What Is Intellectual Property?
Certain rights known as intellectual property rights are attached to intellectual property. They can’t be infringed upon by those without authorization to use them.7
Dennemeyer. “What Is Intellectual Property ‘Theft’ and How to Avoid It?“
Intellectual property rights give owners the ability to bar others from recreating, mimicking, and exploiting their work.
- Patent infringement occurs when a legally protected patent is used by another person or company without permission. Patents filed before June 8, 1995 were valid for 17 years. Patents filed after this date are valid for 20 years.8 The details of the patent are made public after the expiration date.
- Copyright violations occur when an unauthorized party recreates all or a portion of an original work such as art, music, or a novel. The duplicated content need not be an exact replica of the original to qualify as an infringement.
- Trademark infringement occurs when an unauthorized party uses a licensed trademark or a mark resembling the licensed trademark. A competitor might use a mark similar to its rival’s to disrupt business and attract their customer base. Businesses in unrelated industries may use identical or similar marks to capitalize on another company’s strong brand image.
Trade secrets are often protected by NDAs. They’ve violated the agreement and infringed upon the trade secret if a party to the agreement discloses all or parts of a trade secret to uninterested parties. It’s possible to be guilty of trade secret infringement when an NDA isn’t present.
Penalties for intellectual property infringement range from fines to prison sentences.
Avoiding Intellectual Property Infringement
Infringement is often done unwittingly. Make sure that your business isn’t using copyrighted or trademarked material to avoid being sued for infringement on intellectual property. Be sure that your brand or logo isn’t too similar to that of others so it could reasonably mislead someone into thinking it was the other brand.
It’s also a good idea to do a patent search to ensure that any ideas are your own. You may be able to find ways to license them through the proper channels if they’re not. Intellectual property lawyers specialize in this process to make sure that you aren’t using anybody else’s protected intellectual assets.
Make sure the contract explicitly states that any creative work that’s generated becomes the property of the company and not the person you hired if you hire someone to do creative work for you or your company.
Example of Intellectual Property
A widely publicized intellectual property case in 2017 involved a company called Waymo that sued Uber over alleged stealing and implementation of technology that related to Waymo’s self-driving car program.
The plans for the technology weren’t yet completely viable but they constituted significant intellectual property for Waymo. They were able to take action through the court system to attempt to prevent Uber from utilizing the information to enhance their own self-driving car program when they alleged that Uber had obtained their intellectual property.
What Are the 4 Main Types of Intellectual Property?
The four main types of intellectual property are patents, trademarks, copyrights, and trade secrets.
Who Owns Intellectual Property?
The creator of a work is generally deemed to be its owner but intellectual property ownership can be determined differently for various types of property and under various circumstances. The employer is the owner of that intellectual property if the work was created for them. Ownership rights can also be transferred to other parties.
What Is the Purpose of Intellectual Property?
Intellectual property can be used for various reasons such as branding and marketing as well as to protect assets that give a competitive advantage.
The Bottom Line
Assets come in many shapes and sizes but some don’t have a physical presence. Often called intangible assets, intellectual property holds just as much value for corporations as tangible assets. Logos and brand names that can be patented and trademarked help consumers recognize popular companies and their products. Companies should take the necessary steps to protect these assets so they aren’t misused or infringed upon by others.
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