Copyright is part of a family of rights that are generally referred to as “intellectual property”. Other types of intellectual property include patents, industrial design, and trademarks, which apply to inventions, product designs, and brands.
Digital materials, such as games and other software, are protected by copyright and should generally not be copied. However, section 30.6 of the Copyright Act does allow owners of a legal copy of a computer program to copy, modify, or translate it into another computer language, as long as they do so for their personal use only and as necessary to make the program compatible with their computer. Making a personal back-up copy is also allowed. Copies or modified programs must be destroyed if the person loses the rights to the original legal copy. It is also important to note that these provisions cannot be used if they involve bypassing any technological protection measures, such as digital locks.
Inventions, technological creations, and product designs can be protected in several ways, such as by applying for patents or by registering industrial designs. Some parts of an invention, such as blueprints, may be protected by copyright; however, copyright protection will only apply to the blueprints themselves and not to the underlying idea. Patenting or registering the material as an industrial design will ensure more complete protection.
A patent is a legal protection that can be applied to both new technology (e.g. a unique new robot design) and improvements to existing technological products or processes (e.g. a modified attachment for an existing robot). See A Guide to Patents for further information.
Industrial design registration is applied to a product whose appearance is distinctive, unique and unlike any other current product (e.g. a pattern engraved on the handle of a kitchen tool). Note that industrial design registration protects the look of the product: it does not protect other features, such as its construction or materials. See A guide to industrial designs, published by the Canadian Intellectual Property Office, for more information.
It is important to note that an abstract idea or concept cannot be patented or registered as an industrial design. Patents can only be issued for the physical embodiment of an idea (such as a design or prototype), or for a process that produces something tangible or that can be sold. Industrial designs can only be registered as they apply to a finished object.