Patents, Trademarks & Copyright

Since 1976, over 1,371 patents have been issued in Douglas County. This ranges from 531 patents issued in Highlands Ranch and 511 in Parker to 305 in Castle Rock, 20 in Lone Tree, and 4 in Louviers.

What Is a Patent?
Patents for an invention grant a property right to the inventor by the United States Patent and Trademark Office. Generally, the term of a new patent is 20 years from the date when the application was filed.
When a patent is issued, it does not offer the sole right to make, use or offer to sell, but the right to prevent or exclude others from making, using, or offering to sell the claimed invention.

What Is a Trademark or Servicemark?
A trademark is a word, name, symbol, or device used with goods to indicate their source and distinguish them from the goods of others. Servicemarks are much the same as patents except they identify and distinguish services instead of products. Trademark rights may be used to prevent others from using confusingly similar marks, but do not prevent others from making or selling the same goods or services under clearly different marks.

Copyright
Copyright is a form of protection for authors of “original works of authorship” to include literary, dramatic, musical, artistic, and other intellectual works, both published and unpublished. The Copyright Act of 1976 gave owners of copyright the exclusive right to reproduce the copyrighted work, distribute copies, perform it publicly, or display it publicly. So, essentially, copyright protects the form of expression as opposed to the subject of the writing.