Overlapping IP Rights

A UAE based company comes up with a new bottle design for their shampoo product. Is the bottle design protected by the laws governing: (a) trademark; (b) patent; (c) copyright; (d) trade secret, or is it (e) all of the above?

The correct answer is (e); the bottle design is capable of being protected at least in theory under all four areas of law.

Trademark, patent, copyright, and trade secrets fall under the umbrella of Intellectual Property ("IP") law. All IP laws have the protection of human innovations as their common denominator. However, the various sub-categories of IP law may be distinguished from each other as follows:

• Trademark law protects any mark, including words, pictures or signs, used to distinguish a person's goods and services from those of their competitors. In lay terms, it refers to branding. For example, the "Starbucks" brand name and mermaid logo are trademarks of the Starbucks coffee company.