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The Law Office of Steven B. Leavitt hereby agrees that any Information
pertaining to invention(s), idea(s), and the like provided by the
Inventor(s) named in this Invention Disclosure Form with not be revealed,
used, disclosed, sold, or transferred without the express authorization
of the Inventor(s). We are bound by the Texas Disciplinary
Rules of Professional Conduct and the United States
Patent and Trademark Office Rules of Ethics.
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Intellectual Property (IP) is a creation
by human intellect having commercial value. Intellectual
property law allows people and businesses to protect their rights
by affording to them an opportunity to stop trespassers and, in many
cases, recover damages.
Intellectual Property (IP) can be broken down into 4 main areas:
- Patents
Provide inventors and those with rights to inventions the exclusive
right for a limited period of time to prevent anyone else
from making, using, selling, or importing the inventions. Patents
are granted on machines, articles of manufacture (devices), compositions
of matter (materials), processes (methods), and improvements of
any of these.
- Trademarks
Consist of words, phrases, symbols, logos, designs, sounds,
and others that identify sources of products or services (Service Mark) in the marketplace. Businesses use trademarks and
service marks to help distinguish their products and services from
others to create product recognition and brand loyalty.
- Copyrights
Rights granted to owners of creative original works of authorship that are fixed in a tangible medium of expression. A copyright applies
to the literal expression of an idea, not the underlying idea or
concept. As soon as an expression is placed onto a tangible medium
(paper, film, recording, CD-ROM, sculpture, and many others), the
copyright comes into existence. Registering the copyright with the
U.S. Copyright Office creates a legal presumption that 1) the copyright
is legitimate and 2) allows the copyright owner to recover damages
(compensation) without the need to prove any actual harm. Types
of works that can be copyrighted include: photographs, movies, videos,
recordings of music and speeches, song lyrics, musical compositions,
choreography, books, poems, manuscripts, paintings, sketches, sculptures,
architectural designs, computer programs, maps, models, crafts,
jewelry, and many more.
- Trade Secrets
A broad term to cover secret information that is
defined by how it is treated and protected. It provides an owner
of the information with a market advantage over its competitors.
To enforce a Trade Secret action, an owner must show that the Trade
Secret has been maintained in a way that reasonably anticipates
preventing others from learning about it. Unlike patents, trademarks,
and copyrights, there is no registration with a government agency.
Types of information that can be a Trade Secret include customer
lists, marketing and sales information, compositions, processes,
devices, designs, formulas, recipes, and others.
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Information such as a device, idea, process, formula, pattern, or
compilation of information that provides one with a competitive advantage
and is treated in a protected way to prevent anyone in the public
from learning about it.
Essentially, it can be anything that a party desires to keep
secret.
Trade Secrets usually include such things as the manufacturing
details for a product, variations or alternative uses for products,
methods for doing business or customer lists or client information.
Trade Secrets are controlled by state law.
In most states, a Trade Secret may be almost anything that confers
a competitive advantage to the owner of the Trade Secret.
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Particular statements made in a patent application defining the invention which are used by the U.S. Patent and Trademark
Office to determine patentability and by a court to determine whether
a patent has been infringed.
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