Intellectual Property
Nothing is more valuable in the Information Age than your ideas. The law can protect your ideas--with patents, copyrights, trademarks, and trade secrets--but you must know which to use, when, and why. Do not waste your time or money, and do not put your ideas at risk
Patent Law
Patent law is designed to promote public disclosure of useful inventions for the benefit of all mankind in exchange for a limited monopoly on that invention. But the value of that monopoly is restricted in that it must be enforced at the expense of the inventor. Technically, there are two types of patents in the United States (and other patent-like protections internationally): utility and design patents. Colloquially in the US, “patent” refers to a utility patent. Utility patents include inventive processes, machines, products, and compositions of matter, and typically cover the way the invention works or is used. Design patents typically protect the way a product looks. Both have advantages and disadvantages in their scope of protection and responding to infringement.
Copyright Law
Copyright law protects a person’s expression of their authorship, such as written works (e.g., books and computer software code), visual works (e.g,. photographs, sculptures, and comic books), auditory works (e.g., music), and combinations thereof. Companies today should be mindful of the careful interaction between patents and copyrights in the design of products. Depending on your market strategy, one may be better than the other.
Trademark Law
Trademark law (statutory or common, state or federal) is fundamentally about promoting a healthy marketplace by protecting consumers from being deceived and protecting legitimate businesses who invest in their reputation among consumers. Trademarks typically protect the recognizable symbols of a business engaged in trade, e.g., logos and mottos. Trademark law also covers the trade dress of a product, e.g., distinctive ways in which a consumer may interact with a product including its packaging or sound.
Trade Secret Law
Trade secret law protects a company’s valuable secrets, such as business practices, formulas, customer information, or technology. Companies must be diligent in protecting their trade secrets with the careful advice of counsel. For example, companies can protect their source code through both copyright law and trade secret law, but only if careful steps are observed.