In Short
- Trademarks: Register your brand with the USPTO for nationwide protection and stronger enforcement rights.
- Copyrights: Automatically protect creative works, but register them for additional legal advantages, such as statutory damages.
- Patents and Trade Secrets: Patents grant exclusive rights for innovations, while trade secrets require proactive measures to keep them confidential.
Tips for Businesses
Protect your intellectual property early to avoid costly disputes later. Regularly audit your assets to identify trademarks, copyrights, patents, and trade secrets. Seek expert legal advice to register, enforce, and maintain these rights effectively, ensuring your business remains competitive and secure against infringement.
Table of Contents
Intellectual property is often a business’s most valuable asset, making its protection essential for success and competitiveness. While the U.S. intellectual property framework shares similarities with global systems, it also has unique features. Understanding these distinctions is crucial for business owners. This article provides an overview of key intellectual property protections available for businesses in the United States.
Trademarks
Trademarks protect brand names and anything else that acts as a ‘source identifier’ of a particular product or service. For example, the Coca-Cola bottle’s shape or Tiffany’s distinctive blue colour.
The benefits of registering a federal trademark include:
- establishing a public record of brand ownership and creating a legal presumption that you have the right to use that brand name;
- having a USPTO trademark registration certificate eliminates the need for additional evidence in U.S. federal court proceedings for trademark infringement;
- being eligible to sue infringers for statutory damages of up to US$2 million – these are damages that do not require you to show proof of harm suffered; and
- being able to register your brand with the Amazon Brand Registry, which is useful for businesses using Amazon to sell their products.
Trademark registrations can last forever if the trademark is continuously used in the market and the ongoing maintenance fees are up-to-date. The owner of a registered trademark can also record it with U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP). This allows for protection against the importation of infringing products and counterfeits.
Copyright
Copyright protection applies automatically once a creative work is fixed in tangible form. This means in practice when something is taken from an idea to an end result (for example, a book, a photo, or a painting). Copyright protects that result from unauthorised copies being made by others. For businesses, copyright safeguards valuable assets like:
- product packaging;
- website content; and
- even creative brand logos.
Copyright protection is automatic, but businesses can register copyrights with the United States Copyright Office for additional benefits. Registration is mandatory for works created or first published in the U.S. to pursue infringement lawsuits. Registered copyrights allow businesses to claim statutory damages up to $150,000, plus attorneys’ fees and costs, in lawsuits. Without registration, recovery options are limited.
Continue reading this article below the formPatents and Designs
In the United States, there are two types of patents:
- utility patents; and
- design patents.
Utility patents protect the novel and unique features of a product, process or machine. On the other hand, design patents protect a manufactured item’s unique look. In other jurisdictions, designs are a separate type of right and not treated like patents. In the United States, design patent owners have similar rights to utility patent owners but with a shorter duration. Utility patents last 20 years, while design patents last only 15 years. The key benefit of owning a patent is the exclusive monopoly that the owner gets for that protection period.
Your business’ brand represents your values, identity and reputation. Learn how to create a successful brand and protect it.
Trade Secrets
Trade secret law protects confidential information that holds value because it is not widely known or easily accessible. To qualify as a trade secret, the owner must take reasonable steps to maintain its secrecy. For example, they may have limited access to those with a ‘need-to-know’ and required non-disclosure agreements to be signed. Both federal and state laws protect trade secrets. Federally, the Defend Trade Secrets Act allows owners to sue in federal court for trade secret theft. At the state level, trade secret owners can typically sue and seek damages for trade secret matters.
Key Takeaways
When considering intellectual property protection, remember that:
- trademarks protect brand names and give you a presumption that you have the right to use those brand names;
- copyright protects creative works, like books or photographs, but in a business context, it can extend to product packaging or website content;
- patents protect the way a product functions, provided it is novel and unique; and
- designs protect the unique look of a product.
If you would like assistance in protecting your intellectual property, our experienced intellectual property lawyers can assist you as part of our LegalVision membership. You will have unlimited access to lawyers to answer your questions and draft and review your documents for a low monthly fee. Call us today on 1300 544 755 or visit our membership page.
Frequently Asked Questions
Intellectual property is often a business’s most valuable asset. Proper protection ensures a business remains competitive, secures its unique offerings, and prevents others from exploiting its creative or innovative work.
Trademarks protect brand identifiers like names, logos, colours, or shapes that distinguish goods or services.
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