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There are a wide variety of things you may want to protect. You may have invented a new gadget, plant, design or method to solve some problem you have had and want to obtain patent protection. You may want to create, or have already created, a business and want to prevent others from using a similar or identical mark to prevent others from copying it to siphon off business from you. You may have a literary or graphic expression, including books, art, music or software that you wish to protect from others copying without your permission. Or, you may have a trade secret you desire to protect.
Each of these falls into a category that affords you legal protection within in the laws of the United States of America and many other countries of the world. This category is called Intellectual Property Law. This area of law includes all the legal rights of patents, trademarks, copyrights and trade secrets and many related business and intellectual property issues.
The following is a very brief description of these areas, with links to more detailed discussions of each area.
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As the inventor or creator of new work, you can utilize the legal system to maintain yourself as the exclusive source for your invention. You can make money in your own business or by receiving royalties through licensing or selling the invention to others. All you need to do is to obtain the legal rights to your invention and use those rights to prevent others from making, selling or using your invention. A patent can give you the legal protection you need to secure the rights to your invention.
Without patent protection, you have no legal rights to your invention and rival companies can produce, market, sell and use your invention without having to pay you a penny. With the protection of a patent, no one is legally able to make, sell or use your invention without your permission. |
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Trademarks and service marks are words, designs, slogans or symbols that are used to identify the products or services of one business entity and distinguish then from products and services of others.
You can use trademark protection to prevent others from copying your mark in an attempt to lure customers into purchasing their products or services, thinking it is yours. The rights in a mark can be used to maintain yourself as the exclusive source of a product or service. The rights to a mark are a business asset that can be sold or licensed to others. |
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Copyright protection is intended to promote creativity by protecting original works of literacy, and artistic or graphic expressions; such as books, paintings, photographs, music, records, plays, movies, software and architectural drawings. Copyright, however, protects only the particular form of expression, not the idea that is the subject of the expression. |
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| While patent law grants an inventor a limited monopoly in exchange for fully disclosing the invention, trade secret law provides protection but only to the extent it is kept secret. The advantage of trade secret protection is that it provides protection for a broader range of subject matter than either patent or copyright law. Trade secret protection can theoretically last indefinitely so long as the proper steps are taken along the way. Many states, including Wisconsin, have adopted the Uniform Trade Secrets Act. |
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