The Door Hardware
& Access Control Group, a business unit of ASSA ABLOY Opening Solutions UK
& Ireland, has released a new white paper, highlighting the misleading key
copy protection claims made by many cylinder lock suppliers.
Titled ‘Dispelling
the Myth: Misleading Claims Around Key Copy Protection’, the latest ASSA ABLOY
white paper can be downloaded for free.
The white paper
provides a best practice guide to understanding intellectual property for
products, covering trademarks, design registrations and patents. It then goes
on to discuss the myths surrounding these, and the steps that must be taken to
ensure a system has the correct protection in place so keys cannot be copied.
The white paper also
provides an example of when one party’s claims around a trademark on a key
profile was challenged, the outcome of this, and the wider implications for the
industry and those seeking a reliable and secure cylinder locking solution.
Paul Johnson,
Director of Business Development at ASSA ABLOY Door Hardware & Access
Control, explains: “When investing in a new master key cylinder system, one
critical aspect that many people tend to overlook is the availability of
additional keys. Worringly, if systems are not patent protected, extra keys can
be legally obtained without the owner’s knowledge and permission – a fact that
many people are unaware of.
“In this new white
paper, we dispel the myths around parties’ claims of so-called ‘lifelong
trademark protection on key profiles’ and the impact this has on key copying,
when compared with legally enforceable patent protection. Offering a clear and
practical approach to tackling this issue, we hope those considering investing
in a new patented master key cylinder system find our latest white paper
useful, helping to protect sites and people against a security risk that they
may not yet know about.”
To download the
white paper in full, please visit www.assaabloyopeningsolutions.co.uk/keycopywhitepaper.
