Resources.

What is a Patent? What is a Trademark? What is a Copyright?  What is Intellectual Property?

Intellectual property (IP) is the area of law that protects your original creations from being stolen by others. Whether you are in the realm of patents, trademarks, copyrights or trade secrets depends on the nature of your creation.

Virtually every important decision you make in your business affects or is affected by IP.

Trademark law is the law of branding, so consulting an experienced trademark attorney is crucial whenever you are choosing brand names, slogans or marketing pieces for your goods or services.

Often a company’s innovative solution to a problem in its field gives it a key advantage over its competitors. A well-drafted patent can ensure you maintain that advantage for 20 years.

Whether they know it or not, every company has trade secrets – did you know your customer list is a protectable trade secret? Trade secrets should be protected by having your employees sign an Employment Agreement containing non-disclosure provisions.

Patents

Protecting your invention, software, method of manufacture, product design.

In general, “utility patents” protect “inventions” –  devices or methods to achieve a tangible or transformative result.  Examples of patented inventions include the vacuum cleaner, the game of Monopoly systems and methods that enables text messaging. Design patents protect the ornamental design of an item and are often used for jewelry design, clothing design, and the overall look of various products. [links to design patents]. Patents last for 20 years, but it’s important to realize that some inventions are not patentable.

Trademarks

Protecting your business name, product name, slogan, logo, product or packaging design

“Trademarks” protect names, words, slogans, designs or markings that are used in commerce to identify the source of a product or service. Examples of trademarks are McDonald’s ®, Nike ®, Google ®, Apple ®, Microsoft ®, , Whopper v, as well as the Nike "Swoosh", the Apple icon, McDonald’s “golden arches”,  the NBC peacock, Nike’s “Just Do It”, Burger King’s “Have it Your Way”  and even the shape of the Coca Cola glass bottle.

Trademarks do not need to be registered with the United States Patent and Trademark Office but registration offers so many important benefits that it is highly recommended. Your trademark does not expire unless you stop using it in commerce.

Copyrights

Protecting your book, song, software code, original artwork, screen design, architectural work, audio recording, album, screenplay.

Copyrights protect the original expression of ideas – not the idea itself or the title of a work.  In general, a copyright lasts for the life of the author plus 70 years.  As with trademarks, copyrights do not need to be registered with the U.S. Copyright Office but registration is inexpensive and offers important benefits.