Pros and cons of patents and copyright Review
Business

Pros and cons of patents and copyright

Typically, intellectual property commands a significant portion of the business value where protection by the government is provided from breach of contract. A patent right, which is a set of exclusive rights over an invention given by the government, tends to command a portion of monopoly protection. On the other hand, copyright is more of the same as a patent, but its protection against an individual or company creation like work of authorship.

Pros:

1. Market limitation to competitors; the government offers artificial market protection to a company by restricting the competitors from entering the market with the same idea. These enable the business to enjoy a monopoly and thrive in the market without much interference. Moreover, the protection allows the patent owner to increase the price of goods and services, thus commanding higher profits.

2. The patent protects the company from willful infringement; the competitor to infringe the patent right sued at the court of law, and they pay for the damage promptly. So, the reason why most of the right patent owners are secure is that they can sue anyone who tries to infringe their trading patent.

3. Longer statutory life of copyright; these create enough time for an individual to enjoy the existence of their creation in the market. These may extend up to 70 years or beyond, depending on an agreement.

4. Attract investors; patents and copyright rights create confidence in investors knowing well that their capita is well taken care of by the company. These agreements are more relevant to small businesses which need protection from large enterprises for their existence.

5. It provides credibility to the inventor and company; these parties can claim their right from the authority in case there is an infringement. The increased reliability ensures that the trading parties can deliver the goods and services in the market without being compromised.

Cons:

1. Time-consuming; acquiring this legal protection from the relevant authority takes much time, and sometimes it can go for more than two years. For the government to grant the patent right and the copyright, they have to verify so many documents concerning the protection provision.

2. The protection is costly; there are a lot of costs incurred when applying for patent rights and copyright protection. These can range from the attorney’s fee, application fee, and searches of a similar patent right fee.

3. Information disclosure; when applying for the protection, you are required to disclose all the information regarding the product or service under protection. In this case, one can steal the idea before the protection right is issued. The copyright of a book can be taken when there is a similar application.

4. Enforcement; at one point, some people will try to infringe on the market by selling similar products, the patent owner should monitor these invaders. It becomes challenging at a time to find and report the infringers to the authority.

5. Limited protection to one country; the patent right usually applies to protect individual business within the country’s borders. Also, copyright restrictions sometimes refer to a given region or part of the world.