Differences Between Patents, Trademarks, Servicemarks, and Copyrights
Patents
For an invention, a patent is an allowance giving property rights to the inventor for a limited period of time, to exclude or prohibit other stakeholders from remaking the invention, using it or trading with it for a profit. The office of patent and trademark in the U.S. determines whether or not a patent should be given or granted for each case and application. However, enforcement is usually up to the holder of the patent to safeguard his or her intellectual property rights if this office does grant the patent. A new patent generally has a limited lifespan. For instance, in the United States a patent can only be held for no more than 20 years from the date of application. For some special cases the duration can be longer or shorter, but one important aspect about patents is that they are only enforceable within the territories of the country which they were granted or have a special treaty with the country where the patent was issued regarding patents.
Trademarks also Servicemarks
Trademarks are symbols, names or words which are used in commercial activities to distinguish goods made by one manufacturer from those made by another. They are also used to indicate who made them or the source of such goods. Servicemarks are essentially the same as Trademarks, the only difference being that they represent services rather than goods. Trademarks contain rights that can be utilized to prevent other people from using similar marks on their goods or services, but unlike patents cannot prevent them from making or selling the said goods or offer the same services using a different mark. Trademarks and Servicemarks used in foreign trade can be registered with patent offices.
Copyrights
Copyrights are a form of legal protection provided to the creators or writers of original work. This would be in the fields of literature, drama, music and the arts among other intellectual works whether
published or unpublished. Copyright Act (1976) empowers the owner of a copyright with the right to reproduce the copyrighted work exclusively and to prepare derivative works, distribute, perform or display the copyrighted work in public. It also protects the form of expression other than the subject matter of the writing. For example, a description of an item could be copyrighted though this would only prevent one from copying the description as it is and not stop someone else from writing a description of their own.
