What Is A Patent

PATENT The term patent usually refers to a right granted to anyone who invents or discovers any new and useful process, machine, article of manufacture, or composition of matter, or any new and useful improvement thereof. The additional qualification utility patent is used in the United States to distinguish it from other types of patents (e.g. design patents) but should not be confused with utility models granted by other countries. Examples of particular species of patents for inventions include biological patents, patents, business method patents, chemical patents and software patents. Some other types of intellectual property rights are referred to as patents in some jurisdictions: industrial design rights are called design patents in some jurisdictions (they protect the visual design of objects that are not purely utilitarian), plant breeders’ rights are sometimes called plant patents, and utility models or Gebrauchsmuter are sometimes called petty patents or innovation patents. This article relates primarily to the patent for an invention, although so-called petty patents and utility models may also be granted for inventions. Certain grants made by the monarch in pursuance of the royal prerogative were sometimes called letters patent, which was a government notice to the public of a grant of an exclusive right to ownership and possession. These were often grants of a patent-like monopoly and predate the modern origins of the patent system. For other uses of the term patent see Land patents, which were land grants by early state governments in the USA. This reflects the original meaning of letters patent that had a broader scope than current usage.

There are three types of patents: 1) Utility patents may be granted to anyone who invents or discovers any new and useful process, machine, article of manufacture, or composition of matter, or any new and useful improvement thereof; 2) Design patents may be granted to anyone who invents a new, original, and ornamental design for an article of manufacture; and 3) Plant patents may be granted to anyone who invents or discovers and asexually reproduces any distinct and new variety of plant.

What is a Copyright? Fundamentally, copyright is a law that gives you ownership over the things you create. Be it a painting, a photograph, a poem or a novel, if you created it, you own it and it’s the copyright law itself that assures that ownership. The ownership that copyright law grants comes with several rights that you, as the owner, have exclusively. Those rights include: • • • • •

The right to reproduce the work to prepare derivative works to distribute copies to perform the work and to display the work publicly

These are your rights and your rights alone. Unless you willingly give them up (EX: A Creative Commons License), no one can violate them legally. This means that, unless you say otherwise, no one can perform a piece written by you or make copies of it, even with attribution, unless you give the OK. Inversely, if you’re looking for material to use or reuse, you should not do any of these things without either asking permission or confirming that the work is in the public domain, which means that the copyright has expired and all of the above rights have been forfeited. Simply put, if the work isn’t in the public domain and you don’t have permission to use a piece, you put yourself in risk of legal action, regardless of your intentions. Because, beyond fair use and parody (issues for later essays), the holder of a copyrighted piece has near carte blanche to do what they want with their work. It’s no different than owning a car, a house or a pen. One can lend it out to a friend, sell it, modify it or even destroy it. In short, if you own the copyright to something, you have the same rights that you do with anything else and, in some instances, even more. After all, you did create it. It only makes sense that you would own the fruits of your labor. That’s what copyright law is all about. Moral Rights Though moral rights are not currently recognized in the United States, they’re a major element of European copyright law and are becoming increasingly important as the Web becomes more globalized. Moral rights are a set of rights that are separate from the author’s copyright on a piece. These rights are generally considered inalienable, which means that they can not be given away or sold, and thus persist even if the copyright to a work is completely sold. As defined by the Berne Convention, the moral rights of an author are as follows:

• • •

The right to claim authorship of the work The right to object to any distortion, mutilation or modification of the work The right to object to any derogatory action that may damage the authors honor or reputation

It is easy to see how moral rights can be useful in fighting plagiarism since such an act is not only a violation of the author’s copyright, if he or she holds it, but also the moral rights. It may also be useful in cases where the copyright of a work has been lost, either sold or given away, but plagiarism continues.

