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Protect Your IP With Copyrights and Trademarks

IP is Often the Lifeblood of Any Business

Intellectual property (“IP”) is a term used often to describe a wide variety of creations. It’s a category of property, that includes intangible creations of the mind. This includes copyrights, patents, trademarks, and trade secrets. Because these things are so crucial to a business’ success, IP is often the lifeblood of any business, large or small. You can protect your intellectual property rights in several different ways, from registering your copyright with the U.S. Copyright Office, to applying for a trademark with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), and if warranted, by filing a patent application with the USPTO. Oftentimes it becomes confusing as to whether a piece of intellectual property is a copyright, trademark, or patent. This is because articles and media unfortunately use the terms interchangeably, when each is a distinct type of intellectual property. Let us help you protect your IP by acquiring the necessary copyrights and trademarks for your business.*

*Our office Pokala Law APC does not currently offer patent filings services and does not practice patent law.

Navigating the Complex World of Intellectual Property Legality

What is a copyright?

A copyright is a type of intellectual property that protects original works of authorship as soon as an author fixes the work in a tangible form of expression. What does “original” mean? Well, that’s been left intentionally murky. The most straightforward way is when the work is independently created without the influence of others, or without directly copying. However, art doesn’t live in a vacuum.

What’s a trademark?

At its heart, a trademark is nothing more than something identifiable that allows you to easily link a good or service to person that creates it. A trademark can be a word, a phrase, a symbol, a design, a color, a sound, a smell, or a combination of these things that identifies your good or services.

What’s a trade secret?

Trade secrets, unlike copyrights and trademarks, are a type of intellectual property that is not disclosed publicly. This includes, as a famous example, the Coca-Cola formula, but also includes practices, processes, designs, instruments, and patterns that have inherent economic value because they are not generally known and that the owner takes reasonable measures.

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