What is the main difference between patents and trademarks?
Before getting into the details of patents, trademarks and copyrights, a brief explanation of the basic differences is needed. If you don’t work with each of them on a day to day basis, it easy to become confused., as you should be. There is a definite a blurring of the edges between the rights to each of them. In fact, it is possible to simultaneously obtain rights under patent, trademark and copyright laws for the same product. But these rights are granted for entirely different reasons and stem from entirely different basis. Knowing why these rights are granted is absolutely essential in understanding what things you should be doing even before see an patent attorney. Origins: Patents and copyrights have the same origin, they were both expressly provided for in our Constitution “… to promote the progress of science and the useful arts, by securing for limited times to authors and inventors, the exclusive right to their respective writings and discoveries.
