IP Basics​

A jumping off point for your IP journey.

Basics

The term “intellectual property” refers to creations of the human mind. Intellectual property can be protected by patents, trademarks, copyrights, and/or trade secrets. 

A trademark is a word, logo, phrase, or other identifier that identifies your goods or services and distinguishes you from your competitors.

Utility patents protect inventions. Patents allow you the right to exclude others from making, using, selling, or importing a patented invention.

There are three types of patents:

  • Utility – Protects processes, machines, manufactured items or compositions;
  • Design – Protects the ornamental design of an object;
  • Plant – Protects distinct and new varieties of plants that are asexually reproduced.

Copyright protects original artistic expressions that have been fixed in a tangible medium. Copyright protection is available for a number of different types of works, including literary works, musical works, and artistic works.

Copyright protects from the unauthorized reproduction, sale, performance, distribution, display, and/or creation of derivative works. Copyright does not protect the underlying idea, but rather the expression of that idea.

Trade secrets protect information that has value from not being generally known, and not being easily discovered. For example, trade secret can be used to protect a recipe or a process.

A provisional patent application is a patent application that does not require a claim or declarations. A provisional patent application will not be examined by the United States Patent and Trademark Office, and has a pendency of 12 months from filing. Within those 12 months, a “regular” patent application can be filed claiming priority to the provisional application.

Contact us to learn more about how to identify, assess, and protect your intellectual property.

Patents

The term “intellectual property” refers to creations of the human mind. Intellectual property can be protected by patents, trademarks, copyrights, and/or trade secrets.

A trademark is a word, logo, phrase, or other identifier that identifies your goods or services and distinguishes you from your competitors.

Utility patents protect inventions. Patents allow you the right to exclude others from making, using, selling, or importing a patented invention.

There are three types of patents:

  • Utility – Protects processes, machines, manufactured items or compositions;
  • Design – Protects the ornamental design of an object;
  • Plant – Protects distinct and new varieties of plants that are asexually reproduced.

Copyright protects original artistic expressions that have been fixed in a tangible medium. Copyright protection is available for a number of different types of works, including literary works, musical works, and artistic works.

Copyright protects from the unauthorized reproduction, sale, performance, distribution, display, and/or creation of derivative works. Copyright does not protect the underlying idea, but rather the expression of that idea.

Trade secrets protect information that has value from not being generally known, and not being easily discovered. For example, trade secret can be used to protect a recipe or a process.

A provisional patent application is a patent application that does not require a claim or declarations. A provisional patent application will not be examined by the United States Patent and Trademark Office, and has a pendency of 12 months from filing. Within those 12 months, a “regular” patent application can be filed claiming priority to the provisional application.

Contact us to learn more about how to identify, assess, and protect your intellectual property.

Trademarks

The term “intellectual property” refers to creations of the human mind. Intellectual property can be protected by patents, trademarks, copyrights, and/or trade secrets.

A trademark is a word, logo, phrase, or other identifier that identifies your goods or services and distinguishes you from your competitors.

Utility patents protect inventions. Patents allow you the right to exclude others from making, using, selling, or importing a patented invention.

There are three types of patents:

  • Utility – Protects processes, machines, manufactured items or compositions;
  • Design – Protects the ornamental design of an object;
  • Plant – Protects distinct and new varieties of plants that are asexually reproduced.

Copyright protects original artistic expressions that have been fixed in a tangible medium. Copyright protection is available for a number of different types of works, including literary works, musical works, and artistic works.

Copyright protects from the unauthorized reproduction, sale, performance, distribution, display, and/or creation of derivative works. Copyright does not protect the underlying idea, but rather the expression of that idea.

Trade secrets protect information that has value from not being generally known, and not being easily discovered. For example, trade secret can be used to protect a recipe or a process.

A provisional patent application is a patent application that does not require a claim or declarations. A provisional patent application will not be examined by the United States Patent and Trademark Office, and has a pendency of 12 months from filing. Within those 12 months, a “regular” patent application can be filed claiming priority to the provisional application.

Contact us to learn more about how to identify, assess, and protect your intellectual property.

