Fondation de la Haute Horlogerie

Intellectual Property

Under these circumstances, intellectual property law plays a fundamental role in serving both innovation and the consumer. What legal weapons does intellectual property law have at its disposal? What are the tools and legal instruments provided by this law?

Social development and economic progress justify the fact that those who demonstrate creativity and generate added value by creating employment should reap the benefits of their efforts. This is clearly one of the objectives of intellectual property laws: to enable those who create, take risks and invest to legitimately reap the results and the benefits of their success.

Respect for intellectual property rights is therefore essential for the preservation of the balance of the forces present, in order to encourage innovation and ensure that the economic actors enjoy a certain guarantee of security and fairness. Only if these conditions are fulfilled will researchers and creators be encouraged to pursue and develop the research and creation enabling them to play a major role in the evolution of society.

This is where copyright law, patent law and industrial designs and models law play a role in protecting intellectual creations. The author or the inventor of a creation sees his investments repaid through the right granted him to exploit his creation independently and to reap its fruits, while being adequately equipped to fight any reproduction of his creation or invention.

The other intellectual property rights are those constituted by distinctive features, including especially: trademarks, commercial names and indications of origin. The purpose of these trademarks is to enable their owners to identify and to differentiate their products from those of their competitors. In addition, they are frequently a guarantee of genuine quality for end-consumers and enable them to make fully informed choices.