Week 11 Blog #3: Comparison of IP Rights

In the early part of her lecture, Ms. Kasznik provided certain insight into the different forms of intellectual property and what made each form unique. I will proceed to go into an in-depth analysis of these different types of IP and what makes each one unique from the other.

1. Copyrights

Copyrights are original works of authorship: literary, dramatic, musical, artistic, etc. They are guaranteed automatic protection and last throughout the author's life along with an additional 70 years. Copyright provides a framework for relationships between the different players in the content industries, as well as for relationships between rights-holders and the consumers of content. 

Copyright protection subsists in original works of authorship fixed in any tangible medium of expression from which they be perceived, reproduced, or otherwise communicated, either directly or with the aid of a machine or device. In essence, the purpose of the copyright is to promote the progress of useful arts and science by protecting the exclusive right of authors and inventors to benefit from their works of authorship.

2. Trademarks
Trademarks are the word, name, symbol, device used in trade to distinguish goods. Two basic requirements must be met for a trademark to be eligible for protection: it must be in use in commerce and it must be distinctive.

There is no expiration as long as the trademark is used commercially. The purpose of trademarks are for companies to protect their brands. When a company trademarks a logo or name, it is essentially ensuring that others will not steal or mimic the original company's identity. Certain companies are identifiable by certain defining aspects of their products through symbols, names, or words and trademarks ensure that this brand is allowed to exist without the interference of others stealing and diluting the established brand name. 

3. Trade Secrets
Trade secrets are business items/info that are of economic value and kept confidential. There is no need to show novelty or to disclose to the public and there exists the need to take measures to keep confidential. The lifespan of trade secrets are indefinite and their purpose is to protect a company's most valuable product from being infringed on.

4. Patents 
Patents are the right to exclude others from making, using or selling products covered by invention in a defined territory, a constitutional property right as defined by Ms. Kasznik. As we've discussed before on numerous occasions patents must be novel, non-obvious, reduced to practice, and features territorial protection for up to 20 years from filing.

There exists four types of patents that the USPTO has established:

• Utility Patent: Issued for the invention of a new and useful process, machine, manufacture, or composition of matter, or a new and useful improvement thereof, it generally permits its owner to exclude others from making, using, or selling the invention. Approximately 90% of patent documents issued by the USPTO have been utility patents. 
• Design Patent: Issued for a new, original, and ornamental design embodied in or applied to an article of manufacture, it permits its owner to exclude others from making, using, or selling the design for a period of fourteen years from the date of patent grant.
• Plant Patent: Issued for a new and distinct, invented or discovered asexually reproduced plant including cultivated sports, mutants, hybrids, and newly found seedlings.
• Reissue Patent: Issued to correct an error in an already issued utility, design, or plant patent, it does not affect the period of protection offered by the original patent.