If you were a small business owner, what should you know about intellectual property?

You are
going to explore the United States Patent and Trademark Offices website to answer question the
following questions for small business owners.
The Website: http://www.uspto.gov/smallbusiness/
1. Click on All about Patents and answer the following questions:
a. What is a patent?
~ A patent for an invention is a grant of property right to the inventor.
b. What is the period of time that a patent is good for?
~20 years from the day that the inventor filed the patent application.
c. What does a patent help protect?
~The patent helps protect the inventor and also the product, it excludes others from making,
using selling or trying to sell the invention in the U.S.
d. Who issues patents?
~ People that want their invention protected.

2. Click on types of Patents and list and describe the three different types of patents

Utility patents may be granted to anyone who invents or discovers any new and useful
process, machine, article of manufacture, or composition of matter, or any new and useful
improvement thereof.
Design patents may be granted to anyone who invents a new, original, and ornamental
design for an article of manufacture.
Plant patents may be granted to anyone who invents or discovers and asexually
reproduces any distinct and new variety of plant.

3. Click on Filing for a Patent and answer the following questions:

a. What are the steps for filing a patent?
1. Starting the Process
2. Filing for a U.S. Patent
3. Filing for a Patent Overseas
~ Checking to see if your invention is patentable.
~ Conduct a search of prior art.
b. What inventions can be patented?
~ Any invention.

4. Click on All About Trademarks

a. What is a trademark?
~A trademark protects words, names, symbols, sounds, or colors that distinguish goods and
services from those manufactured or sold by others and indicate the source of the goods.
b. What is a service mark?
~ A trademark to identify a service rather than a product.

5. Click on Types of Trademarks.

a. What do trademarks protect?
~ A trademark protects words, names, symbols, sounds, or colors that distinguish goods and
services from those manufactured or sold by others and indicate the source of the goods.
b. How long do trademarks last?
~ 10 years from the day you filed the application.
c. What are the three types of Trademarks?

Word marks
Logos
colors

6. Click on Registering a Trademark

a. What are some of the advantages to registering a Trademark?
~ 1. Discourages others from using confusingly similar marks in the first place.
2. Protects against registration of confusingly similar marks.
3. Treats the mark as if used nationwide as of the application date, which is vital in a system.
4. Provides nationwide notice of ownership of the mark as of the registration date, preventing
others from claiming their subsequent adoption of the mark was in good faith

b. What are the steps to filing for a Trademark?

~ 1. Product must be eligible for a trade mark.
2. conduct a search
7. Click on All About Copyrights

a. What do copyrights protect?

~ A copyright is a form of protection provided to the authors of "original works of authorship"
including literary, dramatic, musical, artistic, and certain other intellectual works, both published
and unpublished. A copyright protects the form of expression rather than the subject matter of the
writing.
b. How long do copyrights last?
~ 70 years after the Death of the author

8. Click on Copyright FAQ

a. What does Section 106 of the 1976 Copyright Act give the owner of the copyright the right
to do?
~ Claim authorship and makes it optional to use his/her name
b. What is the doctrine of fair use?
~the fair use of a copyrighted work, including such use by reproduction in copies or
phonorecords or by any other means specified by that section, for purposes such as criticism,
comment, news reporting, teaching (including multiple copies for classroom use), scholarship, or
research, is not an infringement of copyrights. What works are protected under Copyright Laws?
d. What is required to secure a copyright?
~ Must be deposited within 90 days of the creation
e. What is an advantage to registering a copyright?
~ No one will be able to steal your ideas, or take credit for what you did