Buchenhorner Patent Law

Intellectual Property

TRADEMARKS


A trademark is a word, phrase, symbol, or design that is used to identify a product or service.  You obtain an exclusive right to a trademark by using the mark in interstate commerce.  There is no requirement to register a mark at the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), but there are several advantages in doing so.  For more information on Trademarks, please read our Trademark Law Summary.


 

COPYRIGHTS


A copyright is an expression of an original work of authoriship fixed in a tangible medium.  A copyright is obtained by fixing the work on a tangible medium of expression and then obtaining a certificate of deposit from the Copyright Office.  Ideas, procedures, processes, systems, methods of operation, concepts, principles or discoveries are NOT copyrightable.  For more information, see a Copyright Summary provided by the U.S. Copyright Office.