What Are Some Examples of Intellectual Property Types?

IP is a pretty sophisticated notion that encompasses a wide range of concepts. Discover the many categories of intellectual property.

What you’ll discover:

What Exactly Is Copyright?
What Is the Difference Between a Trademark and a Service Mark?
What Exactly Is a Patent?

IP is a pretty sophisticated notion that encompasses a wide range of concepts. The simplest approach to categorize these many forms of IP is to evaluate how they are registered.

What Exactly Is Copyright?

Copyright protects tangible creative works such as books, movies, music, games, artwork, and other types of creative items. Every day, you see and hear instances of copyrighted intellectual property. Copyright protects all expressions of original ideas and creativity. While a copyright may be registered with the Library of Congress Copyright Office, the author of such an expression retains ownership of the copyright—and all associated rights—regardless of registration.

What Is the Difference Between a Trademark and a Service Mark?

A trademark, another form of IP, is a mark that differentiates the source of products or services that is registered with the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). Trademarks are an unusually wide kind of intellectual property. A trademark may be anything that distinguishes one firm from its rivals, such as:

A slogan A logo
A noise
A shade

Trademarking and copyright may overlap; for example, a logo may be copyrightable as an artistic expression while simultaneously being registered as a trademark. A trademark, on the other hand, may protect phrases, designs, and other aspects that are not deemed copyrightable. Trademarks, like copyrights, may be protected under common law and the Lanham Act even if they are not registered.

What Exactly Is a Patent?

Patents are specialized kinds of intellectual property that are registered with the USPTO; they protect innovations and functional designs for items. The inventor receives exclusive rights to use the patented device for a fixed period of time in return for publicly revealing the innovation or design, which is now 20 years for utility and plant patents and 14 years for design patents. A utility patent protects innovations, which are non-obvious and useful methods, machinery, manufactured goods, or substance compositions; plant patents protect novel plant kinds; and design patents protect attractive designs.

Unlike intellectual property covered by trademarks or copyrights, practical innovations and designs are only protected if the USPTO grants a patent. Patentable innovations, on the other hand, may be protected as trade secrets under the Uniform Trade Secrets Act provided they have economic worth and appropriate precautions are taken to preserve their confidentiality. Some businesses and inventors chose trade secret protection over the disclosure necessary to get a patent.