TRADEMARK A trademark or trade mark is a distinctive sign or indicator used by an individual, business organization, or other legal entity to identify that the products or services to consumers with which the trademark appears originate from a unique source, and to distinguish its products or services from those of other entities. A trademark is designated by the following symbols: • • •

(for an unregistered trademark, that is, a mark used to promote or brand goods); (for an unregistered service mark, that is, a mark used to promote or brand services); and (for a registered trademark).

A trademark is a type of intellectual property, and typically a name, word, phrase, logo, symbol, design, image, or a combination of these elements. There is also a range of nonconvential trademarks comprising marks which do not fall into these standard categories. The owner of a registered trademark may commence legal proceedings for trademark infringement to prevent unauthorized use of that trademark. However, registration is not required. The owner of a common law trademark may also file suit, but an unregistered mark may be protectable only within the geographical area within which it has been used or in geographical areas into which it may be reasonably expected to expand. The term trademark is also used informally to refer to any distinguishing attribute by which an individual is readily identified, such as the well known characteristics of celebrities. When a trademark is used in relation to services rather than products, it may sometimes be called a service mark, particularly in the United States.

What Is a Patent? A patent for an invention is the grant of a property right to the inventor, issued by the Patent and Trademark Office. The term of a new patent is 20 years from the date on which the application for the patent was filed in the United States or, in special cases, from the date an earlier related application was filed, subject to the payment of maintenance fees. US patent grants are effective only within the US, US territories, and US possessions. The right conferred by the patent grant is, in the language of the statute and of the grant itself, “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. What is granted is not the right to make, use, offer for sale, sell or import, but the right to exclude others from making, using, offering for sale, selling or importing the invention. What Is a Trademark or Servicemark? A trademark is a word, name, symbol or device which is used in trade with goods to indicate the source of the goods and to distinguish them from the goods of others. A servicemark is the same as a trademark except that it identifies and distinguishes the source of a service rather than a product. The terms "trademark" and "mark" are commonly used to refer to both trademarks and servicemarks. Trademark rights may be used to prevent others from using a confusingly similar mark, but not to prevent others from making the same goods or from selling the same goods or services under a clearly different mark. Trademarks which are used in interstate or foreign commerce may be registered with the Patent and Trademark Office. The registration procedure for trademarks and general information concerning trademarks is described in a separate pamphlet entitled "Basic Facts about Trademarks". What Is a Copyright? 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. The 1976 Copyright Act generally gives the owner of copyright the exclusive right to reproduce the copyrighted work, to prepare derivative works, to distribute copies or phonorecords of the copyrighted work, to perform the copyrighted work publicly, or to display the copyrighted work publicly. The copyright protects the form of expression rather than the subject matter of the writing. For example, a description of a machine could be copyrighted, but this would only prevent others from copying the description; it would not prevent others from writing a description of their own or from making and using the machine. Copyrights are registered by the Copyright Office of the Library of Congress.

What Is the Difference Between a Copyright and a Trademark?

COPYRIGHTS

TRADEMARKS

PATENTS

A copyright protects the way you express certain ideas; your creative content, so to speak.

A trademark protects a specific name, slogan or logo associated with products or services that you’re selling.

A patent for an invention grants a property right to the inventor that will prevent anyone else from making, using, or selling an invention.

A copyright would protect your actual content.

A trademark is a marketing tool.

Since a patent is considered "property," it may be bought, sold, mortgaged, or licensed by the owner.

With a copyright, you’re basically protected from the moment you create your copyright-protected work. Formal registration guarantees you legal rights in court, but is not required to establish copyright protection; you get that protection from the moment you create the content.

A trademark is a formal recognition of a mark that you intend to use or already use to promote a product or service. You don’t have trademark protection until you register your trademark, so registering a trademark is much more important than registering a copyright for the purpose of obtaining protection.

A patent lasts for a limited amount of time, usually 20 years from the date the application was filed, and is only effective in the country in which it was filed.

They are governed by different offices and even different sections of law.

They are governed by different offices and even different sections of law.

They are governed by different offices and even different sections of law.

