Intellectual Property Legal Center

Useful Intellectual Property Articles

Maintaining Control of Your Business Name All the hard work, time and money invested in a business can be for naught if you lose control of your business' name. Having someone else use your name can create confusion for your current and potential customers, and other legal problems. To protect your unique brand, start by trademarking your company's name as soon as possible. Read more How to do a Patent Search Learning how to do a patent search is the first step to patent an invention. You will need to find out if your invention will hold up to the patent requirements of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). Read more How Copyright Protects Your Intellectual Property Copyright is a type of legal protection provided to authors of original works by the federal government. Essentially, copyright law exists to reward creativity and give individuals incentive to innovate, while creating a foundation of resources for future innovators. The owners of copyrighted works have certain exclusive rights to their works, and can also authorize others to do certain things. Read more Protecting Your Brand With a Trademark Once you've selected a name and/or logo for your company, you can use a trademark or service mark to protect your business interests by regulating the use of your brand name. Both trademarks and service marks identify and distinguish anything that can be characterized by any combination of words, phrases, symbols, and designs; however, trademarks distinguish the source of goods while service marks refer to the source of services. Read more

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What is intellectual property? Intellectual property refers to the creations of a person's mind, and can be artistic or commercial. Creations can include works of music, literature, and art or discoveries, symbols and designs. Legal protections for intellectual property fall into the categories of copyrights, trademarks, patents, industrial design rights and trade secrets.

What can I patent? The patent statute awards patents to any person who "invents or discovers any new and useful process, machine, manufacture, or composition of matter, or any new and useful improvement thereof." The key is that it must be "useful". Also note that you can't patent something that's just an idea. You can only get a patent for an actual machine, manufacture, process or composition of matter.

Do I need to register my company's name as a trademark? Although it's recommended that you register your company's name as a trademark with the USPTO, it is not required. You may use the TM mark after your company name to show that you are willing to prosecute anyone who violates your mark. Without registering your mark, however, it may be more difficult to prove your claim to ownership if your mark is violated.