One of the most uncommon questions for a business in Cyprus is “How do you protect your intellectual property?”
Despite the fact that Cyprus is a member of the EU and a member of the most important international treaties which fully protect intellectual property rights, it is a fact that due to a lack of information, many Cypriot entrepreneurs do not pay attention to the protection of their intellectual property rights.
They mistakenly believe that “everything will be ok” and that “nobody can copy my idea!”. However in practice this could prove to be fatal.
As it is commonly known, the term “intellectual property rights” (or “ip rights”) mainly covers copyright, trademarks, industrial designs and patents. Further, and very importantly, since May 2012 Cyprus offers an 80% exemption on royalty income and capital gains upon disposal of IP rights. This is one of the most favourable tax regimes in Europe.
Every business has a name. And it is possible to have a logo as well. The name and the logo of each company is the biggest asset of each brand. In the IP World the name or logo of a business is protected as a trademark. In case the name or the logo of the company is not protected, then any third party can pass off this name/logo as its own and benefit from someone else’s fame.
This would undoubtedly create confusion to the public and –amongst others- might have as a consequence a significant loss to the profits of a company.
To protect your intellectual property rights is an investment: the costs are low and protection equals piece of mind.
In case you wish to know what intellectual property rights are and how to protect them, please click here.
