An idea is an intangible concept, but If you believe it could be a valuable asset to a person or business, you should treat it as intellectual property consider the many routes to patent an idea. Patents are valuable for protecting an idea and your inherent intellectual property rights.
Intellectual property is generally broken into four categories:
Trade Secret
Patent
Trademark
Copyright
Of these forms of intellectual property protection, trade secret most closely related to the protection of an idea. Common law protects information (including ideas) that have value to a company as well as your intellectual property rights to own and use the concept. Basically, the idea must have some economic value, not be generally known to the public, and subject to protection by the company.
Patent rights relate to protection an invention, such as a process, machine, or composition of matter that is novel, non-obvious, and (in the case of a utility patent) useful. While these relate to a physical creation, the patent rights apply to the claimed attributes of the invention. In this way, it could be said that a patent relates to the protection of an idea that has materialized.
Trademark concerns any symbol, mark, word, phrase, or sound that comes to represent a business’s products, services, or brand. It is only loosely related to the concept of protecting an idea.
Copyright concerns the recording of original, creative expressions. The creative expression might be a novel way of saying something. This concept is related, but still distinct from the idea itself.
Trade Secret Protection for an Idea
Trade secret protection covers formulas, processes or methods, or compilations of information, and can be effective when trying to patent an idea. These intellectual property rights allow you to take action if the information is misappropriated or used without consent. Of course, if a third party is able to figure out the information on their own, then there is no misappropriation. Perhaps some of the most well-known trade secrets are Coca-Cola’s formula and KFC’s secret recipe. Most businesses have client lists or other compilations of information that constitute trade secrets.
The major benefit of trade secret protection is that the protective rights continue indefinitely. The rights in the information are lost when the information becomes commonly known or the company stops taking reasonable steps to protect the information.
Utility Patent for an Idea
Inventors often begin with an idea. To seek utility patent protection of that idea, the inventor must demonstrate how the idea can be transformed or assembled into a novel, non-obvious, and useful invention. The claimed elements of the invention that bear these characteristics are really physical representation of the idea itself. That idea must not have been commonly known to the public at the time of filing for patent protection. A design patent regards the ornamental or aesthetic elements of an article of manufacture. In this way, the patent rights protect a design concept or idea.
Consultant Intellectual Property Lawyer
Determining whether an idea can be protected is the most difficult aspect of intellectual property law. It is very difficult to show the novelty or uniqueness of a creation. Nonetheless, the USPTO issues thousands of patents every year to creators. At the same time, it issues thousands of rejections to applications. Don’t try to navigate this legal maze alone. The experienced intellectual property lawyers at ANTLawyers.vn are both experienced and affordable. They can provide support in identifying creations that are capable of intellectual property protection, securing those intellectual property rights, and providing on-going protection of those rights.
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