Intellectual Property
Protect your work from copycats. Learn the difference between trademarks, copyrights, and patents so you can safeguard your intellectual property.
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E-Publishing and the Importance of Copyright
With the popularity of e-books and growth of the technology to support them, electronic publishing has become a lot easier. Yet with that ease and a wide open marketplace, it becomes even more important you take the necessary steps to protect your creative work with a copyright.
· 2 min read
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Estate Plans and Intellectual Property: What to Consider
Intellectual property is a valuable asset that often gets forgotten in the estate planning process.
· 4 min read
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How to Talk About Your Nonpatented Invention Without Having Your Idea Stolen
Until you've filed your application with the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office, you should be extra careful about who you talk to and how you share your ideas.
· 4 min read
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The State of the 'Fair Use' Defense in the Art World
The great French Post-Impressionist painter Paul Gauguin once said, 'Art is either plagiarism or revolution.' More than 100 years later, this statement is still up for debate among artists, some of whose work is being found to infringe others' copyrights.
· 4 min read
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Get the Most from Your Provisional Application for Patent
You've got an invention, but what an ordeal just to get it to 'patent pending' status. The reality is, filing a provisional application for patent is not as confusing or as intimidating as people think—especially if you know what to expect.
· 5 min read
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The Copyright Commons: Works in the Public Domain
Many of us have looked at a piece of art, watched a movie, or listened to a popular song and thought of using it to create something new. Well…can you?
· 4 min read
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Developing an IP Strategy
Protecting your invention, logo or creative work with a patent, trademark or copyright is important. But equally important is creating an IP strategy.
· 5 min read
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Court Confirms Architectural Drawings Protected by Copyright
Copyright is a form of protection provided by the laws of the United States to the authors of “original works of authorship” fixed in a tangible medium of expression. The U.S. Copyright Act identifies several categories of copyrightable works, including literary works, musical works, motion pictures, and other audiovisual works, and pictorial, graphic, and sculptural works.
· 3 min read
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How the Copyright Alert System Discourages Illegal Downloads
Content creators have partnered with major internet service providers to develop the Copyright Alert System, which identifies users who download copyrighted content illegally and imposes certain consequences. Here's how it works and what it might do for intellectual property protection online.
· 3 min read
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Copyright Law's First Sale Doctrine
In early 2013, the United States Supreme Court decided a case involving a longstanding principle known as the first sale doctrine, which allows the owner of a lawfully made copy of a copyrighted work to sell or otherwise dispose of the possession of that particular copy, without the authority of the copyright owner. The doctrine is codified in §109 of the Copyright Act of 1976.
· 3 min read