Intellectual Property Basics
Intellectual Property Basics
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An inventor gets paid after a product is licensed by receiving royalty payments from the licensee. Generally, manufactures and distributors who sell the licensed product must pay a percentage of the sale proceeds to the inventor. In a licensing agreement, the patent owner retains ownership but allows the third party to manufacture or distribute the goods for a fee.
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What should I do if someone steals my intellectual property? A. You may have a case against that person depending upon the situation. The first thing you should do is talk to a knowledgeable intellectual property law attorne... When discussing a project or idea with someone, how can I be sure they will not take the ideas? A. One way in which you can be sure that someone will not steal your original ideas is to have them sign a non-disclosure agreement. This will state that they have no intention of using your ideas or sharing the... Should I hire an intellectual property law attorney? A. If you feel that your ideas or original work has been stolen or you truly want to protect it – you should most likely hire an attorney who is knowledgeable in intellectual property law. The laws on this topic are very complex and an attorney...
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Guide to Intellectual Property
Intellectual property refers to “intangible assets” such as inventions and creations that are commercial or artistic in nature and that are the product of the ingenuity or imagination of an individual. Intellectual property rights are rights given exclusively to the intellectual property owner.
Trade Secrets
Trade Secrets
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In the U.S., trade secrets are defined as any business information which an employer or business intends to keep secret, without regard to whether the agreement is actually eligible for a patent or copyright. To qualify as a trade secret, the information must have specific economic value to the business owner such that the business would suffer if the information because public.
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Protecting Confidential Product Information
Whether an inventor is going for a patent, a trademark, a copyright or seeking to keep a trade secret, confidentiality is paramount to success. A crucial element of trade secrets is that they are not generally known to the public. Additionally, the business holding the trade secret must make a reasonable effort to maintain the confidentiality and secrecy of the information.
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Overview of the Patent Process
We are often asked questions by our clients about how the patent filing process works, what steps are invlolved, how much it costs, etc. In an effort to shed some light on the process, we've come up with a diagram outlining the patent...
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Trademark law grants the owner of a particular mark the exclusive right to use a mark to differentiate the goods or serviced provided by an individual or business from those of another. A trademark is commonly used to protect a particular word, phrase, logo, design, sound or a combination of these,
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Cyber law encompasses the legal issues that are related to the use of inter-networked information technology. Cyber law is a body of law that governs many areas of law and regulation including intellectual property, privacy, freedom of expression and jurisdiction. Cyber law is a difficult and broad range of law to understand. A person using the internet in the United States could be subject to the cyber laws not only in the United States but also in other countries. This all depends on what the person in the United States is doing on the internet in relation to other countries.
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If the web site owns the copyright to the work posted on its site, then the web site owner can enforce that right in court against anyone who copies its work without permission...
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Invention Financing And Joint Ownership
Getting an invention licensed or patented can often be a very expensive endeavor. To protect the intellectual property of the product being licensed, it is strongly recommended that individuals seek a patent for their invention before going through the licensing process. For small businesses with fewer than 500 employees, or for individual inventors, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office will give a 50% discount on the fees associated with a patent application.
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Warranties And Proprietary Rights
Warranties in intellectual property law are often thought of as a way that licensees and licensors allocate the risks associated with the transaction. One party making representations and warranties about a certain element will have an impact on the liability gained or released by each party to the transaction. In many cases, a licensee should reconsider entering into a licensing agreement if the licensor refuses to may any protective representations and warranties to the licensee.