Learn Intellectual Property

Copyright law protects the original work of authorship fixed in a tangible form, not the idea, covering books, photos, paintings, code, and sculptures.

Identify creator as the default owner, unless the agreement says otherwise. Assignments or work-for-hire shift ownership; life plus 70 years, or 120 years for corporations.

Understand public domain and copyright, including the 70-year rule and rights by creation. Beware the 10% myth and de minimis quotes; research rights before using music, photos, or videos.

Own your copyrights and learn to sue for infringement by registering your work, proving access and substantial similarity, and pursuing damages and liability for responsible parties.

Explain the broad liability for copyright infringement, including direct, vicarious, and contributory liability, even for unknowingly infringing parties, and how DMCA safe harbor and notice‑and‑takedown limit liability for neutral websites.

Explore fair use and parody defenses in copyright, using the four-part test to assess the underlying work, nature, purpose, amount, and market effect.

Define a trademark and a service mark, and explain what can be trademarked. Brand names, colors, sounds, smells, shapes, and slogans identify the source of goods.

Understand the difference between copyright and trademark: copyrights protect original works fixed in tangible form; trademarks protect brand identity and product names, so file a trademark—not a copyright—for a brand.

Trademark rights arise from using a mark in commerce, not from registering it. Evaluate strength along the spectrum—generic, descriptive, suggestive, and arbitrary or fanciful—to assess brand protection and infringement risk.

Understand how genericide reduces descriptive trademark distinctiveness when consumers describe products by brand names, and how shapes, colors, packaging, and trade dress must acquire distinctiveness after five years or more.

Assess slogan availability by researching prior users before adoption. File a USPTO trademark application based on intent to use to protect nationwide rights.

File a trademark through the USPTO for nationwide protection; start with a wordmark to cover text, then consider logo or slogan later, and extend internationally via Madrid Protocol.

Explore what happens after filing a trademark: from six-month examination and office actions to use or intent-to-use paths, oppositions, and the ongoing maintenance and renewal requirements that sustain a registration.

Trademark infringement uses a seven-factor likelihood-of-confusion test—strength of the mark, proximity, channels, actual confusion, care, intent, and expansion—to guide injunctions, damages, and defenses such as fair use and free speech.

Understand patents, a form of intellectual property governed by novelty, utility, non-obviousness, and statutory bar, with claims and drawings that establish a 20-year monopoly and enable licensing or infringement actions.

Compare provisional and utility patents, outlining filing requirements, conversion timing, and expiration. Explain how the America Invents Act shifts priority to first to file, encouraging timely patent filings.

Disclosing your idea before filing a patent triggers a 12-month clock and may create prior art if you don't file. NDAs protect your idea, preserve filing window, and ensure confidentiality.

Learn how software and mobile apps can be patented by tying the method to a computer system, ensuring utility, novelty, and non-obviousness in a growing high tech field.

Explore patenting your ideas by choosing provisional or full utility patents, conducting or skipping patent searches, and navigating office actions, fees, and timelines.

Determine who owns patent rights by understanding assignments, inventor status, and employment agreements. Dispel myths and document invention with dated records, notebooks, and emails.

A patent grants the right to sue for infringement, injunctions, and damages. Infringement relies on patent claims and may involve direct or indirect liability, with defenses including exhaustion and non-infringement.

Understand how trade secrets protect valuable, secret information under law through reasonable secrecy efforts and nondisclosure agreements that prevent disclosure, misuse, and protect ideas not yet patented.

Understand trade secrets, misappropriation, and the proof required: secrecy, value, and protective measures; learn remedies like injunctions or damages and defenses such as lack of duty or reverse engineering.

Rights of publicity law protects an individual's face, voice, and persona from unauthorized monetization; states vary, with waivers, model releases, and painting exceptions for limited prints.

Rights of publicity protect a person’s name, face, persona, or voice; obtain a model release for video, photos, or websites, and beware stock images used for endorsements.