NKWS Guide To Starting a Business -- Legal -- Intelectual Property
Intellectual Property
One of the greatest concerns of a business startup person is to protect his/her right to intellectual property. Intellectual Property is any property that is a direct result from an individual's creative process (intellect). Intellectual Property Laws confer upon the individual exclusive rights related to the use and commercialization of a particular idea. The most common forms of Intellectual Property are:
- COPYRIGHT: Exclusive right granted to the author or originator of literacy or artistic production. Work protected by copyright include: Books, records, films, artworks, architectural plans, menus, music vides, product packing, and computer software. The author is given the right to control reproduction or adaptation of such works for a specific period of time (usually the lifetime of the author, plus 70 years)
- PATENTS: Gives the inventor the exclusive right to make, use, and sell an invention for a period of 20 years from the date of filling the application for a patent. In order to gain a patent, the invention has to be considered genuine, innovative, and useful according to rules established by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.
- TRADEMARKS: Trademark is a distinctive sign, mark, motto, device, or emblem that is stamped, printed, or otherwise affixed by a manufacturer to the goods it produces (used as a way to identify the product in the market and create branding recognition). It serves to distinguish one business from another in the same industry.
- TRADE SECRETS: Also known as "Confidential Information". It has to do with confidential (although legal) practices of a business, including the knowledge of a specific process that gives a business an advantage over competitors who do not know the information or process. It includes things such as customer lists, pricing information, marketing techniques, production techniques, and/or anything that makes your business unique. Patents, Trademarks, and Trade Secrets are part of a category of Intellectual Property called "Industrial Property".
Like other forms of property, Intellectual Property can be transferred or licensed according to the will of its owner. In order to find out more about Intellectual Property and how to receive legal protection for your own business, go to the United States Patent and Trademark Office website (http://www.uspto.gov/main/patents.htm).
