The process of obtaining protection on a piece of intellectual property isn’t necessarily an easy one. Those who go through the process will, of course, want their intellectual property protected for the longest period of time possible. Depending on which type of protection you currently have on the IP, your property may be protected for only a few years, but it can be longer.
For example, if you have a trade secret, that information is protected for as long as the information is kept a secret. The day it is leaked to the public or to anyone it shouldn’t be is the day that protection expires. However, when it comes to a patent, a trademark, or a copyright, there are laws in place under the United States Patent and Trademark Office that inform inventors how long their information is protected by. It also may vary by the year in which the information initially became protected. Design patents with applications that were filed after May 13, 2015, will be protected for 15 years from the date in which the patent was issued. However, if your design patent application was submitted before May 13, 2015, will only have patent protection for 14 years from the date in which the patent was issued. When it comes to trademarks, the registration period only lasts for 10 years from the initial registration date.
Copyrights hold a much longer period of duration than trademarks and patents do. If a copyright was registered after January 1, 1978, the property is protected for 70 years after the author’s death. If the work was anonymously created, it is protected for 95 years after it was initially published or 120 years after it was actually created, whichever one comes first.
If you have questions about protecting your intellectual property, contact our firm today.
Contact the Law Offices of Richard E. Novak today to discuss the facts and circumstances surrounding your New Jersey traffic, intellectual property or business litigation matters.