Copyrights

The term “intellectual property” refers to creations of the human mind. Intellectual property can be protected by patents, trademarks, copyrights, and/or trade secrets.

A trademark is a word, logo, phrase, or other identifier that identifies your goods or services and distinguishes you from your competitors.

Utility patents protect inventions. Patents allow you the right to exclude others from making, using, selling, or importing a patented invention.

There are three types of patents:

  • Utility – Protects processes, machines, manufactured items or compositions;
  • Design – Protects the ornamental design of an object;
  • Plant – Protects distinct and new varieties of plants that are asexually reproduced.

Copyright protects original artistic expressions that have been fixed in a tangible medium. Copyright protection is available for a number of different types of works, including literary works, musical works, and artistic works.

Copyright protects from the unauthorized reproduction, sale, performance, distribution, display, and/or creation of derivative works. Copyright does not protect the underlying idea, but rather the expression of that idea.

Trade secrets protect information that has value from not being generally known, and not being easily discovered. For example, trade secret can be used to protect a recipe or a process.

A provisional patent application is a patent application that does not require a claim or declarations. A provisional patent application will not be examined by the United States Patent and Trademark Office, and has a pendency of 12 months from filing. Within those 12 months, a “regular” patent application can be filed claiming priority to the provisional application.

Contact us to learn more about how to identify, assess, and protect your intellectual property.

Trade Secrets and Proprietary Information

The term “intellectual property” refers to creations of the human mind. Intellectual property can be protected by patents, trademarks, copyrights, and/or trade secrets.

A trademark is a word, logo, phrase, or other identifier that identifies your goods or services and distinguishes you from your competitors.

Utility patents protect inventions. Patents allow you the right to exclude others from making, using, selling, or importing a patented invention.

There are three types of patents:

  • Utility – Protects processes, machines, manufactured items or compositions;
  • Design – Protects the ornamental design of an object;
  • Plant – Protects distinct and new varieties of plants that are asexually reproduced.

Copyright protects original artistic expressions that have been fixed in a tangible medium. Copyright protection is available for a number of different types of works, including literary works, musical works, and artistic works.

Copyright protects from the unauthorized reproduction, sale, performance, distribution, display, and/or creation of derivative works. Copyright does not protect the underlying idea, but rather the expression of that idea.

Trade secrets protect information that has value from not being generally known, and not being easily discovered. For example, trade secret can be used to protect a recipe or a process.

A provisional patent application is a patent application that does not require a claim or declarations. A provisional patent application will not be examined by the United States Patent and Trademark Office, and has a pendency of 12 months from filing. Within those 12 months, a “regular” patent application can be filed claiming priority to the provisional application.

Contact us to learn more about how to identify, assess, and protect your intellectual property.

IP Litigation

The term “intellectual property” refers to creations of the human mind. Intellectual property can be protected by patents, trademarks, copyrights, and/or trade secrets.

A trademark is a word, logo, phrase, or other identifier that identifies your goods or services and distinguishes you from your competitors.

Utility patents protect inventions. Patents allow you the right to exclude others from making, using, selling, or importing a patented invention.

There are three types of patents:

  • Utility – Protects processes, machines, manufactured items or compositions;
  • Design – Protects the ornamental design of an object;
  • Plant – Protects distinct and new varieties of plants that are asexually reproduced.

Copyright protects original artistic expressions that have been fixed in a tangible medium. Copyright protection is available for a number of different types of works, including literary works, musical works, and artistic works.

Copyright protects from the unauthorized reproduction, sale, performance, distribution, display, and/or creation of derivative works. Copyright does not protect the underlying idea, but rather the expression of that idea.

Trade secrets protect information that has value from not being generally known, and not being easily discovered. For example, trade secret can be used to protect a recipe or a process.

A provisional patent application is a patent application that does not require a claim or declarations. A provisional patent application will not be examined by the United States Patent and Trademark Office, and has a pendency of 12 months from filing. Within those 12 months, a “regular” patent application can be filed claiming priority to the provisional application.

Contact us to learn more about how to identify, assess, and protect your intellectual property.

IP Counseling

The term “intellectual property” refers to creations of the human mind. Intellectual property can be protected by patents, trademarks, copyrights, and/or trade secrets.

