Hey, I got an idea!

"And now what?" That is usually the question we ask ourselves when we have a great idea but we do not know what we should do to make it a reality and protect that project.

Let's start by clarifying that there is no legal protection for an idea, but what is protected is the outcome of your idea in a way that represents your creation. For example, if you have the idea of great drama with a person lost on a deserted island, you can protect a novel, a movie, or any project you make with that idea. But, the idea itself cannot be protected, since other people can have that same idea but make it a different project than the one you have created.

You should know that the law allows you to protect your intellectual property with multiple mechanisms depending on what you have created. The protection of intellectual property, in essence, allows you excluding other people from using manufacturing or distributing your creation for a limited time. Such protection allows the owner of that property right to capitalize on granting licenses authorizing others to use their invention or literary creation reproduce or even selling it.

There are several types of protection of your intellectual property, such as the following:

1. Trademarks
2. Copyrights
3. Patents
4. Trade Secrets

Trademarks

• The mark is any sign or means that serves to distinguish the products or services of one company from the products or services of another.                                                                              
• It can be registered both in the federal registry and/or in the state registry, although by using it in the commerce is what can establish the brand recognition.

Copyrights

• Protects the author's exclusive right to reproduce his work, whether literary, musical, dramatic, pictorial, photographic, audiovisual, architectural, among others.                                                           
• It is not necessary to register it since the copyright is acquired at the moment when it is in a tangible form. However, there is a Federal Register if you choose to include it to have available options in case of protection needs.                                                                                                           
• There is a law in Puerto Rico that provides for an addition protection of the author's moral rights.

Patents

• Protects the inventor's exclusive right to reproduce, invent and/or sell their invention.                       
• There are 3 types of patents: utility, design and plants. Utility patents are widely known to protect the functionality of a device, machinery, or a process with practical utility.                          
• It is protected by registration with the US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) and full disclosure of how to make the invention.

Trade Secrets

• The opposite from the patents, trade secrets are unique formulas or confidential manufacturing processes to prevent others from imitating or discovering it.                                                    
• Requires protection mechanisms by its owners.                                                                              
• Protected until discovered and disclosed.

Each of these protection mechanisms are defined by federal laws and some state laws that establish the requirements to identify, register and maintain the protection of your proprietary rights. We will expand information related to each of these rights to protect your creativity, as well as to help you in the process of identifying and acting on the protection that is most suitable for your intellectual property.

Until next time!

Notice: The information contained herein is provided for informational and essentially explanatory purposes. It does not represent specific legal advice.