Any creative mind is proud of the entities they create. With that pride comes a desire to protect the ideas and concepts so that proper credit and ownership is recognized. However, proper protection of a creative concept or idea can be a world apart from the creative process used to give the property birth. Because of this, matters of intellectual property can be quite complex and require proper legal guidance.
There are many different elements to matters of intellectual property. Copyrights are one such element and can cover a wide range of concepts including literary works, sculpture, film, architecture, musical works and much more. With such a wide net cast, one may think that almost anything can be copyrighted. This is not true. For instance, works that have no fixed tangible form of expression (such as choreography that hasn’t be recorded) cannot be copyrighted.
Another element of intellectual property is a trademark. These differ from copyright in that they are more commerce focused. Any name, symbol, word and much more that is intended to be used to distinguish the products of one manufacturer from another can be a trademark.
The lines for these concepts can become blurred when multiple parties are claiming to have created the particular property. At Arthur R. Lehman, LLC, we believe that proper ownership of intellectual property is crucial to the rights of creators. Navigating the path of an intellectual property battle can be difficult and complex, but with experience representation, creators and businesses can take steps to secure their protection of their creations. For more information, visit our intellectual property page.