WHAT IS INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY?

Intellectual property includes all creative works, inventions, and properties that can be protected by copyrights, trademarks, patents, and/or trade secret laws.

Examples of intellectual property include:

• Literary Works
• Designs
• Logos
• Product Names
• Domain Names
• Product Ingredients
• Confidential Commercial Processes, Methods, etc.
• Business Plans
• Artwork
• Symbols
• Branding
• Inventions
• Recipes
• Engineering Information
• Software

All forms of intellectual property (IP) are protected by law. If you believe your IP rights have been violated by another individual, entity, or brand, reach out to Potts Law Firm right away to learn how our intellectual property attorneys can help.

THE FOUR TYPES OF INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY PROTECTIONS

Though there are countless examples of intellectual property (IP), these are generally protected by one or more of the following types of IP protections:

• Copyrights: Copyrights protect expressions, rather than ideas, concepts, processes, methods, systems, or discoveries. They are used to protect works of authorship, such as books, artwork, musical compositions, blogs, movies, plays, computer programs, sound recordings, and architectural works, such as architectural designs. Copyrights can also be used to protect other creative works, such as slogans, business symbols and designs, lettering, coloring, titles, names, and product ingredients or contents.
• Trademarks: Trademarks are used to protect words, phrases, designs, and symbols used to identify an individual or business’s goods and services. This includes things like slogans, product names, brand names, and logos used in connection with goods and services. A trademark allows you to control how a particular phrase, name, or logo is used regarding your specific goods and services. This helps guard against counterfeit products, goods, and services, as well as fraud.
• Patents: Patents are granted by the government and used to protect inventions. Most patents last either 14 or 20 years, though there are certain exceptions. To receive a patent, you must disclose various details of an invention to the public, as well as meet the criteria for obtaining a patent. These criteria include proving that your invention involves an idea that is new, useful, and not obvious. The invention/idea must also meet relevant requirements to be considered “patentable.”
• Trade Secrets: Trade secrets are confidential business information, such as business plans, methods, processes, procedures, budgets, and other information. Not all business secrets are considered “trade secrets,” however. To be considered a trade secret, the information must be something not generally known to the public, and it must provide some economic benefit to the entity that holds the information by not being known by another party.

EXAMPLES OF INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY RIGHTS VIOLATIONS

Any time someone violates the protections put forth by a trademark, copyright, or patent, they have violated the intellectual property (IP) rights of the trademark, copyright, or patent holder.

Examples of IP rights violations include:

• Plagiarizing written works
• Counterfeiting products
• Stealing artwork and implying authorship
• Unauthorized replication of products or inventions
• Copying creative works, such as movies, song lyrics, sound recordings, etc.
• Manufacturing goods meant to imitate another entity’s products
• Making, using, selling, or offering to sell a patented product or design without consent
• Exploiting someone’s name, likeness, or other recognizable features in commercial operations
• Unauthorized use of a trademark

At Potts Law Firm, we represent clients who have suffered economic harm and other losses due to intellectual property rights violations. We can assist you in seeking fair compensation for your losses. Reach out to our firm today to speak to an experienced and compassionate intellectual property lawyer.