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Copyrighted works can be used by entities other than the creator in limited forms. U.S. copyright laws grant “fair use” of a copyrighted work for specific situations, including criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, or research. As long as the user...

The website, https://www.copyright.gov managed by the United States Copyright Office, provides a wealth of information about copyrights, how to obtain one, and how the protections work. Difference from patents and trademarks Copyrights are different from patents and...

Modern copyrights were established by the Copyright Act of 1976, which outlines what type of properties can be protected and how those protections work. It is common to think of copyrights pertaining to books and songs, yet copyrights cover many more types of...

In order for patent rights to be enforceable, the patent owner must diligently keep up with patent maintenance fees. Failing to pay scheduled fees or establishing a history of ignoring infringements can cause a patent to expire. Monitoring the market Patent owners are...

The process of applying for and being granted a patent is governed by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). The initial steps outlined by the USPTO state that the applicant must first conduct research to determine if their invention qualifies for a...

Utility patents Utility patents refers to inventions or discovery of new and useful process, machines (engine, turbine, computer), articles of manufacture (physical products such as a cup, broom, or ladder), or composition of matter (mixture of substances,...

A patent is a form of protection granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) to inventors. A common misconception about patents is that they grant an inventor exclusive rights to make, use, and sell their invention. While the impact of patent...

The first step in understanding how to protect your intellectual property is to understand what type of property it is. Specific IP, such as inventions and trademarks, can be registered with an official United States federal agency. Other IP, such as trade secrets,...

In the United States, there are four main types of intellectual property. Governance ranges from federal law to state law, and in some cases, both apply. Patents Patents are limited-time protections granted by the federal government to inventors. In exchange for...

The Legal Information Institute at the Cornell Law School defines intellectual property as “any product of the human intellect that the law protects from unauthorized use by others…and is traditionally comprised of four categories: patent, copyright, trademark, and...