The lawyers of the Litchney Law Firm, P.C. have experience in assisting companies with intellectual property issues; and in fields of law involved in patents, trademarks, and copyrights.
Intellectual Property - An Overview
Intellectual property law regulates the reproduction of creative and original works. When a work qualifies for protection, its author or creator has the right to exclude others from copying, distributing or otherwise using the work for economic benefit. Generally, intellectual property can be transferred, regulated and protected like other forms of property. The four primary areas of intellectual property are:
- Copyright: protects an original work of authorship fixed in a tangible medium of expression, such as a book, computer program, graphic artwork or motion picture
- Patent: protects a novel, useful and non-obvious invention, process or design
- Trade secret: protects confidential business information, including a computer programming code or other business formula, that gives its owner an advantage over other businesses
- Trademark: protects a word, symbol, name or other designation of a product or service
Most people deal with intellectual property every day of their lives. The term "intellectual property" covers the content of the morning paper (copyright), the logo and styling of a cereal box (trademark), and the car radio's scanning function (patent). There are four basic categories of intellectual property: patents, trademarks, copyrights and trade secrets. While there can be overlap, each category affords different protections and is used with different types of material. Please read on to find out more about these areas.
For further information or to discuss copyrights, patents, trade secrets or trademarks, we invite you to schedule a free confidential consultation with an experienced northern and southern California intellectual property and patent attorney by calling us at 916.983.2941, or filling out our contact us form on our website. The confidential consultation is free.