Exercises: Protection of the idea, the product, and the brand

Explain what each form of intellectual and industrial property protects: patent, trade mark, industrial design, and copyright.

State which form of protection is appropriate in each case: a company logo, a technical invention that improves a bicycle, a novel, the aesthetic shape of a bottle, and the code and text of a website.

The diagram summarises four ways of protecting ideas and creations. Identify the missing form, marked with '?', explain what it protects, and give an example of a product that would require it.

Match each creation with the protection route that corresponds to it (trade mark, copyright, patent or industrial design): a company's trade name, a song, a new door-opening mechanism and the aesthetic shape of a chair.

Explain why the general idea of "an app for ordering taxis" cannot be protected, and what can indeed be protected about that app (the code, the texts, the logo, a novel technical mechanism). Distinguish between an idea and its concrete expression.

Explain what the ® and © symbols that appear on products and web pages mean, what right each one announces and whether anything needs to be registered to be able to use them.

Give two reasons why a small T-shirt brand benefits from registering its trade mark even if it sells little (preventing someone else registering it first, being able to defend itself and turning it into an asset) and what can happen to it if it does not.

Explain what a trade secret is with the example of an artisan sauce recipe, and what practical measures protect it (confidentiality agreements with employees and collaborators, limited access to the formula).

A student has invented a bike lock that opens using a mobile phone. Explain which form of protection is suitable for the mechanism, what requirements are usually required (worldwide novelty, inventive step, and industrial applicability), and what risk she runs if she exhibits it at trade fairs before protecting it.

A small jam brand sells only at local markets and believes that registering a trade mark is just for multinationals. Argue why it is in its interest to register it even though it is small, and what could happen if another company registers a similar name first.

A company creates an app with custom code, text, illustrations, and a logo. Explain which elements are automatically protected by copyright, which one requires a specific registration, and which part cannot be protected: the general idea of 'an app for...'.

A student has invented a drip irrigation system with reused bottles for urban vegetable gardens. Explain which protection route suits her, what requirements it usually demands (worldwide novelty, inventive step, industrial application) and what risk she runs if she presents it at a school competition before registering it.

An illustrator licenses her designs to a mug brand in exchange for an amount per mug sold. Explain what a rights licence is, what each party gains and what conditions should be agreed in writing (exclusivity, territory, duration, royalties).

A designer uploads her illustrations to a social network and discovers that a company is printing them on T-shirts without permission. Explain what rights protect her from the moment of creating the work, what she can claim and how she can prove her authorship (intellectual property register, reliable evidence of creation).

Trade name, trade mark and web domain are three different things. Explain the difference and why it is worth checking all three (and that they match) before launching a company, with the case of a shop whose registered trade mark does not match the .es domain already used by another company.

Trade marks are registered by classes of goods and services. A cosmetics brand registered in its class wants to launch a clothing line with the same name. Explain what problem it may encounter (another company with that name registered for clothing) and why it is worth registering in the future business's classes too.

The bicycle rental and repair shop "BiciBurra" has been operating successfully for a year in Valencia, but never registered its name with the OEPM. When seeking to expand, it discovers that a technical clothing brand has just registered "BiciBurra" for sports apparel (Class 25 of the Nice Classification).

1. a) Can the sportswear company force the bicycle company to cease its activity or change its corporate name? Justify your answer applying the principle of trademark specialty and the registration principle.
2. b) If "BiciBurra" wanted to start marketing its own branded cycling jerseys and hoodies, what legal conflict would arise and what strategic options does it have to resolve it? Evaluate the risks and costs of each.

A biotechnology laboratory has achieved two innovations following an investment of 350.000 €:

1. An energy drink with a synthesised molecule whose exact formulation can be deduced in a laboratory through reverse engineering as soon as it hits the market.

2. A fermentation and plant temperature control algorithm that optimizes flavour and reduces costs, but is undetectable by analysing the bottled product.

Management is hesitating between filing patent applications with the OEPM or relying on the Trade Secrets Act (Ley de Secretos Empresariales). Reasonably recommend the optimal protection route for each innovation, contrasting in each case the risks of public disclosure, the temporal costs of exclusivity (20 years), and the vulnerability to copies by competitors.

The Spanish footwear company «SendaViva» has had its trademark registered with the OEPM since 2022 and is now planning to start physical and online distribution in France, Germany, and Italy.

1. a) Analyze the operational and cost advantages of applying for a European Union Trade Mark (EUTM) before the EUIPO compared to registering the trademark country by country at the national offices of those three markets.
2. b) Examine the critical risk posed by the «unitary character» of the EUTM: what would happen if a small Bavarian artisan had already registered an identical or confusingly similar trademark solely in Germany for similar products?
3. c) Design the prior clearance protocol (prior rights and classes searches) that management must follow before committing the marketing budget in those countries.

