Copyright law is part of intellectual property law, which protects the literary, scientific, artistic works, and those rights related to their performance. Paragraph 2 of section 1 of the copyright act lists examples of the major types of works which are protected by law. The list, however is not exhaustive, and therefore every such work is protected that is created with the intellectual activity of the author, and if it also complies with the criteria of originality and individual.
Today it is an important issue, how a prior work can be used, and what are the conditions of the use and how far does the copyright stretch; do you need permission for the use or it falls in the category of free use?
Our services concerning copyright law:
- legal advising concerning the use and protection of literary works, musical works, software, and other copyrighted works;
- preparing use agreements;
- advising concerning infringement cases
and legal representation related to the above.
Trademark Law
Trademarks are such marks (word, slogan, logo, figure, or even a sound or a three-dimensional shape that can be graphically represented), from which the goods or services of the applicant would be distinct and identifiable.
Naturally not all name, mark are trademark. What makes it more? The trademark can be used exclusively by the applicant concerning the given goods or services and may oppose the unauthorized uses. The trademark ensures a distinctive character, easier identification and protection.
Based on the exclusive use right, the rightholder may prevent all third parties who use a mark that is identical or confusingly similar to the trademark without authorization in the course of its economic activities concerning goods or services that are identical or similar to those in the lists of goods of the trademark. In case of a trademark that has good will, an identical or confusingly similar mark cannot be used concerning any goods or services, if it would take an unfair advantage of the distinctive character of the trademark with good reputation.
If someone uses a trademark without consent, the proprietor may turn to court and request the termination of the further infringement, the recovery of the enrichment obtained, and payment of damages.
Our Office can participate in all stages of the proceedings, from trademark search to the representation in the registration procedure and following the registration, our Office also provides services in infringement procedures and the enforcement of various claims based on trademarks (litigation, cancellation procedures, etc.)
Know-how
Know-how is an economical, technical, organizational knowledge and experience which can be used in practice, it is limitedly available and it is protected until it becomes public domain. The know-how is transferable. Know-how is protected without registration procedure and upon creation; it becomes protected automatically against the unauthorized users.
The protection of know-how and its prohibition to use can be forced by legal means. Usually it is a mutual agreement that may settle the situation between the parties in a reassuring and expedite way. In addition to the related legal advising, our office can participate in the conciliation between the parties, in the conclusion of agreements and during litigation.
Franchise
Franchise is a special form of co-operation. While it may have various content, the essence of franchise is a co-operation, whereby the franchisor gives right to use a name with value, usually a trademark, and the related valuable expertise, know-how and the franchisee is obliged to pay a fee and to use them according to the provisions of the franchisor and to operate the establishment, and course of business accordingly.
Franchise is based on a co-operation agreement, which is specific and would be different from case to case. The agreement is prepared with regards to the needs of the parties, the specifics of the certain business type. Our office has extensive experience in preparing such agreements and creating the legal background for this type of co-operation.
Designs
The subject of a design can be the exterior, esthetic appearance, exterior characteristics, decoration (shape, material, design, pattern, etc) of a product. The condition to qualify as design is that it should be new and have an individual character.
The aim of the design protection is that the work of the applicant or its agent realized in the exterior appearance of a product, cannot be used by anyone else, and therefore no one may produce or sell a product that is identical or similar to the protected product design without the authorization of the proprietor.
The application for a design can be submitted to the Hungarian Intellectual Property Office. Our law office can participate in all stages of the proceedings, from the novelty search (preliminary research), through the representation in the registration procedure. In addition our experienced colleagues provide legal advice concerning claims based on registered designs.