An application for a legal patent must be filed with the proper government office. The application must describe how to make and use a new intention. The description must be good enough for the patent office to be able to assemble and use the invention. In some cases the usefulness or the best way of using the invention must be shown.

After a patent application has been filed it is called patent pending. A patent pending warns others that if a patent is issued they can be held liable for copying the invention.

If the applications meets all the requirements of the government, a patent is issued. The patent is then subject to periodic renewal fees. How often the patent must be renewed and the cost of the fees varies depending on what sovereign government issues the patent.

The purpose of having intellectual property law is to safeguard creators of intellectual goods and services by way of granting them certain time-limited rights to control the way those products are used. Those rights, however, do not apply to the physical object in which the creation may be embodied.

Intellectual property includes rights relating to trademarks, service marks and commercial names and designations; scientific discoveries; literary, artistic and scientific works; inventions in all fields of human endeavor; industrial designs; performances of performing artists, phonograms and broadcasts; and protection against unfair competition

We are constantly surrounded by intellectual property. It is with us at work, at school, and at home. Everywhere we turn there are results of human creativity and invention. Property law guidelines help to promote creativity and innovation, and encourage respect for the intellectual property rights of others.

There has been a huge problem with people violating the copyright laws and committing piracy acts. Piracy involves the downloading of games and computer software that has not be license out or paid for. When music is downloaded without permission or payment to the owner this falls under the copyright laws. There are hundreds of people on the internet every day being caught violating intellectual property laws. A mother was caught downloading illegal songs and got fined heavily for doing such. Fines can be as high as 50,000 per downloaded item.

Have Them Sign: Put forth an honor code to your students that they sign stating they will take a failing grade if they are caught plagiarizing. Have a zero tolerance policy on this issue and when the second incident occurs involve both the parent and the principal.

Invest in Software: There are tons of great programs out there like CopyScape that help you scan papers to tell if they’ve plagiarized. They’re not flawless but they usually do the trick and when it comes to term papers you can’t be too safe.

Outlaw Web Sources: If you ask your students to write a paper and site their sources, make sure they don’t site anything from the web including Wikipedia. It’s good for them to learn the old fashioned way and they’re less likely to plagiarize by hand.

The viability of a trade secret is categorized in how it creates an advantage, or an “unfair edge” over the rights of a competitor. The competitor may not have the right to the trade secret itself, but can contest the ethical reason over a trade secret if it causes the competitor to not have the right to sell products or services, or unfairly categorizes the competitor in an unfair light. It can also be contested legally if the trade secret denies a competitive entity the right to create a comparable standard for use of a similar product or service.

Patent law covers scientific processes, such as the creation of a drug or software. Obtaining a patent will prevent anyone other than the patent holder from creating that drug (i.e. manufacturing a generic) for a set period of time. Patents are transferable.

Trademark law covers slogans, names, symbols, and other marks which are used to identify a particular business or product, such as McDonald’s Golden Arches. Owning a trademark allows the owner to bring suit against anyone who tries to copy the trademark for purposes of confusing the public, like sellers of knockoff designer handbags.

Copyright law protects original works such as books, movies, and songs. Like patents, copyrights eventually expire and the works enter the public domain–such as classic books Amazon offers for free on Kindle.

Trade secrets law protects the process by which companies create something which may give them an advantage over competitors. A well-known example of a trade secret comes from “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory”– Slugworth asked each child to bring him an Everlasting Gobstopper because he wanted one of Wonka’s trade secrets.

The thing to get in order to protect works is a copyright. A copyright is a legal document that certifies who owns the material and specifies the date in which it was created and by whom. Copyrights can be applied for at the Library of Congress. They are 35 each or an entire collection can be submitted at once. Free copyrights can also be obtained on the web for instant copyright but they are not a substitute for a true legal copyright through the Library of Congress.