Reading sequence
Creating and protecting
For a project you are making, publishing, naming or launching. Start with the shared decisions, then follow the branch that fits the part of the project.
The sequence
- 10 questions before you try to protect your work
Ten common beliefs about protecting creative work, brands and inventions, what U.S. law actually says about each, and the next step to take.
- Before you publish or launch
A launch releases several things at once: a name, a logo, photographs, a product design. Sort each one by who made it and which right covers it, then make the few decisions that cannot be undone after launch day.
- One project can contain several kinds of IP
Take one real project apart and you find copyright, a trademark, possible patents and a trade secret, each with its own next step.
- Who owns work made by employees and freelancers
Paying for work does not make you its owner. An employee's work belongs to the employer; a freelancer's work stays with the freelancer until a signed agreement says otherwise. Settle it in writing before the work starts.
- Creating something with a cofounder or collaborator
Before you build something together, list who made what, put every transfer in a signed writing, and agree how licensing, income and departures will work. Settle it while you are still excited, not when one of you wants out.
Writing and creative work
- You may already have copyright
In the U.S., copyright starts the moment you save, write down or record original work. No form creates it. Registration is a separate step that decides whether you can sue and what you can recover.
- Your first U.S. copyright application
Pick the right application, name the right author and claimant, send the right deposit, and get everything in on time to keep statutory damages and attorney's fees available.
Names and brands
- Choosing a name you can grow with
Pick a name customers remember, that you can actually protect, and that nobody else is already using for related goods. Here is how to test it before you print anything.
- From trademark search to U.S. application
You have searched and picked a name. Now name the right owner, describe your goods precisely, pick the filing basis that matches the facts, file in Trademark Center, and answer every USPTO deadline until registration.
- Keeping a U.S. trademark registration alive
A U.S. trademark registration survives only if you file use declarations and renewals on time, and keep the goods, specimens and owner details true. Here is the calendar and what to file.
Inventions and product design
- Before you show an invention to the world
A demo, a talk, a video or a sale can decide whether you can still patent an invention, especially outside the U.S. Decide what each audience will learn, and file first when it matters.
- Finding your way through the patent process
Search first, choose utility or design, use a provisional only if it describes the whole invention, then track every deadline from filing to maintenance fees and foreign filing.
- When the shape of a product matters
How a product looks can be protected separately from how it works. Name the visual feature you care about, then match it to the right tool: a design patent, copyright in separable artwork, or trade dress.
Private know-how
- Keeping valuable know-how a secret
A trade secret lasts only while the information is valuable because it is secret and you take reasonable measures to keep it that way. List what matters, limit who sees it, put every sharing arrangement in writing, and know what secrecy cannot stop.
Optional side paths
Every article in this section
10 questions before you try to protect your work
Ten common beliefs about protecting creative work, brands and inventions, what U.S. law actually says about each, and the next step to take.
Before you publish or launch
A launch releases several things at once: a name, a logo, photographs, a product design. Sort each one by who made it and which right covers it, then make the few decisions that cannot be undone after launch day.
Your first U.S. copyright application
Pick the right application, name the right author and claimant, send the right deposit, and get everything in on time to keep statutory damages and attorney's fees available.
Choosing a name you can grow with
Pick a name customers remember, that you can actually protect, and that nobody else is already using for related goods. Here is how to test it before you print anything.
From trademark search to U.S. application
You have searched and picked a name. Now name the right owner, describe your goods precisely, pick the filing basis that matches the facts, file in Trademark Center, and answer every USPTO deadline until registration.
Keeping a U.S. trademark registration alive
A U.S. trademark registration survives only if you file use declarations and renewals on time, and keep the goods, specimens and owner details true. Here is the calendar and what to file.
Before you show an invention to the world
A demo, a talk, a video or a sale can decide whether you can still patent an invention, especially outside the U.S. Decide what each audience will learn, and file first when it matters.
Finding your way through the patent process
Search first, choose utility or design, use a provisional only if it describes the whole invention, then track every deadline from filing to maintenance fees and foreign filing.
When the shape of a product matters
How a product looks can be protected separately from how it works. Name the visual feature you care about, then match it to the right tool: a design patent, copyright in separable artwork, or trade dress.
Keeping valuable know-how a secret
A trade secret lasts only while the information is valuable because it is secret and you take reasonable measures to keep it that way. List what matters, limit who sees it, put every sharing arrangement in writing, and know what secrecy cannot stop.
Who owns work made by employees and freelancers
Paying for work does not make you its owner. An employee's work belongs to the employer; a freelancer's work stays with the freelancer until a signed agreement says otherwise. Settle it in writing before the work starts.
Creating something with a cofounder or collaborator
Before you build something together, list who made what, put every transfer in a signed writing, and agree how licensing, income and departures will work. Settle it while you are still excited, not when one of you wants out.
The different rights inside a song
Every recorded song holds two copyrights: the composition and the sound recording. They are often owned, registered, licensed and paid separately, so always say which one you mean and who controls each.
Photographs and films can involve more than copyright
One photograph can carry three sets of rights: the photographer's copyright, the depicted person's say over advertising use of their likeness, and the rights in whatever else is in the frame. Sort each one before the image goes into a campaign.
The software you write and the software you borrow
Your app is your code plus other people's code, fonts and images, each with its own owner and license. Record what you use, keep the notices, check copyleft before you ship or host, and register the code you own.
When your product is a dataset
The facts in your dataset are free for anyone to use. What you can protect is your original writing and photos, a creative selection and arrangement, your contracts and, in the EU, your investment. Sort them, register what qualifies, and sell only what you control.
Research and inventions made at a university
Who owns a lab invention is decided by your university's IP policy, the agreement you signed when you joined, and the terms of the grant or sponsor. Disclose it to the technology-transfer office before you publish, and bring the facts with you.
Credit and the rights that stay with a creator
Getting paid, or selling the copyright, does not settle whether you are credited or whether your work can be changed. Know which moral rights your country gives you, and write the credit you want into the contract.