The history of copyright is an interesting thing. It started as long ago as the 1700s, with the first copyright law enacted in America in 1790. Before splitting off from Britain, a similar law, the Statute of Anne, was used. The United States based its first copyright law on this statute, determining that it would protect maps, charts and books for 14 years after their registrations and another 14 after that. It was a limited law that worked at the time.
Should you patent something you can't make yet?
You have an idea for a new product. You think it will revolutionize the market, and you have not found anything else like it.
You have a right to protect your trade secrets
A trade secret is any confidential information relating to your business that gives your business an edge on competition. For example, if you have a specific process for developing products at a low cost, you wouldn't want your competitors to discover that. If your competitors did, then you would again have to compete with others who could sell similar items at the same price point.
Patents, trademarks and copyrights: What are they?
Intellectual property has, in many ways, become the most valuable commodity that anyone can buy or sell. The more our world evolves technologically, the more important information and ideas become -- and the more important it is to understand what legal means are used to protect those things.
