How to Protect your Intellectual Property

Your ideas are your biggest asset, and if you have invested your time and effort into creating something truly unique, you must protect it. Unfortunately, while the age of the internet and technological advancements have made us truly aware of the creativity of the human race, there is a great deal of forgery and theft taking its roots in society too. Therefore, your intellectual property is at risk, especially if it helps you gain economically.

There are many ways to protect your intellectual property, and the type of property is what determines it. To find out which one best matches your needs, you must look at the four most prevalent ways to protect intellectual property.

We have created a list of them for you to understand.

Copyright

If your intellectual property has anything to do with a physical manifestation on a piece of canvas, paper, or anything artistic enough to the human eyes and ears like music and video recordings, you must get a copyright. A copyright is a form of intellectual property protection that secures the creator the exclusive right to reproduce, distribute, perform, or display their work. This means that no one can copy or reproduce the work without the copyright holder’s permission. Copyright infringement is a crime punishable by law.

Generally, your creative work is automatically protected by copyright law when created and fixed in a tangible medium. You can secure your copyright either by placing a copyright notice on all copies of the work or by registering your copyright. The latter makes it easy to prove in court if someone illegally copies your work. The best thing about copyrights is that they stay in place throughout your entire life, plus a further 70 years.

In the United States, the U.S. Copyrights Office takes care of copyright registrations, or you can register your copyright from your own country’s copyright registration body.

Trademarks

Trademark protection applies to a word, logo, phrase, or a combination of those associated with goods or services. In general, trademarks uniquely identify a company, a brand, or a product so people can easily differentiate goods and/or services offered in the market.

Similar to that of copyrights, trademarks are not necessarily to be registered. However, if an infringement does happen, you may need the registration to prove that you were the first to use the trademark to enforce your trademark in court. The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) is the official government body that issues nationwide trademark protection.

When applying for trademark registration, you need to state the class or category of business in which the mark is being used. Upon registration, you receive the exclusive rights to use the trademark in that specific class or category. To maintain a registered trademark, you will have to submit proof of use of the mark every ten years.

Patents

A patent protects inventions ranging from new machines, new processes/methods, or new materials to new combinations or modifications to existing patents. These types of patents are known as utility patents. So, even if you are a computer programmer who has come up with their own set of unique algorithms or codes, you may register your newfound asset as a patent. Other patents include a design patent demonstrating a unique design and plant patents where breeders create new plant varieties.

The government grants patents under the United States Patent Act to provide financial incentives to inventors. If you have an invention that can be reproduced, you can apply for a patent with the USPTO. To be awarded a patent, you need to disclose the invention in a form that enables others to reproduce it. In addition, your invention should be new, useful, and able to reduce the risks of human or machine error.

Plant patents are protected for 20 years from the patent application date. However, utility and design patents are protected for 20 years from the date of issue. Regardless of the type of patent, once the patent expires, the invention goes into the public domain, and anyone can make use of it.

Trade Secrets

A trade secret is confidential business information that provides an organization with a competitive edge in the market. Unlike copyrights, trademarks, and patents, trade secrets do not need to be registered with the government. Trade secrets can include anything from the formula for a new product to the customer list of a rival company.

The defining characteristic of a trade secret is that the owner takes reasonable steps to keep the information confidential. This means that employees are typically required to sign non-disclosure agreements, and the information is not generally known to the public.

To enforce its trade secrets in court, the owner must prove that the information was confidential and took reasonable steps to protect it from being stolen or revealed. Economic espionage laws make it illegal to steal trade secrets.

Summary

Deciding the best type of protection for your intellectual property can be confusing and complex, especially in highly technical areas like computer algorithms. For example, music, books, screenplays, or magazine articles fall under copyright protection. Whereas, you may want to trademark and copyright a company logo because of its connection with products/services and its aesthetic aspect. The subject of intellectual property can be very vast. Laws vary between countries, and the definition of what falls under intellectual property differs even within the United States.

The best way to protect your intellectual property is to become familiar with the different protection types and seek professional legal advice when needed. If you’re not sure where to start, we can help you decide the best way to protect your intellectual property rights.