Intellectual property is not the same as owning physical property, making it more difficult to protect. As your intellectual property rights attorney, our team at Walter J. Pink & Associates, PC helps you safeguard your creative work from theft. Generally, intellectual property protection can be broken into four main categories; our team will help you decide which type of protection best suits your needs.
Trade Secrets: Trade secrets are intellectual information belonging to a business that provides a competitive advantage, such as technical and manufacturing information, client lists, advertising strategies and more. If trade secrets are acquired through breach of contract or corporate espionage, it may be considered an intellectual property rights infringement by a court of law.
Patents: A patent protects a new process or invention for the duration of the patent term. When the US Patent and Trademark office issues a patent, it means that only the holder of that patent has rights to the invention protected by that patent, and it may not be replicated by other entities.
Copyrights: Copyrights are similar to patents, but are used to protect works of authorship, rather than inventions. Music, literature and art protected by a copyright cannot be reproduced by others. If your copyright protection is infringed upon, you may file a lawsuit against the offending party.
Trademarks: Trademarks protect logos, symbols and phrases used to identify a product or service. A registered trademark is protected against use by others, and the trademark does not expire.