Copyright protects original works of authorship including literary, dramatic, musical, and artistic works, such as poetry, novels, movies, songs, computer software, and architecture. Copyright does not protect facts, ideas, systems, or methods of operation, although it may protect the way these things are expressed. The subject matter eligible for protection under the Copyright Act is Read more about Copyright Protection in General[…]
With the advent of a global economy, foreign trademark protection is important. The need to obtain, maintain, and enforce trademark rights on a multilateral basis is becoming imperative because many United States companies look to markets beyond the borders of the United States. Unfortunately, obtaining and maintaining trademark rights abroad is often a time-consuming, costly, Read more about Protecting Trademarks Abroad[…]
Trademark rights arise in the United States from the actual use of the mark. Thus, if a product is sold under a brand name, common law trademark rights have been created. This is especially true once consumers view the brand name as an indicator the product’s source. Common law marks are marks protected because they Read more about Protecting Trademarks under Common Law[…]
In enacting patent laws and providing patent protection to inventors, the U.S. Congress made the decision to encourage the disclosure of new inventions by helping inventors protect their invention. The inventor of matter eligible for patent protection must, therefore, elect whether to avail himself or herself of such protection, accepting the disclosure obligations, or decide Read more about Deciding to Patent Trade Secrets?[…]
In general a complete or non-provisional patent application covering a single invention is filed, reviewed by an examiner and either allowed or rejected. However, in some cases it may be desirable to file a continuation patent. A continuation patent application provides no new information about the invention to be patented (referred to as the “disclosures”); Read more about Continued Patent Applications[…]