This article provides an overview of intellectual property rights and explains why you cannot copyright names or phrases.
If you are planning to do business in the USA or are already actively trading in the country, it is essential to know everything about your rights over intellectual property. This guide gives a complete overview of intellectual property rights while explaining the common misconceptions that people inquire about in the field. It describes the different types of intellectual property rights in general and offers a complete guide to commonly asked questions.
The protection of intellectual property is extremely important for the growth of innovation. Without the protection of ideas, individuals and businesses cannot reap the benefits of their work, and neither can they focus on research or further development. That is why it is absolutely critical to be aware of your intellectual property rights and learn how to enforce and protect them with teck hustlers.
Introduction to Intellectual Property rights
Intellectual property is a type of property that includes all intangible creations of the human mind. Countries across the globe understand and recognize the types of intellectual property rights. The modern concept of intellectual property developed in the 17th and 18th centuries in England. Still, it was not until the 19th century that the term was coined, and by the 20th century, it gained recognition across most of the world’s legal systems.
It took centuries for the concept to become law. The primary purpose of intellectual property law is to motivate and encourage human intellect and all goods produced through it. And in order to achieve this, the law grants people or businesses property rights to the information, ideas, and intellectual goods they produce. It allows them to protect their products and prevent them from being copied. Intellectual property rights are usually considered economic incentives as they are expected to stimulate innovation, research, and active contribution to the technological process in countries.
As opposed to traditional property like land or goods, the intangible nature of intellectual property presents certain challenges. Unlike other forms of tangible property, this type of property is indivisible and cannot be depleted. It can be consumed by everyone. Along with that, it is extremely hard to protect intellectual property. While protecting land is possible for landowners by surrounding it with a fence or hiring armed guards, protection of intellectual property rights is not as strong or easy.
According to law, intellectual property refers to a brand, invention, design, or any other type of creation over which a person or a business has legal rights. Almost all businesses or brands own some type of intellectual property that could be their business asset. If you are a business owner, you must familiarize yourself with the four types of intellectual property. These are categorized into four different types of intellectual property and are :
- Copyright: This protects all written or published content such as books, web content, songs, films, and other artistic work
- Patents: Such types of intellectual property protect commercial inventions such as new business products or processes.
- Trademarks: such type of intellectual property includes signs, symbols, logos, words, or sounds that are created by a particular individual or brand and they have complete rights to them.
- Trade secrets: This includes all types of confidential corporate information that gives businesses a competitive edge and makes them unique.
When your business is new, you are at a higher risk of having it borrowed or copied by the competitors. With intellectual property rights, including copyrights, trademarks, patents, and trade secrets, you can protect yourself, your business, and exclusive ideas.
What is copyright?
Copyright protection is derived directly from the U.S constitution. The framers of the nation believed that it was crucial to protect the exclusive rights of writers for a limited period of time in order to promote the progress of science and arts.
A copyright is basically a collection of rights that is vested to the original creator of literary work, song, movie, or software. These rights also include the right to recreate or reproduce the work, distribute copies, perform, and display the work in public. Copyright allows the owner to opt for the ways his works can be made available to the audience.
The objective of this right is to reward and motivate authors to create innovative work and make them available under their ownership to the public. This also allows the creators to benefit from economic rewards through their hard work producing new content. It can be granted copyrights as long as the work is independently created and not copied, falls under creative expression, and meets the fixation requirement.
Usually, a copyrighted work is protected throughout the lifetime of the author and another seventy years after that. If it is a joint work, it is protected throughout the lifetime of the last surviving joint creator and an additional seventy years after that.
How to copyright a name?
Many people ask this question whether they can copyright a name. The answer is plain and simple. No, you cannot copyright a name. But you can trademark it. When someone is looking at how to copyright a name, they mostly mean that they wish to legally protect the name as the brand, which is a trademark. Trademark is another category of intellectual property rights alongside copyright, patents and trade secrets.
So if you file a name for copyrights in the US Copyright Office, you will be in for a surprise. You may apply for artistic works, songs or text works for copyrights but not names or phrases used to identify businesses. Thus, you can’t copyright a business name but can trademark it by hiring a trademark lawyer to file it on your behalf. You can also do it yourself by filing through the USPTO database.
What is a trademark?
A trademark is a special word, phrase, symbol, or design that represents goods or services. Trademark identifies and differentiates a business making it exclusive. It is through the use of a trademark that businesses are able to stand out amongst competitors. It provides legal protection for your business and enables you to protect it from fraud or counterfeiting.
