Patent and Copyright Law New York
Article by Pual Millman
You invent something, get it patented, you get an innovative idea in your mind, get its copyrights.
Our inventions, thoughts, concepts and ideas are like little saplings which will yield valuable fruits in the future, if we nurture them properly. The most important thing in nurturing our ideas and inventions are getting them patented and copyrighted.
If a new method or technique is invented, the only measure which can be taken to protect it is getting it patented. In big cities like New York, there is a very tough competition to get the best out of everything, and to extract every single penny from every single invention. So, obviously, there would be scavengers looking for new ways of earning money, and subsequently, trying to steal every idea and concept which comes in their way. So, the question which arises is, “how to protect our saplings?” The answer is – put a fence of patents and copyrights around them.
Patents and copyrights are also very important to get constant earning in the future. As per the Patent and copyright laws, the person, who owns the copyrights of an idea or concept or the owner of an invention can sell it for a given duration of time or can sell the copyrights for limited use and can get a fixed royalty every time his idea is being used.
The patent owner of the innovation have the sole rights to reproduce it and sell it, if any other person wants to sell it and wants to get profit from that innovation, he has to buy reproduction rights from the patent owner.
Any violation in the patent and copyright law can lead to monetary penalties or can attract serious legal actions, which can result in imprisonment. There are many terms and conditions, which should be followed to enjoy good protection from these laws, the user (right/patent owner) should keep in mind the categories his work belong to. The things which can get copyrighted are – any idea or a concept, art, music, a text, a poem, a book etc. For enjoying total protection under the rights, the owner should be well aware of all the laws and exceptions in these laws.
When it comes to a new invention, which can be a new medical technique, a new machine, a new technology or software, they should be patented to get them protected against any theft or forgery. The patents can be national and international, based on what the owner wants. If the invention is of international value, then the patents should be international, because many countries do not accept the patents registered on a national level.
Getting your ideas and inventions protected is very easy. As per patent and copyright laws, there should be a registrar office in all the states. Major cities like New York, New Jersey and White Plains have registrar offices of their own. A simple application with all the details of the invention or the concept to be patented or copyrighted should be submitted in the registrar’s office and the registrar evaluates different aspects of the rights. The registrar finally decides the royalty value of the concept/invention and the time period for which the rights can be given under certain fees. The decisions made by the registrar can be challenged in the chief registrar’s office and a revaluation can be demanded.
There are many other benefits of patent and copyright laws. These laws can help resolve credit issues, which are a major problem in the creative industries such as the music industry, film industry and advertising industry. Usually, people or companies can be seen fighting over credits for a script, an advertisement concept/art, a piece of music, etc. These issues can be easily resolved by patent and copyright laws.
In conclusion, we can say that these laws are the Need of the day.
Paul is a admitted to practice both in New York and Florida, and has many clients with residences in both states. He is also admitted to practice in the United States Tax Court as well as the Southern and Eastern Districts of New York. He is a member of the New York State Bar Association, Westchester County Bar Association and Florida Bar Association. He is an active member of the Estate Planning Counsel and has also served on the Executive Board for the Tax Committee and the Trusts and Estates Committee.