From Idea to IP: A Guide to Patents, Designs, and Trade Marks with Quadriga

QUADRIGA is an Intellectual Property Firm that is committed to helping inventors and creators secure their inventions and creations. “Walk in with an idea, walk out with a patent” is our mantra. Hop on board the QUADRIGA carriage, traverse the mystifying Intellectual Property highway with finesse, and soar above the rest.

Patents are a source of unique technical information that cannot be found elsewhere, and are awarded for breakthrough and/or improved products or processes. Designs are considered to be a type of patent, in the U.S. A simpler version of patents, with less stringent requirements and a shorter lifespan, is referred to as “Utility Model”.

Have you instantly associated a tick mark on a billboard or advertisement with an iconic swoosh logo of a corporation? This is the power of Trade Marks and branding, which serve as a bridge between a company’s offerings and its consumers. Trade Marks, which are registered under a classification system, may be words, logos, slogans, music, smell, colour, product shapes, product packaging, and/or the like.

Designs, also referred to as “Industrial Designs”, are registered under a classification system, and protect visual aesthetics of products. Designs are a vital cog, in industries, where consumers associate the shape of a product with a company/manufacturer, for example, the automobile industry. Unlike patents, designs are not applicable to processes.