Intellectual Property Protection & Privacy

The term "intellectual property" encompasses three types of assets:  Copyright licensing, Trademark licensing, and Patent licensing.  Most companies own Intellectual property licensing rights to at least one of those. There are key important protection rights to be aware of that apply to each type of asset. 

Copyrights and Copyright Protection

A copyright refers to a collection of exclusive rights to display, distribute, disseminate, and do other functions to one's original, creative work.  A copyright can be for a design, a story, a song; almost anything that is creative, original.  While one often thinks of copyright ownership as a single person duty, it is in fact a bundle of six separate exclusive rights that makes a copyright, which extends to the holder(s) the rights as follows:

          Copyright Rights:

1. To reproduce (i.e. “copy”) the work
2. Prepare derivative works based upon the original
3. Distribute copies to the public
4. Perform the copyrighted work publicly (in the case of a book, song, play, etc.)
5. Display the work publicly
6. In the case of sound recordings, perform the music through digital audio transmission.  (Click here for the entire text of the U.S. copyright act.)

Copyright protection begins by filing your work with the U.S. Copyright Office in Washington, which you can do electronically here; however if you believe your work has financial value to you, it is wise to consult an attorney who can assist you in the filing and give you further copyright information.  After your copyright has been filed, you want to make sure others aren’t infringing on one of your six exclusive rights as listed above. 

If you do find that a person or company is infringing on your work, consult an attorney who will write a formal Cease-and-Desist letter to the infringer.  If that doesn’t work, your attorney can litigate the matter by suing the infringing party and trying to seek the dual remedies of both a permanent injunction and damages.  If you copyright is properly filed, this can include not only compensatory damages, but also statutory damages up to three times the value from which the infringer benefited.

More Copyright Articles:

• What is a Copyright?
  
• Copyright Law
• Copyright Registration
• Transfering & Licensing Copyrights
• Copyright Infringement
• Copyrights in Entertainment
• Copyrights Web Pirates
• Copyright FAQs
  

Trademark and Trademark Protection

The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) is the branch of the federal government responsible for registering and monitoring the use of trademarks.  A trademark includes any word, name, symbol, or design, or any combination used, or intended to be used, in commerce to identify and distinguish the goods of one manufacturer or seller from goods manufactured or sold by others, and to indicate the source of the goods. In short, trademarking is a brand name.  By its nature then, a trademark is also hard to keep private, since its value comes from being an identifiable mark. 

Trademark protection begins by filing the mark with the USPTO, where again an attorney can be extremely useful.  In the case of trademark infringement, a cease-and-desist letter is also the common first step, and negotiations between attorneys often follow.  If a settlement or other resolution cannot be reached, an action for trademark infringement can be initiated in federal or state court, where injunction and damages are the remedies sought.   

More Trademark Articles:

• What is a Trademark?
• Trademark Selection & Protection
• Trademark Registration
• Trademark Appeals
• Trademark Maintenance & Negotiation
• Trademarked Domain Names
• Trademark Infringement & Disputes
• Trademark Litigation 

Patent Privacy and Protection

A patent is a set of exclusive rights granted by a state to an inventor or his assignee for a limited period of time in exchange for a disclosure of an invention.  Ever since Benjamin Franklin received a patent for inventing the swim fin, inventors have relied upon the patent rights system to protect the value of their inventions.  Pursuant to Title 35 of the United States Code, the United States Patent and Trademark Office awards exclusive patents for a period of 20 years to an invention that is “new, inventive, and useful or industrially applicable.”

Patent holders almost always try to keep the formula or blueprint for their inventions tightly guarded.  Companies who own valuable patents can establish privacy by requiring their employees to sign non-disclosure agreements.  Inventors who wish to file for a patent should contact an intellectual property attorney, as the filing process is lengthy, complex, and requires legal expertise. 

A patent attorney can also help inventors submit their patents to companies.  Lastly, patent holders (or patent agents) who, in the course of business, need to disclose all or part of their patent formulas to employees, independent contractors or other agents, should also contact an attorney to draft the agreements necessary to prevent dissemination to unauthorized third parties.

More Patent Articles:

• Types of Patents
• Patent Preparation & Prosecution
• Enforcing Patent Rights
• Patent Litigation
• Patent Legal Issues
• Patent Novelty & Infringement
• Patent Legal Services