If you’ve found yourself in a situation where you’ve invented something brilliant only to turn around and find it’s being used without your consent, you are not alone. This is why it’s worth legally protecting your intellectual property from others. Rightfully so, you need to keep what’s yours safe.

Intellectual property rights are the ownership rights you have over something original that you’ve created. To make your property legally belong to you and your business read on to learn a brief description of the types of protection that are available.

Almost everyone has heard of the term copyright. This type of protection is typically used on any original literary or artistic piece of work, such as writings, artwork, movies, even choreography. With copyright protection, the creators work becomes protected and cannot be duplicated or used without legal ramifications.

Trademark ™ is another familiar way to protect your brand name. This offers protection to a business’s name, sayings, symbol, or logo. Because this is the representation of the company, a means to being recognized, you may want to get it registered. This takes it one step further. Trademark Registration is the highest level of registration and is done through the USPTO (US Patent and Trademark Office). It’s a good idea to hire a lawyer to help facilitate this process.

One final option is to get your process or invention patented. This takes a bit longer to complete but gives the owner the rights to stop any unauthorized duplication of your product.

Your intellectual property should remain yours, protected by legal ramifications. And if your creation has economic value, it is that much more imperative that you protect it from being used by others without some type of monetary gain.