Intellectual Property: Summary of Types

People often get each of the different types confused. A patent lawyer is not the same thing as a copyright lawyer, just like a patent and a copyright are two different things. Here is a quick summary of each form of intellectual property:

Patents can be granted for new, useful, and non-obvious inventions for which the inventor applies for in a formal patent application, and grants them certain protective rights. Inventions qualifying for patents in the US fall into three categories: utility, design, or plant.

In contrast, copyrights are automatically granted to the creator of an original work at the time of creation, and apply to things like books, movies, music, and art.

Trademarks refer to a mark used to promote a brand or product, like a word, symbol, phrase, or name. They can be unregistered or registered, with registration indefinitely renewable.

The last form of intellectual property is a trade secret. It’s a company’s secret sauce they haven’t disclosed to the public, like Google’s search engine algorithms. They last indefinitely, but there’s no protection. If someone discovers it or invents it separately, it’s fair game.

Each of the forms of intellectual property is different, has different requirements to qualify as that type of intellectual property, and different protections afforded to owner. In the following sections, we will examine in depth each form and the problems that have risen with each in the digital era.