Learn the types of intellectual property and how the rights of their creators can be protected.
Definition and Examples of Intellectual Property
Intellectual property, also known as “IP,” is an overall term for ownership of and rights to creative works. It includes inventions; literary and artistic works; designs; and symbols, names, and images used in commerce and business. Intellectual property owners have specific exclusive rights to their creations. For example, creators of literary works have the right to:
Reproduce a creative workAdapt it or create other works from itDistribute copies of the work (sell it)Display the work publiclyPerform the work publicly
Types of Intellectual Property
Intellectual property laws in the U.S. and internationally set up the processes to grant rights to the originator of a work or creation. The three main protections are copyrights, trademarks, and patents. Each type may be registered with a specific federal agency and lasts for a specific time period.
Copyrights
Copyrights are used to register original works of authorship, including literary, dramatic, musical, and artistic works. The U.S. Copyright Office registers copyrights for the owner’s life plus 70 years, with additional timelines for joint, anonymous, and pseudonymous works.
Trademarks
Trademarks and service marks are used to register names, symbols, words, devices, or combinations to identify and separate the goods or services of a business from those of others. The U.S. Trademark and Patent Office registers these marks, and the registration continues indefinitely, as long as the design remains unique and distinctive and the trademark owner regularly files paperwork required to show the trademark is in use.
Patents
Patents are used to register inventions and the discovery of new and useful processes, machines, manufactured products, and compositions of matter. Patent registration is handled by a part of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office that’s separate from trademarks. Patent protection lasts for 20 years. Some intellectual property can’t be registered to be protected. For example:
A book title or domain name can’t be copyrighted.An idea or suggestion or something that isn’t new can’t be patented.A generic word (a common name, like “email”) can’t get trademark protection.
Check with the registration agency before you attempt to register a specific item of intellectual property to be certain you can register it.
International Registration for Intellectual Property
Businesses that operate in several countries may register their IPs internationally. Copyright protection exists in many countries, but check on treaties and conventions for specific countries through the World Intellectual Property Organization. Patents and trademarks must be filed separately in each country, but several treaties allow you to file patents in multiple countries. The Patent Cooperation Treaty covers patents, and the Madrid Protocol covers trademarks.
Overview of Intellectual Property Protection
Trade Secrets
Trade secrets are confidential information owned exclusively by someone that can be sold or licensed. To qualify for protection, the information must be commercially valuable and the owner must keep it confidential, including requiring key people to sign confidentiality agreements. Some examples of trade secrets are:
Technical information, like manufacturing processes, and computer program designs and drawingsFinancial information, formulas, recipes, and computer programming source codesCommercial information, such as supplier and customer lists, and advertising strategies
Some trade secrets can be registered. For example, a company’s secret recipe for a product can be copyrighted. Registering a trade secret makes it public, but provides protection against use or sale by others.
Digital Assets
Digital assets like phone apps, your social media site, computer programs, and your business website can be protected in the same way as other assets. Some of the digital assets eligible for IP protection include:
Computer programs and parts of those programs, including user manuals, HTML (as a literary work), source code, and video games may be copyrighted.Algorithms, software, and specific ways of implementing the features of an application may be patented.The content (authorship) of a website may be copyrighted. Content on a social media site may be copyrighted, including writing artwork, or photos, depending on the rules of the social media platform.The design or logo of a website may be trademarked.
