Intellectual property is a pretty important legal field that has an impact on many aspects of your life. If you have any intention of owning your own brand, creating your own products, inventing anything, or even if you are just a normal consumer of products, then learning about the different forms of intellectual property can be quite helpful. To help you get started, here are the three main types of intellectual property:
What material does a copyright cover?
Copyrights are probably the type of intellectual property that you have heard the most about, since copyright protection is a rather popular topic nowadays. The basic idea is that a copyright allows you to protect a creative work from being reproduced or sold. Having a copyright allows you to control who can and cannot copy and sell your work, which allows you to have some degree of control over how much money you make from your product.
Many different materials are covered, including movies, books, plays, video games, songs, and television shows. However, it's important to note that another work needs to have copied your copyrighted work if you want to take it to court. If there are just some similarities (such as two movies that have very similar characters and stories), then your lawsuit might not be very successful.
What material does a patent cover?
While a copyright covers creative materials, a patent protects the more technological and industrial side of things. If you design some revolutionary new process or creation, then a patent can help you secure exclusive rights to that invention. This can allow you to sell your invention or use it for your own benefit until the patent runs out. Patents are also one of the hardest types of intellectual property to acquire because your invention will need to satisfy a long list of requirements in order to qualify for patent acquisition.
What material does a trademark cover?
Finally, trademarks cover specific concepts that relate to branding and identification of companies. Words, logos, shapes, and images can be trademarks, which makes the field pretty difficult to pin down. This is made even murkier by the fact that you don't really need to apply for a trademark in some cases. Instead, simply using your logo for a long period of time will allow you to have some claim to that logo as a trademark by default. If another company then infringes on your trademark, you will have the ability to take them to court, even though you never officially purchased the rights to your trademark.
Share26 May 2016
Although I am far from perfect, I have focused on abiding by the local laws for the vast majority of my life. Unfortunately, about five years ago, I realized that I was being accused of a crime that I didn't commit. I thought about letting the trial run its course, but then I realized that fighting would be important to ensure my future. I teamed up with a great lawyer, and things became much easier overnight. My legal counsel told me what to do and what to avoid, and he was able to prove the facts in a court of law. This blog is all about choosing to fight charges.