The Difference Between Patents, Copyrights And Trademarks
January 23, 2010 by Mariel Taylor
Filed under Business
Three crucial legal frameworks – copyrights, trademarks and patents – emerge from the same fundamental legal requirement. These are various kinds of intellectual property that ensure securing of property rights of individuals or companies. However, there are various key points of differences among the three.
One of the important differences is the fact that the patents basically protect the physical or conceptual inventions, while copyrights secure literary, artistic or other similar works. A trademark, on the other hand, can be a word or a logo that can distinguish products of one company from the others.
The next essential factor that distinguishes patents from others is the high level of protection provided by it on account of strict liability principles. In other words, irrespective of the fact that the infringer was or was not aware that he was violating the patent, he will be held responsible for the same. Therefore, patents provide higher protection than copyrights and trademarks that permit some exceptions like fair use etc.
A patent is normally awarded for a period of 20 years, after which it passes into the public domain. Copyrights, on the other hand are generally given for 60-70 years, and trademarks can continue for centuries. Moreover, patents have the ability to protect your creation in a much more comprehensive way. Put simply, a copyright safeguards the mere expression of ideas, whereas patents can protect the underlying principles and techniques behind the invention as well.
Finally, the procedures for submitting an application for these different legal mechanisms are also quite different from each other. For example, filing for a patent needs to have a proper disclosure of the product, while the one for copyright needs enclosing a replica of the work itself, and the one for trademark just needs a proper check for similar marks that already exist.
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