Intellectual property is a field that envelops the products of the mind including symbols, names, literary and artistic works, inventions, designs, and images that are used in commerce. It is defined as the general name given which covers rights in trademarks, copyright designs, patents, among others.

Patent

It is a legal right given by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USTPO) to prohibit others form using, selling, making, and manufacturing an invention in the States, as well as forbids importing of the invention in the country.

It is a set of exclusive rights that will last for a certain period of time, which are provided by the state in exchange for disclosure of an invention by its inventor or his/her assignee.

Procedures in giving patents to inventors, also known as patentees, are different in every country. In the United States, when applying for a patent, an application must be submitted to the Patent and Trademark Office. Precise plans and drawing for the inventions, as well as a certain amount of fee, must also be provided.

The three types of patents granted by the government are:

?utility patents- a utility patent lasts for 20 years, starting from the day its application was filed

?design patents ? a design patent lasts for 14 years, starting from the day its application was filed

?plant patents- a plant patent lasts for 20 years, starting from the day its application was filed

A person commits an infringement if he/she utilized a certain invention without the owner's permission.

Copyright

Copyright is crucial if a person wants to protect his/her original works. It provides the owner exclusive rights for their authorized work including its reproduction, distribution, and even when a copyrighted work is performed. The copyright in the work of authorship instantly becomes the property of the material's creator.

Some copyrightable works include:

?audiovisual works as well as motion pictures

?sound recordings

?musical works which includes any accompanying words

?choreographic and pantomime works

?literary works

?dramatic works which include any accompanying music

?sculpture, pictorial, and graphical works

However, there are certain materials that are not protected by the copyright law. Materials that are not protected include:

?short phrases, titles, and names

?common designs or symbols

?mere variations of typographic decoration, lettering or coloring

?mere listings of contents or ingredients

?works that were not set in a tangible form like choreographic works that have not been recorded or noted

?methods, systems, ideas, concepts, processes, principles, devices, or discoveries, as distinguished from an explanation, illustration, or description

Copyright infringement happens when a person copies another's copyrighted items without permission from the latter.

Copyright is a type of protection granted by the laws of the United States to the authors of original materials. Its protection is extended to all unpublished works regardless of the domicile or the nationality of the author.

Trademarks

A trademark is a distinguishing indicator or style which is used by business organizations, individuals, and other legal entities to uniquely recognize the source of its services and/or other products to consumers.

It is a form of intellectual property, which is normally a word, phase, name logo, design, symbol, image, phrase, or the mixture of all these elements.