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Patent, Copyright and Trademark - Intellectual Property Law for Businesses
Written by: Thomas M Dunlap
Reputation Level 9
Posted over 2 years ago. 0 helpful votes, 0 comments
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TrademarkTrademark (or servicemark) a name, slogan, brand or company logo by filing an application on the United States Patent and Trademark Office’s Principal Register. Trademarks can be renewed forever and provide the owner the absolute right to exclude others from the use of a “confusingly similar” name, logo or slogan within the same industry. When exploring this option, please beware of internet services with low prices that seem “too good to be true”. These search services are usually worthless because they will often file your mark, but because the filing was performed by non-attorney staff, the filing results in a USPTO “office action”. These services create additional work for the party seeking to protect the mark, but such non-attorney services are neither obligated nor capable of resolving the office action. This conundrum means that the IP owner actually loses priority (its place in line) and the fees paid for the filing. 2
CopyrightCopyright a website, a brochure, photos, advertising literature of any kind, original information work. Copyrighting is achieved through the United States Archives and lasts for more than 70 years. The process can take a long time for the Copyright office to actually register the work. We recommend hiring a lawyer that has electronic access forfiling as this speeds up the process by as much as a year. 3
PatentPatent a business process, a device, method or other process. Patents are filed at the United States Patent and Trademark Office. They are generally the most expensive form of registered intellectual property, but likewise may provide the most value--they provide a legal “monopoly” throughout the United States on the patented design or method for a period of 20 years. 4
Contract/ Trade SecretsContract to prevent disclosure of sensitive information, business lists and methods. Carefully crafted contracts should be used by all employers either to prevent key employees from competing in a relevant market and geographic area for a period of time, prevent solicitation of customers and employees, and from using proprietary business methods. Contracts can be used to license other protected (trademarked, copyrighted or patented material), and to ensure that employee “original works” remain property of the company. Additional ResourcesFor a list f all of the Offices in both the United States and abroad for patent, copyright, trademark and other intellectual property protection, please visit the IP Law Library at http://www.dglegal.com/ip-law-library. Related Questions3 Attorney answers: 
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