Factors Influencing Success in International Markets
Unit 3
Protecting Your Ideas
• Once you’ve come up with an idea, an invention, or an innovation, there are a number of ways to protect it so potential competitors can’t take advantage of your Intellectual Property.
Patents
• A patent is a grant made by the government that gives the creator of an invention the sole right to make, use, and sell the invention for a set period of time.
• This provides incentive for people to explore and do research.
Copyrights
• A copyright protects literary works, musical works, artistic works, and software.
• By law, all Canadians hold the copyright to any original work they have created unless they were hired or employed to create it.
• Copyright last for the life of the holder plus 50 years unless renewed by heirs.
• ©
Trademarks
• Trademarks are words, symbols or designs used to identify a product or service and distinguish it from its competitors.
• Trademarks are valuable because they have come to represent the reputation of the producer as well as the products that bear them.
• ®
Licensing
• Licensing means that patent or copyright owners allow other organizations to use their idea or invention for a fee or royalty.
• The fee may be in the form of a fixed sum or as a percentage of sales.
• International licensing is becoming increasingly popular.
– For example Coca-Cola licenses its formula to local bottlers around the world.
Joint Ventures
• Often a business in one country has capital, technology etc.. That is needed by a business in another country.
• A Joint Venture is an agreement between two or more companies to share assets and control of a new business for mutual gain.
– For example SNC-Lavalin