Intellectual property is a term that encompasses patents, trademarks, and copyrights.
- Patents protect an inventor’s exclusive rights to a publicly disclosed invention;
- Trademarks and/or service marks protect registered names, logos, designs, and symbols that are representative of a brand in commerce;
- Copyrights protect works of art, software codes, and other creative processes.
There are three types of patents available for the inventor: a design patent, a plant patent, and a utility patent. A design patent is typically chosen for inventions that alter the design of a product, but not its overall function. A plant patent covers an asexually produced or newly discovered plant, and prevents others from reproducing, selling, or using the plant. The most common type of patent is a utility patent which protects the function of the new invention for up to twenty years, giving the inventor the exclusive right to manufacture and sell the product.
Trademarks are a designation used for slogans, names, logos, designs, symbols, and other unique designations for a business as a provider of the product bearing the trademark. Service marks are similar in that they designate the provider of the service bearing the trademark. Registered trademark and/or service mark protection offers the advantage of putting the public on notice that you or your company lays claim to the mark, a legal presumption of ownership, and the exclusive right to use the mark with the goods and services set forth in the mark’s registration.
Copyrights are filed with the Library of Congress and cover “works of art” ranging from photographs and paintings to literary works and source coding for software. A copyright offers protection for the creator of the art through their lifetime, with an additional seventy years of protection following the death of the author. A copyright gives the author the exclusive right to publish, reproduce and sell the work. Although a copyright is implied on a work of art at the time of its creation, registration creates a public record of ownership, allows for the creator to file lawsuits for infringement, offers protection on the importation of infringing works, and several other benefits crucial to protecting the work.
Owners of patents, trademarks, and copyrights enforce their rights against infringement through lawsuits. The major benefit of registering your intellectual property is the right to bring an infringement lawsuit. U.S. registration of intellectual property is also the first step to protecting your product, mark, or art in a global market through foreign registrations.
Dunlap & Seeger attorneys in Rochester MN are here to guide you through the process of protecting your intellectual property.