The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) has created an online tool that is free to use to assist people in identifying whether they possess intellectual property (IP) and provide information on how to protect it. The tool asks individuals a series of questions to steer the user to a webpage that provides the relevant information. The tool is called IP Identifier and can be found at https://ipidentifier.uspto.gov/#/identifier/welcome.
This tool is a good place for people to start. Many callers to this office either have questions regarding what type of IP they have to protect or have an impression that they have IP that is different from what they ask questions of the office. I suspect that some confusion may arise from the name the government created for the USPTO. The patent office and the trademark office are both under the USPTO Commissioner in the Department of Commerce. These offices are actually separate organizations, or parts of a larger organization. Each office is responsible for its type of IP examination when issuing a patent or registering a trademark.
Patents protect useful and novel inventions or improvements to prior systems, methods, and devices. Trademarks protect a brand such as a word, slogan, logo, and similar items that identify a source of goods or services that a business uses to distinguish its products and services from competitors in the marketplace.
Another type of IP is copyright that protects artistic expressions such as artwork, i.e. paintings and sculptures, written works, i.e. books, play and movie scripts, artistic performances, i.e. television, radio, and similar media, concerts and musical recordings, and similar performances that are captured into a tangible media, music, both musical scores and lyrics, and photographs. The copyright office issues copyright registrations for these items based upon applications submitted by the artist.
The copyright office is actually part of the Library of Congress. This location for the copyright office is historical based upon how the federal government was originally organized two centuries ago. The logic of its location may be based upon the requirement that a copy of the item seeking copyright registration must be submitted with the registration application. As such, the Library of Congress because a repository for all artistic works that are then publicly available. Congress set this system up without imposing taxes, although the artist does bear the cost of providing a copy of the item.
Understanding the type of IP that an individual or business has to protect may be useful to these parties when determining if and/or when to contact an attorney to seek the appropriate rights. The USPTO has created this useful tool that may help determine when making such a call is something to be considered. Otherwise, individuals are free to call this office, and we will provide a free 30-minute consultation whenever you have questions.