| Patents, trademarks, copyrights, trade secrets, and certain kinds of contracts make up what is called "intellectual property," which may be traded like other kinds of property. |
| You only have one year from the time you first use your invention publicly or offer it for sale in the U.S., or publish a description of it anywhere in the world, to file an application for a patent in the U.S. After that you may be barred from a patent. |
| Patents give you the right to exclude others from making, using, selling, or importing your invention into the U.S. for a period of 20 years from the date of filing (14 years from issue in design cases). |
| Patents cover "things", processes, or methods, not ideas or concepts. |
| Trademarks and service marks protect the identity of your business and the source of your products. You may register your trademark nationally "®" or on an individual state level. |
| Copyrights protect original written and other forms of expression. |
| The term "patent pending" means a patent application is on file. A pending patent application may or may not be approved as a patent. Even though a pending patent does not prevent others from making, using, selling or importing your invention, it has value in that it puts competitors on notice that a patent may soon follow. Under the American Inventors Protection Act, you are permitted to publish your patent application before it ever issues as a patent. A competitor who is given such notice may be liable for damages for making, using, selling or importing your invention between the time it is published and the date it is issued to you as a patent. |
| Patents generally take from a year to three years to issue. Applicant for patent may request "accelerated examination" by the government to limit examination time to one year or less, at additional cost. |
| Federal trademarks only apply to marks used in interstate commerce. They can be renewed every ten years. Patents cannot be renewed, and copyrights with very few exceptions, also cannot. |
| States may issue trademarks, but not copyrights or patents. |
| Most companies require that you at least have a patent pending before they will discuss licensing your invention. |
| Both patent agents and patent attorneys are authorized to represent clients before the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. They are required to have at least a baccalaureate degree in science and pass the federal patent bar examination. A patent attorney must also have a graduate degree in law and pass the state bar examination is his or her state. Patent attorneys can practice law in other fields of law including copyrights and trademarks, and represent clients in litigation. |
| See the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office website for more information. |