This unique word or symbol becomes synonymous with the business over time and companies have to register it in order to make sure that the same symbol or words cannot be used by any other company. And if the fees of a trademark are paid, and the name remains in use, the organization enjoys complete rights over it, and no one else can use it in the market. Unlike patents, which are only valid for 20 years, trademarks are forever. All companies need to do is apply for them and get ownership through USPTO.
Common trademark examples are the golden arches of McDonald’s, bitten Apple logo, and Starbucks’ famous logo. All these significant companies registered their trademarks years ago, and today when one thinks of the name, the logo strikes up along with it. It has become part of their identity.
There is a common misconception that having a trademark means you own the word, and no one else can use it. That is not the case. When registering for a trademark, businesses only get the rights of the word or the phrase to be used with their specific goods or services to make it unique.
Another very common view is that choosing a trademark that describes your product is the best way to make yourself stand out. That is not true. Creative and innovative trademarks are far more effective and a lot easier to guard than
others.
What is a patent?
A patent is also a type of intellectual property right that is granted to an inventor by the government. It gives the inventor exclusive rights over making, selling, and using that invention for a limited period of time. The main reason behind this is to encourage innovations and inventions that are useful for society. Sometimes an inventor suffers from patent infringement if someone uses his patented invention without his permission. The law allows him to bring a lawsuit against the infringer.
There are three types of patents :
- Utility Patent: this is the most common type of patent that is granted to inventions that include new and useful products, machinery, and processes. The inventor is granted exclusive commercial rights for two decades. Common examples are engines, computers, software, and pharmaceuticals.
- Design Patent: such a type of patent is granted to guard a manufactured product’s unique design and appearance. It enables the patent owner to keep competitors from copying the outlook and design of the patented product.
- Plant Patent: the government of the USA grants plant patents to those who have invented or discovered, or asexually reproduced a new variety of plants. It assists the patent holder in the ultimate protection, enables him to generate higher profits, and makes sure that opponents are unable to copy his invention. The patent protection time is 20 years, and some of the plant patent examples include the African violet and a chrysanthemum plant named Organdy.
List of items that can be patented
Anything that is made by humans is eligible to be patented if it meets certain conditions like originality and authenticity. Here is a list of some of the things that can be patented in order to protect them from infringement:
- computer hardware and software
- chemical processes and formulas
- Pharmaceuticals and drugs
- bacteria, animals, and plants that have been subject to genetic engineering
- medical devices
- jewelry
- machines
- furniture design
- food products
- fabric designs and fabrics
- musical instruments
What are Trade Secrets?
Trade secrets are another type of intellectual property that includes unrevealed secrets of the brand, such as formulas, recipes, practices, processes, instruments, patterns, or designs that are of economic value. As most businesses rely on these, the owner is bound to take all reasonable measures to protect trade secrets and not make them readily available to others.
This is why intellectual property law grants owners and entrepreneurs trade secrets rights which restricts all parties from disclosing it and is referred to as confidential information. An example of this is the famous Coca-Cola recipe which is perhaps the world’s best-kept secret. It is protected by the right of trade secrets, and the company makes sure that the recipe is not known.
A trade secret is basically the confidential business information that provides the individual or business with a competitive edge over others. These are often the best option when patents cannot be used, as that means going public with your innovation or invention. In order to protect the inventor from disclosing the secret publicly, the patent is not used. Some of the common trade secrets include :
- Sales methods
- Consumer information and profiles
- Methods of distribution
- Advertising strategies and tactics
- Lists of suppliers and clients
- Manufacturing processes
- Recipes or processes
If someone other than the holder of the trade secret uses the protected information, it becomes regarded as a violation of the trade secret.
Difference between trademark, copyright, and patent with examples
Trademark, copyright, and patent are all about intellectual property rights if businesses and individuals give them the freedom and liberty to exclusively own a product or idea that they have created. However, there are certain differences between all three.
Patents are primarily used to protect the rights of inventors who have created new inventions, and they are granted complete protection of it. Copyright is related to protecting someone’s artistic skills or literature like songs or music. Lastly, a trademark is used to safeguard labels, slogans, and symbols associated with a business identity that are used for marketing it and setting it apart from competitors.
While the nature of all three, trademark, copyright, and patent, is different, the purpose is the same, which is to encourage individuals and businesses to be more creative and support innovative abilities for the larger good of the community. These rights serve as the motivating factor for inventors and creators as they are secure in the fact that their products and ideas are safe with the law.
