Imagine this situation: you've spent two years working on your startup, the name and logo are already recognized, customers know you, an investor has shown interest, and suddenly you discover that someone else registered the same name as a trademark before you did. Now you either change the name or get involved in an expensive dispute that is by no means guaranteed to be won. This is one of the most common, and at the same time one of the cheapest to prevent mistakes in the Georgian startup environment.
Intellectual property is divided into three completely different tools, and each protects something different, works under different rules, and requires different timing.
A trademark protects the name, logo, slogan, whatever allows a customer to distinguish your product from a competitor's. In Georgia, this protection does not arise automatically; registration with Sakpatenti is required, and until this is done, rights to the mark practically do not exist (the exception being well-known marks, which operate under a special regime). Registration lasts 10 years, and after expiration it can be renewed for further 10-year terms without limitation. The main problem startups often run into is the time factor: whoever registers the mark first is granted priority — not whoever invented it first or was first to use it in the market. This is exactly why it's worth starting the registration of your name and logo before you actually enter the market.
A patent works on entirely different logic: it protects not a name, but a technical solution: an invention, a new algorithmic or technological principle that meets the criteria of novelty, inventive step, and industrial applicability. An invention patent lasts 20 years, counted from the filing date of the application. For less innovative, relatively simple technical solutions, there is utility model registration - 10 years, with a much simpler examination. For startups, especially technology-focused ones, this choice is often key: obtaining a full patent takes years and the cost is correspondingly high, while a utility model is much faster and cheaper, though the level of protection is also lower.
Copyright works in the most elusive way of all: no registration is required whatsoever. Code, design, text, video, the graphic image of a logo (if considered an original work) are protected automatically, from the moment of creation. Protection lasts for the author's lifetime plus 70 years after death, while the right of authorship and the right to a name are perpetual. One important nuance is often overlooked here: if a developer or outside contractor creates a work (for example, code) within the scope of employment or a commission, under the law the economic (property) copyright automatically belongs to the employer or the commissioning party, unless the contract specifies otherwise. In other words, the default rule works in the startup's favor, not against it. In practice, however, this protective mechanism is still not sufficient on its own, because without a written agreement it becomes much harder to prove that the work was actually created within the scope of employment duties or a specific commission, rather than independently, on the person's own initiative. This is exactly why a written contract remains best practice: it is not the source of the right, but the simplest and most reliable means of proving it, one that protects the startup from the burden of proof in the event of a dispute.
There is one practical detail that unites all three tools: none of them automatically protects you beyond the country's borders. Georgian registration is valid only within Georgia, and if a startup plans to enter international markets, trademark and patent protection must be arranged separately in the countries where the company actually operates, or through international mechanisms.
The most common mistake startups make is not a lack of knowledge about the tools - it's misjudging the timing. Founders often think they'll deal with intellectual property once the company grows. In reality, the later a name is registered or a solution is patented, the greater the risk that someone else gets there first. It is also important that, right from the company's founding, agreements be put in place with founders, employees, and outside contractors regarding who owns the intellectual property created: this single point often becomes decisive at the investor due diligence stage as well.