Patents and Trademarks

Getting Started with Trademarks:

Before you apply for a trademark, you should familiarize yourself with the basics of what is a trademark. Determine if you need a trademark or another form of Intellectual Property protection. Below you will find some helpful links which can help guide you through the entire process of how to trademark a name.

• Trademark Basics
• Using Private Legal Services
• Non-USPTO Solicitations
• Trademark FAQs
• Trademark Process
• Madrid Protocol

Maintaining Your Trademark:

• Check Status & View Documents
• Responding to Office Actions
• Registration Maintenance/Renewal/Correction Forms

Getting Started with Copyrights:

Every year, millions of Americans create original works - books, music, research and other forms of creative expression. All of these creations are intellectual property, and all of them are protected by copyright. For writers, editors, and publishers, understanding copyright issues is essential, especially now that the production of counterfeit and pirated goods, including written works, has become so prevalent. Indeed, according to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, more than $650 billion in pirated and counterfeited goods will flood the world market in 2005. Understanding what is a copyright and making sure that your publication's property is not among these pirated goods is critical.

Copyright Basics


Getting Started with Trade Secrets:

A fourth type of intellectual property, in addition to patents, trademarks, and copyrights, is trade secrets. Trade secrets consist of information and can include a formula, pattern, compilation, program, device, method, technique or process. To meet the most common definition of a trade secret, it must be used in business, and give an opportunity to obtain an economic advantage over competitors who do not know or use it.

Uniform Trade Secrets Act