A trademark is a word, logo, phrase, or other identifier that identifies your goods or services and distinguishes you from your competitors.

Utility patents protect inventions. Patents allow you the right to exclude others from making, using, selling, or importing a patented invention.

There are three types of patents:

  • Utility – Protects processes, machines, manufactured items or compositions;
  • Design – Protects the ornamental design of an object;
  • Plant – Protects distinct and new varieties of plants that are asexually reproduced.

Copyright protects original artistic expressions that have been fixed in a tangible medium. Copyright protection is available for a number of different types of works, including literary works, musical works, and artistic works.

Copyright protects from the unauthorized reproduction, sale, performance, distribution, display, and/or creation of derivative works. Copyright does not protect the underlying idea, but rather the expression of that idea.

Trade secrets protect information that has value from not being generally known, and not being easily discovered. For example, trade secret can be used to protect a recipe or a process.

A provisional patent application is a patent application that does not require a claim or declarations. A provisional patent application will not be examined by the United States Patent and Trademark Office, and has a pendency of 12 months from filing. Within those 12 months, a “regular” patent application can be filed claiming priority to the provisional application.

Contact us to learn more about how to identify, assess, and protect your intellectual property.

IP Education

The term “intellectual property” refers to creations of the human mind. Intellectual property can be protected by patents, trademarks, copyrights, and/or trade secrets.

A trademark is a word, logo, phrase, or other identifier that identifies your goods or services and distinguishes you from your competitors.

Utility patents protect inventions. Patents allow you the right to exclude others from making, using, selling, or importing a patented invention.

There are three types of patents:

  • Utility – Protects processes, machines, manufactured items or compositions;
  • Design – Protects the ornamental design of an object;
  • Plant – Protects distinct and new varieties of plants that are asexually reproduced.

Copyright protects original artistic expressions that have been fixed in a tangible medium. Copyright protection is available for a number of different types of works, including literary works, musical works, and artistic works.

Copyright protects from the unauthorized reproduction, sale, performance, distribution, display, and/or creation of derivative works. Copyright does not protect the underlying idea, but rather the expression of that idea.

Trade secrets protect information that has value from not being generally known, and not being easily discovered. For example, trade secret can be used to protect a recipe or a process.

A provisional patent application is a patent application that does not require a claim or declarations. A provisional patent application will not be examined by the United States Patent and Trademark Office, and has a pendency of 12 months from filing. Within those 12 months, a “regular” patent application can be filed claiming priority to the provisional application.

Contact us to learn more about how to identify, assess, and protect your intellectual property.

IP Analytics

The term “intellectual property” refers to creations of the human mind. Intellectual property can be protected by patents, trademarks, copyrights, and/or trade secrets.

A trademark is a word, logo, phrase, or other identifier that identifies your goods or services and distinguishes you from your competitors.

Utility patents protect inventions. Patents allow you the right to exclude others from making, using, selling, or importing a patented invention.

There are three types of patents:

  • Utility – Protects processes, machines, manufactured items or compositions;
  • Design – Protects the ornamental design of an object;
  • Plant – Protects distinct and new varieties of plants that are asexually reproduced.

Copyright protects original artistic expressions that have been fixed in a tangible medium. Copyright protection is available for a number of different types of works, including literary works, musical works, and artistic works.

Copyright protects from the unauthorized reproduction, sale, performance, distribution, display, and/or creation of derivative works. Copyright does not protect the underlying idea, but rather the expression of that idea.

Trade secrets protect information that has value from not being generally known, and not being easily discovered. For example, trade secret can be used to protect a recipe or a process.

A provisional patent application is a patent application that does not require a claim or declarations. A provisional patent application will not be examined by the United States Patent and Trademark Office, and has a pendency of 12 months from filing. Within those 12 months, a “regular” patent application can be filed claiming priority to the provisional application.

Contact us to learn more about how to identify, assess, and protect your intellectual property.

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Learn more about our services

Patents and Designs
Trademarks
Copyrights
Proprietary Information
IP Litigation
IP Strategy and Analytics
IP Counseling
IP Education
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Contact Smith Keane to help identify, assess, protect, and manage your intellectual property.​

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