Intellectual Property
Intellectual property law protects property created by the minds of men and women. Like anything of value, intellectual property is also sought by others and improper use or theft can be prevented by adequately securing the property. Intellectual property lawyers can assist you in protecting your creation and answer any questions you may have regarding intellectual property law.
If you have intellectual property that you would like to truly call yours, contact one of our intellectual property lawyers today.
What is intellectual property?
Intellectual property includes anything from copyrights, patents, trademarks and trade secrets. Copyrights protect the original works of authorship and grants the author specific rights to either sell the rights to others or to keep them for him/herself. Accordingly, most published works are copyrighted.
A patent is issued for inventors (after the application for patent is approved) in order to keep others from using or even selling the same item/process.
A trademark is a name or symbol that identifies a specific product or service by the manufacturer/source. Trademark owners have the right to prevent others from using the same or similar trademark as their own. Any logo, for instance, would fall under the trademark protection.
A trade secret protects ideas related to the know-how and anything that presents an advantage to the user over the competitors. For example, the formula for Fanta is considered a trade secret.
The origin of intellectual property law
While intellectual property may appear as something that has been put forth relatively recently, its origin is found in the Constitution (Article 1, Section 8 Clause 8) It states that Congress shall have the power “to promote the Progress of Science and useful Arts, by securing for limited Times to Authors and Investigators the exclusive Right to their respective Writings and Discoveries.”
Hot Topics of intellectual propterty include:
- Intellectual Proptety and the Internet
- Copyright
- Trademark
- Patent
- Trade Secret
If you are an author or an inventor and your intellectual property has been wrongfully used, reproduced or sold by others, you may be in the position to be granted a temporary restraining order or a preliminary or permanent injunction to stop further infringement.
If you have any questions regarding intellectual property law, how to protect your work or how to tackle copyright infringement, contact one of our intellectual property lawyers today.
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