The legal process of all three has a lot in common despite the differences in the type of claims they are. Each helps individuals and businesses from using ideas that other people have spent hours researching and perfecting. Creative abilities are rare, and using someone else’s ideas and creations and claiming them to be yours is a complete violation of the right of the inventor. This is why infringement rights and all these three designations are really important. In order for inventors and artists to claim responsibility for their innovations, it is essential to register with the appropriate personnel or agency in order to be able to file a lawsuit if another party violates their rights.
Copyright Vs. Trademark
If you are someone who owns a brand or creates original materials, it is very likely that you have considered how to protect your ideas and products, commonly termed intellectual property. You have heard about copyrights and trademarks but don’t know the difference between copyright vs. trademark?
Fortunately for business owners and inventors, copyright and trademarks protect their businesses and ideas against infringement or violations like copying or misuse of inventions. It also prevents the inventor from losing his rightful earnings or revenue through their hard work. But if you are wondering which of them to choose for your brand, it is essential to note that both are different, and it depends on the nature of your business.
While copyright projects the work that is original, the trademark protects items that differentiate the business from another. Copyright is generated automatically as the work is created, but a trademark needs to be established with the common use of a mark, logo, or design. Lastly, copyright expires after a certain period of time, but a trademark never expires as long as the mark is being used.
Both types of protections are important for businesses, and if you are unsure about which to use or the process to follow to register a copyright or trademark, it would be better to work with a business attorney or seek an online legal service for guidance. Legalities behind these matters are most complicated for the common people, which is why taking the advice of a professional can save you a lot of time and hassle.
How to trademark a logo for free?
Are you looking to get those tiny superscript symbols next to your brand name— ™ and ®?
Well, they are trademark or registered trademark symbols that distinguish brands in the market and grant them a complete authority on the mark. A lot of people wonder how to trademark a logo for free but what they don’t know is that it cannot be done for free. There are cheaper or more expensive variations in the process, but nothing is free.
The good thing is that by simply having a logo for your brand or business, you are granted the right to own a common law trademark for your logo. Without all the paperwork and legalities, you acquire the sole legal right to use the logo in a specific area. However, an officially registered trademark can make you a lot more secure.
Most people work with lawyers to register trademarks, as experienced intellectual property lawyers can handle the complexities on your behalf, making the entire process easier. But all that comes with lots of fees, so if you are not willing to spend a lot, you can absolutely do it yourself and initiate the process of trademarking your logo. It will take more time but less money.
How to copyright a name for free?
You cannot copyright a name for free because the protection of copyrights does not extend to names in the first place. However, if you are looking to secure your brand or business name, you can do it by trademarking. The legal protection you are looking for in your name is only possible with a trademark which is a category of intellectual property rights alongside copyright, patents and trade secrets. So first and foremost, if you are wondering how to copyright a name for free, it is important to note that you can’t copyright a name in the first place.
Why are intellectual property rights necessary?
Businesses and economies today rely on their patents, trademarks, copyrights, and trade secrets to function safely. These intellectual property rights contribute massively to a country’s economy. They are definitely worth protecting and securing for a number of reasons.
Intellectual property generates and supports high-paying jobs, thus employing millions of people worldwide. It drives economic growth and competitiveness amongst stakeholders leading to better quality, prices, and innovations. With strong and well-enforced intellectual property rights, the consumers and their families are protected. They also ensure that the products sold in the market are authentic and of high quality. These rights have also been known to generate breakthrough solutions to challenges across the world. With rising global problems and constant evolution, there is a constant demand for new and better products, and innovation remains a necessity. These rights foster and help develop these innovations in a safe and secure environment. They reward entrepreneurs and inventors too.
The founding fathers of America recognized why intellectual property nights were necessary from the start and ensured strong intellectual property rights for authors, inventions, and creators that are secured by the US Constitution. These rights have been able to make America the great entrepreneurial leader with an overwhelming number of copyrights, trademarks, trade secrets, and patents filed by the US every year.
Wrapping Up
Intellectual Property rights are very important. All sectors of industry, labor organizations, trade associations, and consumer groups embrace these rights as it is absolutely critical to foster innovation. Without the protection of these rights, individuals or businesses cannot reap the complete benefits of their inventions nor would artists be fully compensated for all that they create for the art and entertainment and cultural vitality would greatly suffer.
When deciding the type of intellectual property right for your work, it is best to understand how each type works and the process required to register for each. Copyright, trademark, patents, and trade secrets are all different types of rights available for different purposes so depending on the type of innovation that needs to be protected and the nature of protection, like whether it can be publicly disclosed or not, determines which of the intellectual property claims is right for you.
