Owning the Intangible
A firm's most valuable assets may weigh nothing: an invention, a name, a shape, a song. The law fences these intangibles with exclusive rights — temporary monopolies that make it rational to invest in creating them.
Industrial property (registered at the patent and trademark office):
- Patent: protects an invention — new, involving inventive step, industrially applicable. Duration: 20 years from filing, non-renewable. Then the invention falls into the public domain: the deal is disclosure now, monopoly for a while, free use forever after.
- Trademark (marca): protects a distinctive sign — word, logo, shape — that tells your goods from rivals'. Duration: 10 years, renewable indefinitely. A brand can outlive centuries, because what it protects (avoiding confusion) never expires by nature.
- Industrial design: protects a product's appearance. 5 years, renewable up to 25.
Intellectual property in the strict Spanish sense — copyright (derechos de autor): protects original works (texts, software, music, images) automatically from creation, no registration needed. Economic rights last the author's life + 70 years.
| Right | Term |
|---|---|
| Patent | 20 years, non-renewable |
| Trademark | 10 years, renewable forever |
| Industrial design | 5 → 25 years |
| Copyright | Life of author + 70 years |
Matching asset to fence is the manager's job: the algorithm's code gets copyright automatically; the invention it implements may need a patent; the product's name needs a trademark; its look, a design. Choosing wrong — or forgetting the renewal fee — hands the asset to competitors.
Trade secrets are the alternative fence: no registration, no expiry — but protection lasts only as long as the secret does. Coca-Cola chose secrecy over a patent that would have expired a century ago.
Tip: The patent bargain is disclosure now, monopoly for a while, free use forever after — which is why a trademark can be renewed forever but a patent cannot: confusion protection never needs to expire, invention monopolies must.
Common pitfall: Keeping an invention as a trade secret and assuming it is protected like a patent. A secret has no exclusivity — a rival who reverse-engineers or independently invents it owes you nothing.