Consider one of the most famous trade secrets of all: the formula for Coca-Cola. However, if the invention cannot be reverse engineered, then trade secret protection may be the superior type of protection. For an invention like this, patent protection is the only way to go. Without patent protection on the mouse trap, there is no legal bar to such copying.
They can disassemble it, study it, and reproduce it without your assistance. For instance, a new type of mouse trap would be easy for a competitor to copy. If an invention can be reverse engineered, trade secret protection will be impossible to maintain. The secrecy requirement of a trade secret represents one major difference from patent law. Proper protection requires a trade secret protection plan, as explained below. To have and maintain trade secret protection requires (1) the secret actually be a secret and (2) you take steps to maintain the secrecy. This potentially includes inventions, processes, and formulas, but unlike patents, also includes customer and supplier lists, business methods and processes, and other business information that gives a competitive advantage. A trade secret can be anything of value to your company that is unique and not known to persons outside your company. Trade secrets can protect many of the same concepts as patents. Therefore, if you create a patent with lucrative uses, you can be sure that following the expiration of your patent, others will use your design. All of these types, including patents, require the public disclosure of the invention and how it functions. Of the three federally registerable types of intellectual property, patent protection is the hardest to obtain, most expensive, and lasts the least amount of time.
TRADE SECRETS REGISTRATION
In contrast, copyright registration currently lasts for the life of the author plus 70 years and trademark protection can last forever – as long as the trademark is used and subject to federal registration maintenance filings. However, not every concept that is protectable under patent law will qualify as a trade secret and trade secrets require ongoing diligence to maintain “secret” status.Ĭomparison of Patent Protection vs. In addition, trade secrets have the added value of having no expiration date – so long as it remains a secret. However, in certain situations, trade secret protection can be a valuable and, in some ways, an easier alternative to obtaining patent protection. Further, after proceeding through the initial patent application process, an applicant may be refused the patent after having spent significant dollars on the initial application. Patents can be expensive to obtain, expensive to enforce, and the exclusive rights are limited to a relatively short time period. Patent Office and demonstrate that the invention is new or “novel” in its area of innovation and compared to prior technology, and it must be useful and “nonobvious.” The most difficult and expensive aspect of patent prosecution is finding a patent attorney knowledgeable in the technological area of the invention and able to demonstrate the invention’s novelty.
In return the invention must be described in detail to the Patent Office which publishes the information, thus increasing the amount of technological knowledge available to the public. This legal monopoly is considered a reward for the time and effort expended in creating the invention. Trade Secrets Can Be a Valuable Form of Intellectual Property ProtectionĪ patent is a 20-year exclusive monopoly on the right to make, use and sell a qualifying invention. Trade secrets protect confidential business information that generally provides a competitive edge to its owner. Copyrights protect the form of a literary or artistic work and provides the owner with the ability to determine who can reproduce or distribute a work, perform or display a work or prepare derivative works. Trademarks permit their owner to market or promote a mark as the source or origin of a product or service to consumers. Generally, a patent permits its owner to determine who can make, use or sell an invention. In the U.S., intellectual property commonly refers to patents, trademarks, copyrights and trade secrets. However, this definition overlooks “trade secrets,” meaning confidential business information, including any business practice or process, which is generally not known to others and gives the company an economic advantage over its competitors. The World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) defines the term “intellectual property” or “IP” as creations of the mind, such as inventions, literary and artistic works, designs, and symbols, and names and images used in commerce.
0 kommentar(er)
