Legal Information Institute, Essay Example

Intellectual property is defined as ideas that are created by the mind. These ideas are considered to be intellectual property rather than physical property because they are abstract products, including music, words, phrases, symbols, and designs. Intellectual properties are important issues for entrepreneurial firms because it is challenging to determine ownership of abstract ideas. Therefore, it is the responsibility of these individuals to think about how to make these concepts more concrete so that they could be protected by the full extent of the law. Therefore, these firms need to work closely with their clients to ensure that the various aspects of their work are protected against use by others for profit.

The three types of patents include utility patents, design patents, and utility patents. Utility patents are those that are made to protect inventions that have a certain function, including things like machines, technology, and chemicals. Design patients protect the way that an object that will be manufactured appears. Last, plant patents help protect intellectual property that is biologically derived, such as plants that are asexually produced, including hybrid plants. Genetically modified plants fall under this category as well.

According to the Legal Information Institute at Cornell, a trademark is “any word, name, symbol, or design, or any combination thereof, used in commerce to identify and distinguish the goods of one manufacturer or seller from those of another and to indicate the source of the goods” (Legal Information Institute, n.d.). For a trademark to be approved, it must be used in commerce and be distinctive. Trademarks are important because they protect the names, slogans, and ideas of companies that allow them to remain distinct from other organizations. For example, “Kaplan Test Prep and Admission” has been trademarked in a manner that prevents other similar companies from being named Kaplan or using the words in their promotions. This is important because it allows the company to remain autonomous.

Meanwhile, a copyright protects an idea or project in a manner that allows the owner to retain exclusive rights to its use. Creative work is typically copyrighted to ensure that whoever holds the copyright can control its use. The law was originally created in order to protect the rights of written work, but has been extended to allow the protection of architectural design, software, the graphic arts, motion pictures, and sound recordings. For work to be protected, it must be expressed in a tangible medium. Therefore, abstract ideas are not supported under this law.

It is important to have an understanding of intellectual property laws because this allows ideas that do not exist in physical form to be protected. Whether these ideas are patented, trademarked, or copyrighted, this allows the original creator of the material to hold ownership of it when reasonable. Unfortunately however, the modern world has led to an abuse of these legal contracts and many individuals that were not responsible for creating this intellectual material in the first place now have control over it. It may therefore be necessary to reform how these laws are being used so that they can protect the creators of this property rather than the individuals who use this material in order to make a profit.

References

Legal Information Institute. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.law.cornell.edu/wex/trademark