Intellectual Property 101: Trademarks, Copyrights, and Patents

Intellectual Property: The Three Pillars

Trademarks: Protecting Your Brand

A trademark protects words, phrases, symbols, or designs that identify your goods or services and distinguish them from others.

What Can Be Trademarked:

Business names, product names, slogans

Logos and designs

Sounds, colors, and even scents (in rare cases)

How to Get Protection:

Common law rights exist automatically when you use a mark in commerce (use the TM symbol)

Federal registration with the USPTO provides nationwide protection and the right to use the (R) symbol

Registration lasts 10 years, renewable indefinitely if you continue using the mark

What Cannot Be Trademarked: Generic terms, purely descriptive words (without secondary meaning), government symbols, immoral or scandalous marks

Copyrights: Protecting Creative Works

Copyright protects original works of authorship fixed in a tangible medium.

What's Protected: Books, articles, music, movies, software code, photographs, paintings, sculptures, architectural designs

Automatic Protection: Copyright exists the moment you create and fix a work — no registration required. But registration is needed to sue for infringement and to claim statutory damages.

Duration: Life of the author plus 70 years (works-for-hire: 95 years from publication or 120 years from creation)

Fair Use: Limited use without permission for criticism, commentary, news reporting, teaching, and research. Courts weigh: purpose, nature of the work, amount used, and market impact.

Patents: Protecting Inventions

A patent gives the inventor the exclusive right to make, use, and sell an invention for a limited time.

Types of Patents:

Utility Patents: New and useful processes, machines, manufactures, or compositions of matter (20 years)

Design Patents: New ornamental designs for manufactured articles (15 years)

Plant Patents: New plant varieties (20 years)

Requirements: The invention must be novel (new), non-obvious, and useful.

Cost: $5,000-$15,000+ for a utility patent application with attorney fees. Provisional applications cost less and hold your filing date for 12 months.

Trade Secrets

A trade secret is any information that derives value from being kept secret.

Not registered with any government agency

Protected as long as it remains secret

Examples: formulas (Coca-Cola), algorithms, customer lists, manufacturing processes

Protected by NDAs, employment agreements, and the Defend Trade Secrets Act

Disclaimer: IP law is complex and the stakes can be high. Consult an IP attorney for protection strategies tailored to your business.