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"LAWCHEK® Intellectual Property"
This is not a substitute for legal advice. An attorney must be consulted. "This
work is protected under the copyright laws of the United States. No
reproduction, use, or disclosure of this work shall be |
What is intellectual property? |
Intellectual
property ("IP") is a form of intangible asset that can be
owned, transferred and licensed. IP
generally includes patents (utility, design, and plant patents),
trademarks, copyrights and trade secrets, as well as certain additional
acts labeled "unfair competition."
Most
forms of intellectual property can be considered as a contract between
the government and creators. A
basic underlying public policy behind intellectual property protection
is to promote creativity for a better society.
The U.S. Government provides limited protection to creators in
exchange for a full disclosure and subsequent use of the creations. The intellectual property protection law is designed to
balance the creator's economic reward and the benefits that society
receives. Different
categories of intellectual property protection cover different aspects
of a product or service. Thus,
it is possible to obtain patent, copyright, trademark, and trade secret
protection on the same item. For
example, Ford Motor Company may acquire various types of protection over
an automobile; utility
patents on the design and manufacture of particular components, such as
the brakes or engine design; design patents on the ornamental appearance
of the car body; trademarks for the marks "FORD" and
"MUSTANG"; copyright protection for advertisements and
literature for the car; and trade secret protection over any design or
marketing information which is not published or otherwise publicly
available. All of these
types of intellectual property coexist covering various aspects of the
single product. In
the U.S., most forms of intellectual property are governed under federal
law. The U.S. government
established the Patent and Trademark Office (PTO) under the Department
of Commerce for administrating issues relating to the granting of
patents and the registration of trademarks.
The U.S. Copyright Office is established under the Library of
Congress for administrating copyright registration issues.
Federal patent and copyright law may pre-empt similar state laws.
The U.S. federal courts have exclusive jurisdiction over patents
and copyrights and have non-exclusive federal question jurisdiction over
trademark-related issues. 28 U.S.C.
§ 1338. Trade
secret law and most unfair competition claims arise under state
statutory and common law. Intellectual
property protection has played a vital role in promoting technological
development. Because of the
intellectual property protection, individuals and corporations are more
willing to invest in research and development for new science and
technologies and in the marketing of new products. |
This is not a substitute for legal
advice. An
attorney must be consulted.
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