Copyrights preclude short phrases, names or symbols. You may not be able to copyright something that you can trademark.

Trademarks deal almost exclusively with this content. trademark law is quite specific, and you can’t trademark a phrase, for example, just because it’s witty and clever; you can get trademark protection for such a phrase only if it’s used to identify your products or services.

What is the difference between a copyright and a trademark? Copyrights and trademarks both offer formal legal protections for intellectual properties, but they don’t protect the same things. Copyrights and trademarks protect different types of creations. A copyright protects the way you express certain ideas; your creative content, so to speak. A trademark protects a specific name, slogan or logo associated with products or services that you’re selling. A trademark is a marketing tool, essentially, while a copyright would protect your actual content. Trademark and copyright registration work differently. With a copyright, you’re basically protected from the moment you create your copyright-protected work. Formal registration guarantees you legal rights in court, but is not required to establish copyright protection; you get that protection from the moment you create the content. A trademark is a formal recognition of a mark that you intend to use or already use to promote a product or service. You don’t have trademark protection until you register your trademark, so registering a trademark is much more important than registering a copyright for the purpose of obtaining protection. Different offices govern copyrights and trademarks. Trademarks fall under the United States Patent and Trademark Office, or USPTO. Copyrights fall under the United States Copyright Office. Because copyrights and trademarks are entirely different things, they’re governed by different offices and even different sections of law. However, both copyrights and trademarks fall under the category of intellectual property, and an intellectual property lawyer may be able to advise you about both copyright and trademark law and registration. Copyrights and trademarks work similarly in some ways. Copyrights protect the expression you use to convey an idea; not the idea or content itself. A copyright protects the specific manner in which you write or express an idea, but someone else can express the same thought or idea in a different way and not be in violation of copyright. A trademark functions similarly in that it protects your specific name, slogan or logo associated with goods or services. Someone else can use different trademarked names, slogans or logos to market similar goods or services. These protections cover only the exact specifics in your scenarios; they don’t prevent other people from marketing similar goods or conveying the same idea in a different manner.

You may be able to trademark something you can’t copyright. Copyrights preclude short phrases, names or symbols, whereas trademarks deal almost exclusively with this content. You may not be able to copyright something that you can trademark. If you’re using names, phrases or symbols for marketing purposes, or to identify your goods and services and differentiate them from someone else’s goods and services, you may be eligible for trademark protection. However, trademark law is quite specific, and you can’t trademark a phrase, for example, just because it’s witty and clever; you can get trademark protection for such a phrase only if it’s used to identify your products or services.

A copyright protects original works that fall under the categories of literature, dramatic, musical, artistic, and intellectual. These works may be published or unpublished, and the Copyright Act of 1976 gives the owner exclusive rights to reproduce their work in any medium. A copyright protects a form of expression, but not the subject matter of the work. For example, if someone wrote an article about a new car on the market, the text would be copyrighted, preventing someone else from using that particular material. However, a copyright does not prevent others from writing their own original article about this new car, or from using or making the car themselves. A trademark is used to protect a word, symbol, device or name that is used for the purpose of trading goods. The trademark indicates the source of goods and distinguishes them from the goods of others. A trademark may also be used to prevent others from using a mark that might be confused with another; trademarks, however, do not prevent other people or businesses from producing the same product or services under a different mark. Trademarks can be registered with the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). The filing fee is more substantial than it is for a copyright, and it usually takes a longer time to obtain registration, since the Patent and Trademark Office conducts a substantive review of any potentially conflicting marks, or marks that might be confused with others. A patent for an invention grants a property right to the inventor that will prevent anyone else from making, using, or selling an invention. A patent lasts for a limited amount of time, usually 20 years from the date the application was filed, and is only effective in the country in which it was filed. The application for a patent must include a detailed description of how the invention works. Since a patent is considered "property," it may be bought, sold, mortgaged, or licensed by the owner.