Have you ever created anything? Invented something? Designed something? Created a logo or a name that identifies your products or services? Written a song? Painted a picture? Taken a photograph? Perhaps you are a sculptor or a songwriter or you write blogs or screenplays. If you’ve done any of these things, then you have owned intellectual property.

Okay, so what, then, is intellectual property? It consists of things that you create through use of your intellect – your mind. There are several kinds of intellectual property. You may not be aware of all of them or you may have some of them confused with others. The most common ones are copyrights, trademarks (or service marks), patents, and trade secrets. They are different from one another, but they sometimes provide overlapping protections for various different rights that you claim in your own personal products or services or those of your company. For example, the Walt Disney Company claims both trademark and copyright protection for its numerous animated characters.

In many instances, your company’s intellectual properties are its most valuable asset, and it is penny wise and pound foolish not to hire an attorney to help you protect those properties.

We will be doing more blogs on these subjects. If there is anything you particularly would like to hear about, we welcome your feedback. If you need help with your intellectual property, please contact our Of Counsel attorney, Helena Kobrin.