Blog Post One
I am excited to start this blog and to share some of the things that I think you should know about Intellectual Property so that you can make more informed decisions for you and your business. Of course, none of these remarks in this blog are others are intended to serve as legal advice or substitute for the advice of counsel. For specific questions concerning your intellectual property needs, I encourage you to visit with an experienced IP attorney.
Many a client contacts me in need of assistance with their intellectual property. Many a client say “Nick, I need to get a patent, or “Nick, I need to copyright this name.” After discussing the client’s needs, I discover that the requested patent was actually for a song and the copyright for the name should actually be protected by a trademark.
Intellectual property includes several categories of rights. Different attorneys will categorize these rights differently but I frequently categorize those rights as:
Patents;
Trademarks;
Copyrights;
Trade Secrets;
Various contracts.
Interestingly, certain intellectual property assets may be subject to two or more forms of IP rights, and often, those IP rights may not be mutually exclusive. For example, the product packaging of a new detergent or food product might be subject to design patent and trade dress protection. In a subsequent blog post, we will discuss the different types of patents. But for now, be aware that IP owners can use a combination of these IP rights to protect their IP assets.
At a high level, patents protect inventions; trademarks protect source identifiers (e.g., names, logos and taglines); copyrights protect works of art; trade secrets protect….secrets; and contracts define various relationships between two or more parties, often involving other intellectual property.
The differences in similarities of these IP rights require far more attention than this specific blog post will allow. Stay tuned for future posts to explore and juxtapose the various IP rights.
