Intellectual Property

Intellectual Property Law: Protecting Your Hard Work

When you spend time, money and energy creating something new, you don’t want anyone else to try and use or replicate it. Fortunately, there are legal protections you can employ to protect your work. Intellectual property rights allow you to exclusively use and prevent others from using your creations.

At Artie Pennington Law Offices, we provide custom intellectual property solutions for our clients from offices in Austin and Kyle. Prior to becoming a lawyer, our founder, attorney Artie Pennington, gained over 20 years of experience with semiconductor and software design, development and consulting. His background as an engineer, inventor and business owner gives him a unique perspective on the legal challenges our clients in Texas face.

How Do Copyrights, Trademarks, Patents And Trade Secrets Differ?

Almost every business needs proficient legal advisers to help tackle intellectual property laws to remain relevant in today’s globalized marketplace. This is especially true when it comes to comprehending the complex pillars of intellectual property protection. However, the help of a skilled intellectual lawyer can assist you in safeguarding your business’s valuable intellectual assets.

Transitioning to a broader legal perspective with the help of our experienced intellectual attorney can help you understand the distinctions between copyrights, patents, trademarks and trade secrets. While each serves to protect intellectual property, they have distinctly different functions.

Copyright

Copyright is a form of protection granted to original works of authorship, like literary, artistic and musical creations, including software code and architectural designs. Once intellectual property is created and recorded, the creator automatically holds the copyright, granting exclusive rights for reproduction, distribution and more for a limited time – but formal copyright protection offers significantly better protection of those rights.

Trademark

Trademarks protect words, phrases, symbols or designs that distinguish the source of goods or services. Trademarks help consumers identify and determine products or services in the marketplace.

Trademarks can include brand names, logos, slogans, colors or sounds associated with a particular brand. Unlike copyrights, trademarks must be registered with the appropriate government authority to receive protection.

Patents

Patents protect inventions or discoveries that are novel, nonobvious and useful. This can include:

• Products
• Processes
• Machines
• Compositions of matter
• Improvements to existing inventions

Patents grant inventors exclusive rights to prevent others from making, using, selling or importing their invention for a limited time, typically 20 years from the patent application’s filing date.

Trade Secrets

Trade secrets include confidential business information that provides a competitive advantage. This can include formulas, recipes, algorithms, customer lists and manufacturing processes.

Unlike copyrights, trademarks and patents, trade secrets do not require registration or formal disclosure. Instead, trade secret protection relies on reasonable efforts to maintain secrecy. Owners can enforce legal safeguards indefinitely if secrecy persists, preventing unauthorized use or disclosure.

Deciding if you require a copyright, trademark or patent can be confusing. At Artie Pennington Law Offices, PLLC, our vast experience in this area of the law allows us to handle every intellectual property case effectively. No matter your intellectual property needs, we have the best strategies to secure the protection of your rights.

Let’s Work Together To Meet Your Goals

At Artie Pennington Law Offices, we will take the time required to understand your intellectual property and your ultimate goals. You can trust us to help you protect your hard work. Contact us today to schedule a consultation at our Kyle or Austin office by calling 512-772-1588 or completing an online contact form.