by Leigh Goessl

Created on: June 19, 2009   Last Updated: February 03, 2012

Patents, trademarks and copyrights are different kinds of intellectual property protected by U.S. law. These protections include federal rights, international protections, and common-law rights of action should any kind of intellectual property be stolen or damaged.

The tricky part of intellectual property law is that the property is intangible, meaning it is property that has value, but cannot be seen or touched. Even though they aren't tangible items, they are valuable and these laws protect the intellectual property of the owner who came up with the concept.

While patents, trademarks and copyright fall under the blanket term intellectual property, there are significant differences between the three categories of intellectual property.

Here's a general rundown of what each term means and how it differs from other kinds of intellectual property:

Patent

Patents are legal rights assigned to the creator of an invention by the U.S. Government. A patent ensures the ideas behind the invention are legally entitled to the rightful owner who created it.

The term is limited to 20 years after the patent application has been filed. During this time no one but the owner can make, use or sell this invention in the U.S. or bring the product into the U.S. for sale.

Another important thing to understand about patents is the invention has to be original, useful and new in order to be approved. It is also worthy to know that there are fees associated with patents and if these fees are not paid, the owner forfeits his patent protection.

Trademark

Trademarks are used in business and are represented by the words, pictures, designs, symbols, or any other recognizable graphic, sound or words associated with a brand name. They identify any kind of goods where people who see/hear their trademark instantly knows the brand.

Logos are one of the most common forms of trademarks, which are created to make a product (or service) instantly recognizable. In order to be accepted as a trademark, the product must move interstate. A condition of trademarks is the mark must be unique and non-generic or else it cannot be trademarked (a good Court case to help illustrate this aspect of trademark law is Harley Davidson v. Grottanelli).

Trademark rights are specific. They are enforced to prevent others from using the same or similar mark, which may confuse consumers to the point they have difficulty differentiating the products. This, however, does not mean other companies cannot sell the same goods;

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