I understand to have copy right you just haveto state it
So MIDICARE belongs to
Australian midwives and others who recognise midwives true value to
Australia's birthing women and their families!
MIDICARE would be a trademark, and is subject to trademark law rather than copyright law, so it's not quite true to say that you just have to state it and you own it (and definately not patent law - which is about protecting ideas). Copyright protects artistic works and - as you say - subsists automatically.
I've done a quick search on the IP Australia web site, and there is nothing registered there, but if someone is already using the word (even though they haven't registered it) - or a word that sounds similar - for goods or services that are the same (or of the same description), then they may have common law rights to use the word, and which could be infringed.
Debbie Slater
Perth, WA
- and who in another life is a Patent Attorney
