Intellectual Property is the umbrella term for a broad range of intangible (that is you cannot see or feel them-except for the paper or screens they are displayed on) property created by an individual or on behalf of a company, and for which domestic and international laws provide protection to reward and encourage inventiveness, although the ultimate product of an Intellectual Property creation typically has no physical form.

Intellectual Property includes Patents (which covers inventions-including devices, chemical compositions and methods), Trademarks (which covers words and/or symbols to identify the goods or services of a particular company), Industrial Designs and Design Patents (which cover not what a device does but what it looks like-i.e. shape or ornamentation for example), Copyrights (which prevents copying any significant portion of a broad variety of works including literary, artistic, musical, and which typically covers the expression of an idea and not the idea itself), Integrated Circuit typography (which covers the schematic of the layers of an integrated circuit), Plant breeders rights/Plant patents (which cover new created species of plants), Trade Secrets (those business concepts for which registered Intellectual Property protection is not available or intentionally not sought, and treated as confidential by the owner, and for which applicable laws provide limited protection), and the licensing, marketing and litigation thereof.

Please feel free to review the more detailed information on each of these subject areas, and related areas, set out on our linked pages set out below and call us to discuss how this protection might apply to your Intellectual Property and you and/or your organization.

As you will see from the basic information set out on the above listed pages, most areas of Intellectual Property is governed by a set of lengthy statutes with significant interpretation and case law related thereto (i.e. often over 100 years of still relevant law). A preliminary call to our office will often enable us to quickly advise you as to what is applicable and not applicable and save you substantial time and expense. Please feel free to call us call us for a free introductory discussion with respect to Intellectual Property laws which may benefit you or your company.