WHAT IS INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY?
Intellectual property (IP) is intangible property that is a product of or creation of the mind. Intellectual property law advances innovation and provides an arena for inventors and creators to protect their creations ad earn compensation or recognition for their efforts. Examples of intellectual property include inventions, designs, symbols, names, slogans, images, formulas, processes, literary and artistic works. Types of intellectual property include patents, trademarks, copyrights and trade secrets.
PATENTS, TRADEMARKS, COPYRIGHTS, TRADE SECRETS - WHAT'S THE DIFFERENCE?
A patent protects inventions.
A trademark identifies a brand and can be a name, logo, design, slogan – even a color or a scent.
A copyright generally protects artistic or literary works.
A trade secret is proprietary information you do not want to fall into public domain or your competitor’s hands, be it recipes, formulas, methods, techniques, processes, customer lists, computer codes, etc.
Other resources and related areas:
USPTO Patent FAQs
Patent law
Patent infringement and patent litigation
Technology licensing
Trademark law
Trade Secrets
Mediation
WHO WE ARE AND HOW WE CAN HELP
Charleston patent attorney BC Killough and his colleagues at Kim, Lahey & Killough have over 120 years of combined experience in the highly specialized and regulated areas of Intellectual Property law and will work with you to protect and defend your intellectual property assets regarding:
- Patent and trademark acquisitions, both U.S. and foreign
- Patent and trademark prosecution, both U.S. and foreign
- Litigation of patent, trademark and copyright matters
- Patent, trademark and copyright licensing
- Patent Trial and Appeal Board proceedings
- Trademark Trial and Appeal Board proceedings
- Trade Secrets
- Unfair competition
- Alternative Dispute Resolution and Mediation
BC Killough is a Senior Fellow in Litigation Counsel of America (LCA), a peer-selected honorary society of 3,500 trial lawyers. Less than one-half of one percent of American lawyers are LCA Fellows. He is also a member of the Intellectual Property Institute, a national group of Intellectual Property litigators. Bill is a monthly contributor to the Federal Circuit Bar Association’s Circuit Case Digest and South Carolina’s contributor to Thomson Reuters’ Practical Law, Intellectual Property and Technology.
Kim, Lahey & Killough South Carolina Patent, Trademark, Copyright and Intellectual Property Law attorneys have experience in patent acquisition, prosecution and litigation in not only the United States, but also in the U.K., Europe, Canada, Australia and Asia.
We take client services seriously, working to advance each individual client’s business goals in the most efficient, cost efficient, manner possible. Our areas of practice include a broad range of technologies to include:
- Mechanical
- Computer Technology
- Chemical
- Pharmaceutical
- Biotechnology
- Medical Devices
- Information technology
- Electromechanical devices
and more.