Protecting Your Intellectual Property: Copyright and Trademark

Copyright:

For those in the USA – Once your work of intellectual property is complete (book, DVD, workbook, etc.), you can copyright it. Going to www.Copyright.gov and investing a small amount to copyright your work is the best way to protect your work.

The “poor man’s copyright,” as it is often called, does not give you the level of protection that an official copyright does, but you might use it for a work in progress. You would do this by creating a hard copy of the work and mailing it to yourself, and do not break the seal.

Patent

Get a patent for a work of invention.

Trademark

Go to www.uspto.gov to Trademark a system or process, but not the title of your work.

Need more help?

When in doubt – seek legal advice from an intellectual property attorney.

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