The basics of intellectual property law covered with concise explanations and easy to understand advice. Musicians, writers and other creative artists will find in-depth coverage of copyright law, while inventors can benefit from articles like how to choose a trademark and how to file for its registration. Is someone posting your music online without your permission? Or capitalizing on a process or product you created? Learn how to protect yourself from Internet copyright violation, and research the basics of enforcing a patent, with help from eHow's legal experts.
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Oral contracts do carry legal weight. Courts enforce them when they can. The problem they face is deciding which version of the verbal agreement to uphold. Copyright cases in this respect can...
Company Registration India is the procedure of registering a company in India, which makes your business successful and efficient. Company registration companies in India provide company...
An individual's private email is protected by federal law from access by both the government and third parties, including Internet Service Providers, unless the person owning the email account has...
Patents represent legal rights that protect inventions. As a patent holder, you can allow or prohibit your invention to be produced, utilized or sold. To obtain a patent, you must disclose...
Section 45 of the Lanham Act defines a trademark as “any word, name, symbol, or device, or combination thereof … used by a person … to identify and distinguish his or her goods, including a unique...
Authors make clear their exclusive ownership rights in written works by writing a copyright statement. The statement announces the owner's exclusive rights to prevent unauthorized uses by others....
Trademarking a domain name is an effective way of protecting your business or brand on the internet. By taking the time to obtain the rights to your specific domain name you'll have an...
Patent attorneys are not just lawyers, but lawyers who have specialized in the highly complex field of intellectual property and patent law. Because patent attorneys generally have advanced...
Setting out to invent something useful is a great way to better the world and earn money at the same time. With so many problems that need solutions there is a virtually unlimited amount of ideas...
Confidentiality agreements are also known as nondisclosure agreements. They are a type of contract designed to prevent parties from divulging private information. Companies commonly employ...
A patent is the type of legal protection granted to inventors to secure their intellectual property rights for their work. The authority for granting patents is stated in Article 1, Section 8 of...
Sometimes you will come across a wizz-bang item that you just can't take your eyes off of. It might be a water filter, a mouse, a screwdriver with an odd fitting. It doesn't matter. Chances are...
Article 1, section 8 of the United State Constitution charges the government with the responsibility of protecting inventors and their inventions. The United State Patent and Trademark Office...
Copyright laws exist to protect the creative works of writers, filmmakers, sculptors, furniture designers, and any other type of artist. According to the United States Copyright Office, the 1976...
While most copyright infringements fall under the jurisdiction of civil law in the United States, in the early 1990s it became a felony to make more than 10 copies of a copyrighted item or the...
While copyright law regarding written material, films and photographs has long been established, the field of software copyright is a relatively new area. Software copyright is used by individuals...
Copyright protects intellectual property from being used without the copyright owner's permission or compensation. Violation of the copyright law is punishable by jail time and fines. Any original...
A patent agent helps inventors who aren't sure how to navigate the complex patent application process.
Some people think copyright laws don't hold as much weight on the Internet as they do in the traditional printed world. They're wrong. Copyright laws apply equally to publishing on the Web as they...
A patent is a set of exclusive legal rights granted to an inventor by a government (or regional authority as in the case of the European Union) for a set period of time that prevents others from...
You have created an original work, and want to protect your creation with a copyright. Works that can be copyrighted include: books, articles, staged works, music and lyrics, films, broadcasts,...
In the United States copyrights have generally been governed by federal law. Title 17 of the U.S. Code, sometimes known as the Copyright Act of 1976 (the "Copyright Act"), is the most important...
Land patents may seem like an archaic and complicated topic; however, by educating yourself, you could protect your property and yourself from anyone contesting your rights in the future. A land...
Currently, almost every computer comes equipped with the ability to burn DVDs. This coupled with the popularity of rent-by-mail companies such as Netflix and Blockbuster has caused many to wonder...
A trademark is any word, name, symbol, slogan, design or combination of such devices that identifies or distinguishes a specific brand or product in the market place. A trademark is used not only...
The details of patent law are complex, and the process for obtaining a patent can take years in some cases. Nevertheless, the fundamentals of patent law are not particularly difficult to grasp. If...
Copyright law protects the exclusive use of an artistic or creative work by the copyright holder, who is not always the author or creator of the work. Copyright law enables others to use a portion...
Australia's Trade Practices Act (TPA) governs business and creates antitrust laws to promote and guarantee free, unrestricted competition. Explicitly outlawing restrictive business practices in...
Filing for patent protection of an invention is a long and complex process that takes years to complete. Nevertheless, the rewards can be well worth the price if your patent protects a potentially...
Applying for a patent doesn't require a lawyer, but you should be prepared for some work and some expense. It can take years to be granted a patent and cost as much as $1,500.
Registering a copyright for a collection requires the same process as registering copyrights for individual articles, except the registrant benefits from paying only one fee for the entire...
A patent is a form of intellectual property where a government grants an inventor exclusive rights to use, sell and manufacture and profit from his invention for a specific period of time.
In Pakistan, any person can apply for a patent on his invention, according to that country's Intellectual Property Organization. The Intellectual Property Organization of Pakistan states four main...
Patent law has become fairly standardized worldwide. Nevertheless, the patent law of every country has individual quirks that set it a degree apart from other countries. Patent law in India is...
When you think about what it means to copyright digital pictures, there are some things you need to understand first. Copyright simply refers to the fact that an individual owns something. As...
Your company name and your company logo are what you use to identify your business. In order to protect your business and help your business grow, you want to prevent others from using your name...
Obtaining a patent can protect your idea that leads to a novel, useful and non-obvious invention or improvement. The cost depends on several factors, such as if you file pro se (independently or...
Getting a patent in the United States can take years and a lot of money, and seeking patent protection in other countries requires additional time and further expenses. However, being able to...
Trying to obtain a patent during wartime can pose problems. If the disclosure of a patent in which the government has an interest is deemed to be detrimental to national security, the...
A master recording license is a document that allows you to use a piece of music copyrighted to someone else. You should obtain a master recording license if you're using music for advertisements...
The Software Copyright Act, also known as the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA), went into effect in 1998. It was designed to modernize U.S. copyright law in response to new technology and...
So, you have an idea for a million dollar invention. All you need is a patent to turn this brainstorm into a stream of royalties. Unfortunately, an idea by itself is not patentable. In this...
Copyright law is still struggling to keep pace with advancements in computer technology. The ease with which copyrighted material can be copied by almost anyone has resulted in rampant piracy....
One of the most important strengths of any community is keeping its parks safe and well maintained. Usually, a clean, safe and secure park shows that a community values its environment. Park...
Although copyright law was originally created to protected artistic works, it has gradually been expanded to protect certain other kinds of works, including software programs. Although copyright...
Copyright is the part of the law that protects the interests of artists and other producers of intellectual property. The U.S. Copyright Office, part of the Library of Congress, maintains records...
Understanding fair use exceptions relevant to copyrighted materials used in the classroom helps avoid illegal copyright violations, and helps students develop respect for the intellectual property...
In the high-tech world of intellectual property, it can be easy to forget one of the central purposes of patents. Originally, the patent system was designed not only to encourage innovation, but...
A patent gives you exclusive rights to your invention, meaning that others cannot, without your consent, profit from it or any device that might be construed as an imitation. If you are an...
Trademark and copyright laws are legal devices designed to allow creators to protect the exclusive use of their creations. Trademark laws essentially protect product reputation and business...