As defined by Article 2, section (viii), of the Convention Establishing the World Intellectual Property Organization, done at Stockholm, July 14, 1967, “intellectual property shall include the rights relating to:  literary, artistic and scientific works, performances of performing artists, phonograms, and broadcasts, inventions in all fields of human endeavor, scientific discoveries, industrial designs, trademarks, service marks, and commercial names and designations, protection against unfair competition, and other rights resulting from intellectual activity in the industrial scientific, literary or artistic fields.”  

A patent for an invention is the grant of a property right to the inventor, issued by the United States Patent and Trademark Office.  The right conferred by the patent grant “the right to exclude others from making, using, offering for sale, or selling” the invention in the United States or “importing” the invention into the United States for a limited time in exchange for public disclosure of the invention when the patent is granted.  Patents are territorial in that patent protection must be applied for in each country where protection is sought.

A trademark protects words, names, symbols, sounds, or colors that distinguish goods and services from those manufactured or sold by others and indicate that source of the goods.  Trademarks, unlike patents, can be renewed forever as long as they are being used in commerce.  Registration of a trademark is not required in the U.S., although there are benefits to obtaining a Federal trademark registration through the USPTO.  Trademarks are territorial; unlike the United States, most countries require registration of trademark rights.

A copyright is a form of protection provided to the authors of “original works of authorship”  including literary, dramatic, musical, artistic, and certain other intellectual works, both published and unpublished.  A copyright protects the form of expression rather than the subject matter of the writing.  The U.S.  Copyright Office handles copyright registrations.  Owners of copyrighted works seeking protection in other countries should first determine the extent of protection available to works of foreign authors in that country.

Generally, a trade secret can include a formula, pattern, compilation, program, device, method, technique or process that is used in one’s business, and has independent economic value that provides an advantage over competition who are not aware of it or use it.  Under most circumstances, a trade secret is lost once it is independently discovered.

Intellectual Property