The following information is presented to you here as an informal outline to the Patent, Trademark and Copyright procedures as described by a local writer. We do not make any claims as to the accuracy of the content nor be held liable for any decisions based on the excerpt below, quoted from a local new organization, or the contents of this site.

  You’ve worked hard designing a Web site with unique designs and a different kind of application. Maybe you’re offering a product or a service and don’t want people to copy your offer. The questions you want answered are, "How can I protect what I’ve ‘invented’?" and " Do I need a patent, trademark or a copyright?"

This column will help you answer these questions; but before you begin, you need to know three things:

• First, even if you have an ironclad patent, trademark, or copyright, enforcing any one of these is difficult at best; and if you have to hire an attorney to enforce your rights, the cost can be astronomical.
• Second, you can file for all three yourself, but if you expect to receive a patent or a trademark in your lifetime, you probably should hire a trained attorney to help you through your government’s maze of rules and regulations. 
• Third, just about any question you can ask has already been asked, and answers are available on the Web and by phone. For patent and trademark information contact the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office (PTO) or (703) 308-4357; and for copyright information, contact the U.S. Copyright Office (CO) or (202) 707-3000.

Patents: Patents come in two varieties: design patents with protection of 14 years and utility patents with protection of 20 years. A design patent is relatively easy to obtain, but it only protects the appearance or ornamental design of your invention. It’s not worth much as potential competitors can change the looks of your invention to circumvent your patent. A utility patent protects the function of your invention, and is much more complicated to obtain.

    Putting the words: Patent Pending, or Pat Pending on your product only means your patent has been formally filed with the PTO. It doesn’t mean you are protected, but it may discourage someone from copying your design should you eventually receive a patent.

To obtain a patent, your invention must pass four major tests:

• One: Your invention must be a process, a machine, a manufacturing process, a composition, or a new use of any of the above.
• Two: Your invention must be useful.
• Three: Your invention must contain at least one feature unknown to the public that sets it apart from every other similar invention.
• Four: Your invention must not be "obvious" to someone in your industry.

Trademarks: A trademark is a "brand name." It is any distinctive word, symbol or combination of words and symbols that distinguishes your product form all the others out there.
If you use your trademark on a regular basis, there is no expiration, but you do have to renew every 10 years.
You can use the trademark symbol – a small "tm" – the moment you decide to use your trademark, but you can only use the registered mark after the PTO has registered your trademark.
To obtain a trademark, you will need to file either a use application, meaning you are already using the trademark in your business, or file an intent to use application, meaning you intend to use the trademark.

Copyrights: A copyright is a legal protection for your expression of an idea, lasts for your lifetime plus 50 years, and needs no renewal.
Be careful here; a copyright only protects the way something looks or a particular arrangement of words, musical notes, or programming, and does not protect either the subject matter or the information you are conveying.
The easiest way to explain a copyright is to say that authors, software programmers, composers, artist of all kinds (including graphic artists, cinematographers, advertisers, photographers, sculptors and others), can all copyright their material.

U.S. Patent & Trademark Office (PTO) or (703) 308-4357
U.S. Copyright Office (CO) or (202) 707-3000
IBM Patent search and research web site 

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