Understanding the difference between a few terms like patents, copyright, and trademark can take some time. They may seem similar to one another and in some cases, such as protecting your rights, they are similar. But often it will depend on the material that you are using and how you plan to use the idea that will determine which one you will use. Some of the differences between the three terms includes:
# Patents: These are going to be legal rights that are meant to protect the inventions of an individual or company for a certain amount of time. They will exclude others from being able to use, reproduce, or profit off the idea without your permission, so it is a great way for you to be able to have an idea and make money off it.
# Trademarks: These are going to be legal protections for marks, designs, phrases, or words that are meant to identify a specific service or product. This is more of an intellectual property that is able to contribute to an image or the reputation of the product where it belongs and usually a company is going to own it as well. In some cases, the trademark is worth enough that the company is going to include it in their valuations.
# Copyrights: These are going to be some of the legal protections on any creative works of the mind. This will often work when you write a book, do visual art, choreography, and even software. This can protect you from someone else writing something that is very similar to your own and making a profit off some of your success as well. You will be able to get up to 70 years from the death of the author, which will give you some protection along the way.
Each of these terms is a little bit different, but they all provide you with some protection based on what you have come up with or created with your own mind. This can make them a good option for you.
Finding the right Washington DC Patent attorneys will make all of the difference when it is time to protect your rights and make sure that you are able to keep ownership over an idea of an improvement that you come up with. The idea is to encourage people to come up with innovative ideas because they are able to profit off them for longer. When you need help understanding some of your rights under the patent laws, then trust our team to be there every step of the way.