«Kúpula» is a homeware startup that has created a silicone cup with an innovative hermetic helical folding mechanism, an external geometry with avant-garde edges, the trademark «Kúpula», and a web catalog with author photographs and explanatory texts. Its initial budget for legal procedures is 1.200 €.

1. a) Assign and justify the most appropriate legal form of protection (patent or utility model, industrial design, registered trademark, and copyright) for each of the product's four intangible assets.
2. b) Knowing that resources are scarce, design a phased protection strategy: which forms must you process before showing the product at a trade fair and which are acquired automatically or can be deferred?
3. c) If a competitor markets a cup with a virtually identical silhouette claiming slight variations in color and thickness, what expert criterion («overall impression produced on the informed user») will a court apply to determine whether there is design infringement?

A consulting firm paid 400 € via bank transfer to a freelance designer for the creation of its corporate logo, without signing any contract. Two years later, the consulting firm generates 1,2 million euros in revenue, decides to franchise the brand, and market office supplies with the logo. The designer demands 30.000 € in compensation and threatens to prohibit commercial exploitation, claiming that he is the author of the work.

1. a) Apply the Intellectual Property Law to determine which rights the designer retains unwaveringly (moral rights) and what happens to the exploitation rights if there is no express assignment document. Could the consulting firm register the logo as a trademark with the OEPM without the designer's written authorization?
2. b) Draft the three essential clauses (territorial scope, temporal scope, and assigned forms or media of exploitation) that the consulting firm should have included in the original contract to avoid this dispute.

A Spanish SME manufacturing leather briefcases with an industrial design registered in the EU detects that several Asian exporters are selling unauthorized replicas at one-third of its price through online marketplaces with direct deliveries to Spanish homes.

1. a) Compare the practical effectiveness, cost, and timelines of filing a lawsuit for cross-border infringement versus requesting the blocking of listings through the platforms' own intellectual property protection programs ('notice and takedown').
2. b) Explain how the customs intervention and seizure procedure for counterfeit goods works at the EU border and what the SME must prove to activate it.
3. c) Propose a coordinated three-step strategy that a small-sized company can finance to curb the commercial impact of these imitations.

The startup «ReservaYa» launches a pioneering mobile app that manages real-time waiting lines for nightclubs and festivals. Six months later, a competitor with greater financial backing launches an app on the market with the same functional operation and the same monetization model, developed from scratch with source code in another programming language and its own graphical interface.

1. a) Justify why «ReservaYa» cannot prevent the rival's operation through copyright (software) or through the European patent system, explaining the principle that «ideas and business methods are not protected, but rather their specific expression».
2. b) Unable to shield the idea through a legal monopoly, what economic and market barriers to entry (network effects, switching costs for the user, exclusivity agreements, or brand positioning) should «ReservaYa» have raised from day one to neutralize the competitor?

In a meeting with investors, the co-founder of a tech startup states: «Spending money on registering trademarks or utility models in early stages is a financial mistake: if the idea works, they will copy us anyway and we will never have enough cash to pay for litigation». Take on the role of an investor and refute their stance:

1. a) Justify how the absence of industrial property titles harms the company's valuation and the inflow of venture capital when auditing its intangible assets on the balance sheet.
2. b) Analyze the existential risk of usurpation: what operational consequences would the startup suffer if a competitor registers its trade name or applies for a utility model on its product before they do?
3. c) Demonstrate why registration acts as a deterrence and out-of-court negotiation tool (licensing, sale, or cease-and-desist letters) without the need to reach costly commercial lawsuits.

Unit challenge. Imagine you are launching an entrepreneurial proposal to solve a need at your school. Your mission is to validate your model and shield its assets through a brief executive report:

1. Design and validation (Lean Startup): Define your Minimum Viable Product (MVP). Design a quick experiment applying the Build-Measure-Learn cycle: survey $5$ potential users with a prototype or a simple form and calculate your acceptance rate.

2. Real trademark search: Choose a brand name and access the trademark search engine of the OEPM (Spanish Patent and Trademark Office) to check whether it is already registered in the corresponding class. Document your findings.

3. Legal protection: Determine which elements of your proposal you would protect (trademark, patent, industrial design, or trade secret) and justify your choice to prevent imitation.

4. Strategic decision: Based on the results obtained (setting, for example, a success threshold of $60,0\,\%$), make a well-founded decision on whether you should "pivot" or "persevere".

Assessment criteria:

• Rigorous application of the Lean Startup cycle and calculation of validation metrics.

• Verified, real search in the OEPM database.

• Legal and economic justification of the chosen protection routes.

• Consistency in the final decision between pivoting or persevering.