Intellectual Property

Intellectual property law protects the creative works of authors, composers, designers, and inventors from being pirated. There are four basic categories of intellectual property: copyrights, patents, trademarks, and trade secrets. Generally, each category is used with different types of material and affords different protections. Copyrights protect original works of authorship from the moment they are created and fixed in a tangible form. Patents protect new and useful machines, articles, substances, or processes through exclusive rights granted by the federal government to their inventors. Trademarks protect identifying marks that distinguish goods or services, such as names, logos, designs, emblems, and distinctive sounds and smells. Trade secrets protect confidential business information or "proprietary information," such as business plans, chemical formulas, and customer lists.

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