties from using them), on symbols, words, sets of numbers, figures, among others, that serve to distinguish the products or services of a certain businessman in the market, that is, they differentiate it from the commercial services of other businessmen.
These are obtained through registration with the Superintendence of Industry and Commerce.
The laws that govern them
Intellectual property matters, according to experts, are closely regulated by international treaties such as the Paris Convention, the agreements on Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights related to TRIPS Trade, the Berne and Rome Conventions, the Madrid Convention, among others.
While, in Colombia, being a member of the Andean Community, it obeys Decisions 486 and 351 (among others) that regulate these matters.
Commercial Writing
