Your rights in your inventions and creations are your intellectual property.
Patents, trademarks, copyrights, and trade secrets protect different types
of intellectual property rights in inventions and creations such as machines,
processes, designs, product lines, business methods, computer programs,
art, music, books, and logos. These protections give you the right to prevent
others from making, using, copying, or selling your work.
What is a Patent?
A patent is a document granted by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office
(USPTO) that confers the right, usually for 20 years, to exclude others
from making, using, or selling your invention. Registered Patent Attorneys
are licensed to write patents in the entire United States. Your initial
no cost visit in person or by phone will include information about patent
searches, the types of patents available, patent requirements, and the
cost. This will be a free informational meeting in order to provide you
with background information and an opportunity to meet or talk with David
Hall.
What is a Trademark?
Trademarks are words, symbols, or combinations of words and symbols that
distinguish the source of a product or service from the products or services
of others. Even colors and sounds can qualify for trademark protection.
“Coke” and “Xerox” are valuable registered trademarks.
If properly maintained, federal trademark protection lasts indefinitely.
A trademark search can help determine if a particular logo has already
been registered.
What
is a Copyright?
Copyrights protect original and creative literary, dramatic, choreographic,
sculptural, audiovisual, musical, and architectural works. Examples include
books, paintings, quilts, photographs, music, lyrics, computer programs,
CD covers, and pieces of jewelry. An individual’s copyright protection
exists for the life of the creator plus 70 years.
What are Trade Secrets?
A trade secret is any confidential information that is used in a business
to provide a competitive advantage and is kept secret. If the company
uses reasonable means to keep the information confidential, including
properly written employment agreements, trade secrets can last indefinitely.
For example, the recipe for Coca-Cola has been a trade secret for almost
100 years.
What are Licenses?
Licensing intellectual property is granting some or all of your intellectual
property rights to another person or company for a fee. All of the various
types of intellectual property can be licensed at the discretion of the
owner. Patent, copyright, trademark, and trade secret rights can be permanently
assigned or temporarily licensed to another in return for royalties.
© 2009 David Allen Hall
All Rights Reserved