# Industrial and Intellectual Property Business I · Business Law · https://tryals.app/learn/business-i/industrial-and-intellectual-property ## Owning the Intangible A firm's most valuable assets 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** requires registration: - **Patent**: protects an **invention** (new, inventive step, industrially applicable). Duration: **20 years from filing**, non-renewable. Falls into the **public domain** after. - **Trademark** (_marca_): protects a **distinctive sign** (word, logo, shape) telling goods apart. Duration: **10 years, renewable indefinitely**. - **Industrial design**: protects a product's **appearance**. **5 years, renewable up to 25**. **Copyright** (**intellectual property** in the strict sense) protects **original works** (texts, software, music, images) automatically **from creation**, no registration needed. Economic rights last the author's **life + 70 years**. ## Fences and Pitfalls | Right | Term | Registration | | --- | --- | --- | | Patent | 20 years, non-renewable | Required | | Trademark | 10 years, renewable forever | Required | | Industrial design | 5 to 25 years | Required | | Copyright | Life + 70 years | Automatic | **Matching asset to fence** is the manager's job. An algorithm's **code** gets copyright automatically; the **invention** needs a patent; the **name** needs a trademark; its **look**, a design. **Trade secrets** are the alternative fence: no registration, no expiry, but protection lasts only as long as the secret does. > **Common pitfall:** Keeping an invention as a trade secret and assuming it is protected like a patent. A secret has no exclusivity, and a rival who reverse-engineers it owes you nothing. ## Practice questions 6 of this lesson's 14 practice questions, with answers. The full set is in the app. ### 1. Coca-Cola never patented its formula and has protected it for over a century. Patent protection lasts twenty years. What was the calculation? A. A patent publishes in exchange for a time-limited monopoly B. The formula was too simple to meet the inventive-step requirement C. Trade secrets are cheaper to register than patents D. Formulas cannot be patented, so no choice existed **Answer:** A. A patent publishes in exchange for a time-limited monopoly **Why:** The patent bargain is disclosure for a temporary monopoly, so a secret that can be kept indefinitely is worth more than twenty protected years followed by open competition. The gamble is real, reverse-engineering or independent discovery ends a trade secret with no remedy at all. Page: https://tryals.app/practice/business-i/industrial-and-intellectual-property/coca-cola-never-patented-its-formula-and-has-protected-it-for-over-a ### 2. A patent expires and enters the public domain; a trade secret can last forever. Why would a firm ever choose the patent? A. Because patents are cheaper to obtain than secrecy is to maintain B. Because a patent can be renewed indefinitely if the invention is still in use C. Because trade secrets are unenforceable in most jurisdictions D. Because a secret protects nothing once independently invented **Answer:** D. Because a secret protects nothing once independently invented **Why:** The patent bargain is disclosure for exclusivity. Coca-Cola’s formula is the case for secrecy; anything reverse-engineerable from the product itself is the case for patenting. Page: https://tryals.app/practice/business-i/industrial-and-intellectual-property/a-patent-expires-and-enters-the-public-domain-a-trade-secret-can ### 3. Order the life of a patented invention. **Answer:** 1. R&D produces a new, non-obvious invention 2. Patent application filed, the clock starts 3. Grant: 20-year exclusivity, invention disclosed 4. Licensing and royalties monetize the monopoly 5. Expiry: the invention joins the public domain **Why:** Invent → file → exclude → monetize → release. The filing date, not the grant, anchors the 20 years, one reason firms race to the office. Page: https://tryals.app/practice/business-i/industrial-and-intellectual-property/order-the-life-of-a-patented-invention ### 4. A startup with one product must fence its intangibles on a budget. Order the steps of a sensible IP strategy. **Answer:** 1. Inventory the intangibles: invention, name, look, code 2. Check novelty and prior trademarks in the registries 3. File the patent before any public disclosure 4. Register the trademark and design 5. Calendar the renewal fees **Why:** Inventory → search → patent first (disclosure kills novelty) → register the rest → never miss a fee. Most IP value is lost not in court but in skipped step 2 and forgotten step 5. Page: https://tryals.app/practice/business-i/industrial-and-intellectual-property/a-startup-with-one-product-must-fence-its-intangibles-on-a-budget ### 5. Renewable or doomed to expire? Sort each right. **Answer:** - Renewable indefinitely: Trademark on a soft-drink name, Trademark on a century-old logo - Expires for good: Patent on a drug molecule, Copyright on a 1950s novel, Industrial design past its 25th year **Why:** Only trademarks are immortal (with fees): distinctiveness never stops being useful. Monopolies on inventions, works, and looks are deliberately temporary, society’s repayment date. Page: https://tryals.app/practice/business-i/industrial-and-intellectual-property/renewable-or-doomed-to-expire-sort-each-right ### 6. A trademark can be renewed indefinitely while a patent cannot be renewed at all. Why does the law treat the two monopolies so differently? A. Because trademarks are cheaper for the registry to administer B. Because trademark holders pay renewal fees and patent holders do not C. Because a trademark harms no one by lasting and a patent does D. Because patents protect ideas and trademarks protect only words **Answer:** C. Because a trademark harms no one by lasting and a patent does **Why:** The public cost differs. Exclusive use of a name costs society almost nothing, while exclusive use of a technique blocks everyone else from applying it, so only the second is time-limited. Page: https://tryals.app/practice/business-i/industrial-and-intellectual-property/a-trademark-can-be-renewed-indefinitely-while-a-patent-cannot-be