Intellectual Property, What is It?
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• What is Intellectual Property? • What is the Difference Between Piracy and Counterfeiting? • What Intellectual Property Misappropriation Constitutes a Crime? |
What is Intellectual Property?
Intellectual property is any innovation, commercial or artistic, or any unique name, symbol, logo or design used commercially.
Intellectual property is protected by
• patents on inventions;
• trademarks on branding devices;
• copyrights on music, videos, patterns and other forms of expression;
• trade secrets for methods or formulas having economic value and used commercially
For more information please visit: www.wipo.int/about-ip/en.
What is a Patent?
A patent for an invention is the grant of a property right to the inventor, issued by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). The right conferred by the patent grant is "the right to exclude others from making, using, offering for sale, or selling" the invention in the United States or "importing" the invention into the United States for a limited time in exchange for public disclosure of the invention when the patent is granted. Patents are territorial in that patent protection must be applied for in each country where protection is sought. The USPTO Inventors Assistance Center (IAC) provides patent information and services to the public. The IAC is staffed by former Supervisory Patent Examiners and experienced Primary Examiners who answer general questions concerning patent examining policy and procedure. The IAC can be reached by telephone at 800-786-9199. If you have questions regarding foreign patents, please call 1-866-999-HALT.
What is a Trademark?
A trademark protects words, names, symbols, sounds, or colors that distinguish goods and services from those manufactured or sold by others and indicate the source of the goods. Trademarks, unlike patents, can be renewed forever as long as they are being used in commerce. Registration of a trademark is not required in the U.S., although there are benefits to obtaining a Federal trademark registration through the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). Trademarks are territorial; unlike the United States, most countries require registration of trademark rights. For general trademark information, please telephone the Trademark Assistance Center, at 1-800-786-9199, or e-mail your question to TrademarkAssistanceCenter@uspto.gov. If you have questions regarding foreign trademarks, please call 1-866-999-HALT.
What is a Copyright?
A copyright is a form of protection provided to the authors of "original works of authorship" including literary, dramatic, musical, artistic, and certain other intellectual works, both published and unpublished. A copyright protects the form of expression rather than the subject matter of the writing. The U.S. Copyright Office handles copyright registrations. Owners of copyrighted works seeking protection in other countries should first determine the extent of protection available to works of foreign authors in that country. If you need answers to specific copyright questions or want to know more about copyrights in general, please contact the U.S. Copyright Office at (202) 707-5959 or its website at www.copyright.gov/help.
What is a Trade Secret?
Generally, a trade secret can include a formula, pattern, compilation, program, device, method, technique or process that is used in one's business, and has independent economic value that provides an advantage over competitors who are not aware of it or use it.
Under most circumstances, a trade secret is lost once it is independently discovered.
What is the difference between piracy and counterfeiting?
The term "counterfeit" describes fake goods. The term "piracy" describes the act of reproducing movies, music, books or other copyrighted works without permission from the copyright owner.
What intellectual property misappropriation constitutes a crime?
Although civil remedies that may provide compensation to wronged intellectual property rights holders are available, criminal sanctions are often warranted to ensure sufficient punishment and deterrence of wrongful activity. Indeed, because violations of intellectual property rights often involve no loss of tangible assets and, for infringement crimes, do not even require any direct contact with the rights holder, the rights holder often does not know it is a victim until a defendant's activities are specifically identified and investigated. Congress has continually expanded and strengthened criminal laws for violations of intellectual property rights specifically to ensure that those violations are not merely a cost of doing business for defendants. Among the most significant provisions are the following:
- The counterfeit trademark crime is set out at 18 U.S.C. § 2320 ;
- Criminal infringement of copyrighted works is set out at 17 U.S.C. § 506(a) and 18 U.S.C. § 2319 ;
- The counterfeit labeling provision is set out at 18 U.S.C. § 2318;
- Theft of trade secrets prohibited by 18 U.S.C. §§ 1831 and 1832
Experience has proven that federal investigators and prosecutors can bring cases under these provisions that result in punishment for the wrongdoer, as well as deterrence for intellectual property crimes.
In addition, Congress is concerned about providing adequate protections for both foreign and domestic owners of intellectual property. Indeed, the United States government has committed, in a number of international agreements, to protect intellectual property rights holders, including foreign rights holders, from infringement in the United States. The United States is a member of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) and the World Trade Organization (WTO), both of which administer agreements that have established international IP standards. The WTO's Agreement on Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS), Sept. 27, 1994, is the most comprehensive agreement to date, and the first to include enforcement provisions.
Some misuse of intellectual property has not been criminalized. For example, infringement of a patent is not generally a criminal violation. Likewise, the laws protecting personally identifiable information do not generally provide for criminal penalties except in the most narrow of circumstances. See 18 U.S.C. § 2710 (wrongful disclosure of video tape rental or sale records).