Intellectual Property Rights & Wrongs

Forms of Protection for Intellectual Property:

Copyright protects:

  • the words, images, sounds, etc., used to express an idea,
  • the selection and arrangment of ideas,
  • but not ideas or facts themselves.

    Patent protects (as long as they are novel and non-obvious):

  • ideas expressed as an invention, and new uses for them.

    Trademark protects (given particularly strong enforcement by the owner):

  • names, titles, short phrases.

    Trade secrets protect:

  • an idea, written words, formula, process, procedure, technical design, list, marketing plan, etc.
  • or any other non-public information that offers its owner a competitive advantage.

    Other forms of protection (e.g., contractual protection) also exist.

    Next: Duration of Copyright
    Back: Requirements to Claim Copyright
    Up: Outline of This Session

    Copyright © April, 1997, by Carol Scheftic (based on original work at The Geometry Center and used with permission). All rights reserved.
    Please send comments on this page, or requests for permission to re-use material from this page, to: scheftic@geom.umn.edu