Intellectual Property — three flavours, three purposes
Copyright, trademark, and patent are the three most common forms of Intellectual Property (IP) protection in India. They sound similar but protect completely different things. Confusing them can waste money or leave your most valuable assets unprotected.
Quick comparison
| Copyright | Trademark | Patent | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Protects | Creative works | Brand identifiers | Inventions |
| Examples | Books, music, films, code | Brand names, logos | Products, processes |
| Term | Life of author + 60 years | 10 years (renewable forever) | 20 years (non-renewable) |
| Automatic? | Yes, on creation | No, must register | No, must apply |
| Registration cost | ₹500–₹5,000 | ₹4,500–₹9,000 per class | ₹1,600–₹8,000 + prosecution |
Copyright — for expression
What it protects: the way an idea is expressed, not the idea itself. Code, songs, articles, films, designs, choreography, and software.
Registration: not mandatory in India — copyright arises automatically on creation — but registration creates prima facie evidence in court.
Use copyright when
- You have written a book, blog, research paper
- You have composed music or recorded audio
- You have shot a film or produced a video
- You have written software / source code
- You have created artwork, photographs, or designs
Trademark — for brand identity
What it protects: the source indicator — how customers identify your product or service versus competitors.
Use trademark when
- You have picked a brand name for your product or service
- You have designed a logo
- You have coined a tagline
- You have a distinctive colour, sound, or packaging shape
Key rules
- Register in the correct trademark class (1–45) for your goods / services
- Multi-class filings are possible but each class is billed separately
- Good trademarks are distinctive (arbitrary, fanciful, or suggestive)
- Bad trademarks are descriptive or generic
- Register early — filing first-to-file date matters in disputes
Patent — for inventions
What it protects: a new, useful, and non-obvious invention — either a product or process.
Three critical tests — your invention must pass all three
- Novelty: has not been publicly disclosed anywhere in the world
- Inventive step: non-obvious to an expert in the field
- Industrial applicability: can be made or used in an industry
What cannot be patented in India
- Mathematical methods, business methods, algorithms (mostly)
- Scientific discoveries (as opposed to applications)
- Plants and animals (barring micro-organisms)
- Software per se
A practical example — a tech product
Say you are launching a fitness app called FlexFit with a new algorithm:
- Copyright: source code + user manual + marketing video
- Trademark: the name FlexFit, the logo, the tagline
- Patent: the adaptive algorithm (if it passes the novelty / inventive-step tests)
Common mistakes founders make
- Relying on trademark when they should patent
- Skipping copyright registration for software
- Filing a patent application too early
- Filing in the wrong trademark class
- Not filing internationally
Recommended filing order for a new product
- Trademark search + file (2 weeks) — lock your brand before launch
- Copyright (2–4 weeks) — file on code / content as it is created
- Patent (6–12 months for prosecution) — file provisional early
- International (6–12 months) — via WIPO Madrid (TM) and PCT (patents)
Unsure which IP filing your idea needs? Bizotic IP team can run a full IP audit.
