What does Unregistered and Registered Rights mean?

Frequently asked questions about intellectual property

Unregistered rights arise automatically on the creation of the work. Such rights include copyright, unregistered design rights, and unregistered trademarks.

Registered rights have to be applied for and the creation has to fulfil specific criteria to benefit from the protection of such rights as a patent right, registered design right or registered trademark. Rights can be lost if the creation is disclosed before the right is applied for.