Check out the questions and answers or visit some fun sites where you can find out more about creativity, ideas and innovation. Question and Answers Useful Links   Fun Stuff   Intellectual Property   Research   Science and Technology IP Questions And Answers What does IP stand for? IP stands for intellectual property. IP covers inventions, original designs and how your good ideas work. In fact, it covers just about everything you invent or think of that is original, has a practical use and is your own. There are several forms of intellectual property such as patents, copyright Trade Marks and designs. There are seven different types of IP. These are: Patents Trade marks Designs Plant Breeders Rights Circuit Layout Rights Trade Secrets Copyright What is a patent? A patent is a form of IP used to protect devices, substances, methods or processes that are new, inventive and useful. The toe activated braking system and wheels of in-line skates are recent useful patents. What is a trade mark? Nike®, Coke® and Southpark® are all trade marks. Trade marks are a form of IP that cover the letters, numbers, words, phrases, sounds, shapes, smells, logos, pictures, packaging or combinations of these, that businesses use to market their goods and services. Some words like common surnames and names of places may not be allowed registration. Try searching for Nike or any of your favourite brands using ATMOSS at the IP Australia Corporate site. What is a design? The uniforms of you favourite sports team, or the shape of a mobile phone are both good examples of designs. A design is a form of IP that covers the appearance of goods, but not how they work. What other forms of IP are there? Copyright for songs and artistic works, Plant Breeders' Rights for new plants and Circuit Layout Rights for new integrated circuits and computer chips are also forms of IP. What is IP Australia? IP Australia is the federal government agency that helps Australians protect their good ideas through granting rights in patents, trade marks and designs. By helping Australian businesses protect their ideas, IP Australia helps to promote innovation, trade with other countries and competitiveness. There are offices in every state capital city in Australia, where you can look up cool inventions, brand names and designs and find how to protect your own. Useful Links Fun Stuff Girltech http://www.girltech.com An American site devoted to encouraging girls to use technology, GirlTech features eight entertaining and educational areas designed especially for girls. For the low down on inventions check out the "InventHer" section which has some examples of inventions created by young women (did you know that Joesphine Cochrane invented the dishwasher?) or talk to a professional female baseball team and submit your opinion on sports! United States Patent and Trade Marks Office Kids Site http://www.uspto.gov/go/kids/ This is the kid's website for the United States Patent and Trade Marks Office, it has some games and fun things to do that relate to patents and trade marks. Intellectual Property Attorney-Generals Department http://www.law.gov.au This is the Australian Government site which handles copyright. It's a great source of information for copyright for projects and research. Australian Copyright Council http://www.copyright.org.au/ This is the website for the Australian Copyright Council and as its name suggests, has lots of stuff on copyright. The site has some handy info sheets on issues like copying from the internet, music and copyright, writers and copyright, and copyright infringement. IP Australia http://www.ipaustralia.gov.au If you are interested in finding out more about patents, trade marks and designs for projects then this is the place to look. You can even search for famous trade marks, like Driza-bone, Coke and Southpark. Plant Breeder's Rights http://www.affa.gov.au This is the website for Plant Breeder's Rights which is handled by the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry. Here you will find information about how people are able to protect new plant varieties so other people can't steal their innovations. Research Mad Science Network http://www.madsci.org If there's a question that's bugging you, the Mad Science Network allows you to ask any questions of scientists around the world. Questions range in subject from 'Why is the sky blue?' and 'Do ants sleep?' to explaining why astronomers believe meteorites from Mars suggest the planet once supported life. You are able to ask questions, view previously answered questions, or search a huge archive forinformation. Questacon http://www.questacon.edu.au Questacon is all about understanding and appreciation of science through programs and interactive exhibitions. This Innovative Australians section of the site is divided into 7 fascinating sections that include Planet Earth, Medical Breakthroughs and Clever Australians - where you can read about some Australian inventions. The Powerhouse Museum http://www.phm.gov.au The Powerhouse Museum is a great site for finding out about Australia's achievements. It has brilliant exhibitions covering science, technology, decorative arts, design and Australian social history. There are 380,000 displays in the museum and you can see examples of them on this site. If you go into the "Collection and Research" section there are heaps of examples of great Australian innovations. Science and Technology Bright Sparcs http://www.asap.unimelb.edu.au/bsparcs/ Bright Sparcs is a site set up to tell you about Australia's scientific and technical history. It is important for students to study Australian scientists, so we understand the amazing contributions they have made. If you love science and history this is the site to be, it contains on-line exhibitions and a massive collection of Australian scientists and inventors. CSIRO Double Helix Club http://www.csiro.au/helix/index.html If you are interested in science and live in Australia, you can join the CSIRO Double Helix Club. This site tells you how and more. From this site, you can then get updates on club activities and cool club news. There are also heaps of experiments you can conduct on your friends or by yourself. How Stuff Works http://www.howstuffworks.com HowStuffWorks.com is an amazing, award-winning online destination for anyone who wants to know how anything works! Originally started by Marshall Brain as an entertaining and fascinating place for people tolearn about the world we live in, the site has grown to be one of the top 500 Web sites in the United States. You also have the chance to join the How Stuff Works club and win cool prizes all the time. NASA Just for Kids http://www.nasa.gov/kids.html The NASA Just for Kids site has been developed especially for kids to learn about everything in space, including planets, rockets, astronauts and a ton of other cool stuff. It has an outer-space art gallery, games and projects and is an excellent, fun place to learn. Smithsonian Magazine Kids Castle http://www.kidscastle.si.edu/ The Kid's Castle is a safe, educational, free and fun place to visit . It features articles written about the things that interest you: sports, history, travel, science and air and space, all with great photos. You can even post questions to other kids or play lots of fun and challenging games and enter contests. The Lab http://www.abc.net.au/science The Lab is part of the ABC website and contains a lot of excellent science information and experiments. Keep up to date on science stuff, or ask Dr Karl Kruszelnicki any of those tricky, unusual science questions. It has special areas on space, the earth and your health, as well as regular updates on a variety of other science areas (likeweather and nature). About Ippy's Big Idea | Ideaopia | Ippy's Idea | Trade Mark-O-Matic LoGos | IP Tile Teaser | Ippy's E-Cards | Resources | Big Ideas CD Contact Us | Help | Disclaimer | Big Ideas Network Website