There are four main types of intellectual property that may apply to your products:
- Patent
- Trademark
- Copyright
- Trade Secret
This will be very important to think about as your create and design your product. If done early in your product life-cycle, it will greatly improve the value of your business.
PATENTS
A patent is a grant of property right of an inventor’s invention for a period of time, typically 20 years. The rights provided by the patent allows the owner “the right to exclude others from making, using, offering for sale, or selling” the invention in the United States or “importing” the invention into the United States. See 35 USC § 154. Once a patent is granted, the inventor may assert their rights against others.
There are three main types of patents:
- Utility patents
- Design Patents
- Plant Patents
TRADEMARKS
A trademark is generally a word, phrase, symbol, or design, or a combination thereof, that
identifies and distinguishes the source of the goods of one party from others. A service mark is similar to a trademark, except the mark identifies and distinguishes the source of a service. There are certain rights a trademark owner has at the point of using their mark in commerce but may obtain stronger rights through registration at the United States Patent and Trademark Office.
COPYRIGHTS
Copyright protects original works of authorship including literary, dramatic, musical, and artistic works, such as poetry, novels, movies, songs, computer software, and architecture. Copyright does not protect facts, ideas, systems, or methods of operation, although it may protect the way these things are expressed. Similar to Trademarks, work is protected the moment it is created and fixed in a tangible form that it is perceptible either directly or with the aid of a machine or device. Stronger rights can be obtained through registration with the Copyright Office.
TRADE SECRETS
Trade secrets include formulas, practices, processes, designs, instruments, patterns, or compilations of information that is not generally known or readily ascertainable by others. A trade secret owner will have rights as long as they take reasonable measures to keep the trade secret a secret.