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Frequently Asked Questions Industrial Property

In Spain, industrial property protects all creations related to industry: patents and utility models, distinctive signs and designs.

In contrast, intellectual property is reserved for protecting creations of the mind in which the author's personality is captured, and that are unique creations, not industrially manufactured or mass-produced.

These creations can be literary and artistic works such as novels, poems and theatre plays, films, musical works, artworks, drawings, paintings, photographs and sculptures or architectural designs, as well as rules for games and computer programs.

For each one there are different laws and the authorities responsible for their management are also different: the Spanish Patent and Trademark Office deals with the recognition of industrial property rights and the Intellectual Property Registry deals with intellectual property rights.

The organisation and addresses of the Intellectual Property Registry can be found here.

For this type of creation, only the name of the programme, contest or game can be protected as a trademark. However, this does not apply to the rules or format, and protection for these would have to be sought through intellectual property regulations.

El artículo 4 de la Ley de Patentes excluye específicamente del concepto de patentabilidad "los planes, reglas y métodos, etc. para el ejercicio de actividades económico-comerciales..." En la Oficina Española de Patentes y Marcas no pueden protegerse las ideas de negocio al no tratarse de invenciones de aplicación industrial, es decir, aparatos, mecanismos, instrumentos, productos, etc. que se fabriquen en una industria.

Design projects are not under the authority of the Spanish Patent and Trademark Office. These types of creations are protected as author rights by a copyright. The competent body is the Intellectual Property Register.

In general, these types of services are handled through contracts between the parties. Consultation with an attorney specialised in the terms of the contract to be signed by the interested parties is recommended.