Types of Intellectual Property
There are three main ways to protect an idea in the United States; patent it, get a copyright, or keep it a trade secret. Each one has its own advantage, but let's start by defining the difference between ownership and possession. While possession refers to actual control of something, ownership refers only to the right to that control. Given that you own something, what kinds of rights do you have? Moral and legal scholars disagree on the exact list, but most accept that you have the right to:
- Use it yourself
- Say who else can use it and how
- Earn income from it
- Give it to someone else by sale, inheritance, or gift
- Change or modify it
- Destroy it
Every nation has their own view on intellectual property, however, the United States offers three types of protection; patents, copyrights, and trade secrets.
Patents
- Patents can cover inventions (machines), substances (chemicals), and processes (like synthesis). The protection for a patent only extends to the design or application of the idea, not the theoretical basis. There are long examinations of the idea determining if the idea is new and not obvious to someone trained in the field. A patent provides protection for only about twenty years.
Copyrights
- Copyrights cover specific ways of expressing ideas in words (books and articles). This only covers the form in which the data or ideas are presented, not the data or ideas themselves. In recent years, copyrights have been granted for software, however, these patents are often difficult to get. Copyrights provide protection until fifty years after the last author has died.
Trade Secrets
- By definition, there is no direct legal protection in trade secrets. However, many legal jurisdictions recognize that patentable ideas, lists of customers, cost and pricing data, plans for new products, and the like have commercial value when kept secret, even in the absence of formal legal protection. If the idea is leaked and you have made diligent efforts to contain the secret, the courts may uphold your right to exclusive use even in the event of loss. This normally comes about from employee disloyalty or espionage. Trade secrets can be kept forever.
