I get this question often as a copyright lawyer, so I thought I would briefly explain what intellectual property is. Intellectual Property (IP) should be viewed when compared to other types of legal property — real property (real estate) and tangible property (things you can see, touch, and feel other than real estate). IP is an umbrella term broken down into copyright, trademark, patent, and trade secret laws. When you hear people referring to IP, just think about these 4 areas.
Why should an IT company care about these laws? These laws help to define and protect your rights in your important property.
- Copyright law protects things that are fixed in a tangible medium — source code, written content, images. If someone uses your company’s source code without permission, copyright is the legal vehicle to right the wrong.
- Trademark law protects words, designs, logos, phrases, and slogans that identify products. This protects company and product names, logos, and associated marketing phrases.
- Patent law provides inventors the right to exclude others from using their invention in exchange for publicly disclosing it. Often overlooked because of complexity and cost.
- Trade secret law protects proprietary information that is not disclosed to the public and provides competitive advantage by remaining secret. The classic software trade secret is source code, but it also covers customer lists and strategy plans.
Volumes have been written on each category, and many lawyers devote their entire careers to just one. Every IT-based company should consider looking at these legal rights with their attorney early in their maturity process.
A few related reads. Copyright Protection for SaaS Software covers the GUI/source-code/fair-use intersection. Everything a Software or SaaS Company Needs to Know About Copyrights is a five-post reading list. 4 Great Reasons to Register Your Software for Copyright Protection covers why early registration unlocks statutory damages and attorney’s fees. Copyright Protection for Software’s GUI covers when interface design itself is copyrightable. 4 Things to Remember About Copyright Law is the foundational primer. What is Fair Use? walks through the 4-factor test. 3 Things Software Companies Should Learn from 358 Trade Secret Cases is the trade-secret statistical analysis. And What Software Companies Need to Know About the Creative Commons License Program covers when (and when not) to use CC licenses.