Intellectual property – What You Need to Know
According to Nicolas Balmaceda, intellectual property or IP is a creation of the human mind. It usually includes such things as inventions, designs, symbols, literary and artistic works, names, and images used in commerce. Intellectual property law is an area of law that deals with the defense of the rights of those who create original works. The IP rights need to be defended to stimulate talented people to work further and to help them get benefits from their labor.
If you are a talented scholar or an artist or a writer, you are the one who creates and owns IP. Read our article to get clues and hints on how to protect your intellectual property from unauthorized use and stop losing your money.
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Three Main Mechanisms to Protect IP
People who own intellectual property and want to guard it from a theft usually use patents, copyright and trademarks as three main mechanisms to do this.
Copyright is meant to defend IP owners’ rights for the works of Art. If you are a young author or musician who wants to get exclusive rights to possess and get financial benefits from selling or using his book or song, you may try to get a copyright for it. Though it prohibits other people from using your artistic work without your permission, it doesn’t protect your ideas from unauthorized use at all.
Patents help inventors and companies protect their inventions and goods from making, selling and using by others for a certain period of time. Overall, there are three main types of patents to choose:
- Design Patent – this patent defends the original way a manufactured object appears;
- Plant Patent – this patent deals with hybrids and protects a plant variety;
- Utility Patent – this patent guards’ inventions that have specific features and functions (chemicals, technology and machines).
Trademarks defend companies’ names and identifying marks from unauthorized use and help customers distinguish them from the others.
Is It Time to Ask for Help?
Protecting intellectual property rights is a complex and time-consuming matter. However, IP is a good business asset that may bring you money, so you need to have a good knowledge of laws to understand how to prevent unauthorized use or theft of it. If you aren’t good at law and need to defend your IP rights, it’s time to look for a pair of helping hands. For instance, you may try to hire a good IP lawyer or attorney to get high-quality IP support.
IP lawyers are usually needed to help inventors protect their ideas from infringements or license them to big companies and firms. They also help writers, singers and artists protect their IP rights with the help of copyright and companies to defend their goods and services with a trademark.
What Do IP Lawyers Actually Do?
IP lawyers or attorneys are specialists who get specific trainings to do the following things:
- Help clients understand whether they need to protect their ideas;
- Analyze scientific and technical documentation to understand whether the idea is a fresh one;
- Prepare patent drafts;
- Defend clients’ rights in the court;
- Give consultations on various IP issues.
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