Technology is the thread that holds the modern world together. Due to the dynamic nature of technology, there have been numerous inventions and innovation of new products and ideas over the past years. These new ideas, referred to as Intellectual Property, are the products of the mind, such as literary, or artistic works, inventions, names, images, and symbols used in various industries for commerce. There has risen a need to safeguard this Intellectual Property. Patents, trademarks, and copyrights are used in the protection of intellectual property. For instance, the U.S. patents and trademark regulatory agency has issued over 10 million patents to date (Schwartz & Sichelman, 2017) . This paper delves into the differences between copyrights, trademarks, and patents and the factors that should be considered when formulating the protection strategies for an innovation that is to be marketed in several countries.
Differences between Patents, Copyrights, and Trademarks
A copyright is a summation of rights automatically handed to an individual on the completion of an original work. Copyrights are granted to protect works of authorship I music, art, literature, choreography, software, and architecture. On the other hand, Patents are intellectual property rights given by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (Schwartz & Sichelman, 2017) . The classes of patents issued are design patent, plant patent, and utility patents. Patent rights allow the patent holder to bar others from selling, making, or using a given innovation for a limited duration. Patents are given for new, unique, helpful, and non-obvious inventions. It is noteworthy to know that Patents only last for 20 years (Schwartz & Sichelman, 2017) . Trademarks refer to the phrases, design symbols or words, used to notice and identify the source of goods and services among various competitors. These trademarks warrant the owner exclusive use of specific images and bar others from making confusing designs.
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Situations When Trade Secrets More Useful Than Patents, Copyrights, or Trademarks
Trade Secrets become better than copyrights, trademarks, or patents when the patents or copyrights can be easily invented. Intellectual property on manufacturing processes or electrical equipment can be easily obtained; therefore, it is advisable to keep them as trade secrets. Moore (2017) affirms that t rade secrets are also advised when the idea is not patentable. For instance, ideas of food recipe are better kept as trade secrets that patented.
Factors to Consider in Formulating Protection Strategies for an Innovation
The considerations that a firm needs to make when marketing its innovation in multiple countries are:
The availability of protection options in multiple states. Some of the options available may be Copyrights, Patents, copyrights, or trade secrets. In addition to this, some counties have stricter enforcement of Intellectual Property law than others ( Dratler & McJohn, 2018).
It is important to consider the nature of innovation. Most manufacturing processes and techniques pose a challenge in their protection ( Dratler & McJohn, 2018).
What countries are planned for marketing? This consideration may be important in cases where there exist Patent Cooperation Treaties in some countries. Some states, such as the United States offer a unique approach to the publication of patents and information.
The industry that the innovation falls in and the conventional means of protection in the industry is also another important consideration ( Dratler & McJohn, 2018). An example is the pharmaceutical and electronics industry. In the pharmaceutical industry, patents are effective, unlike in the electronics industry. Firms should consider picking on a protection strategy adopted by other players in the industry.
Another factor to consider is the impacts of the protection strategies on the business strategy and returns. It has been found that it is more valuable to diffuse a technology than to protect it, especially in industries characterized by high returns ( Torremans, 2019).
References
Dratler Jr, J., & McJohn, S. M. (2018). Intellectual Property Law: Commercial, Creative and Industrial Property . Law Journal Press.
Moore, A. (2017). Intellectual property and information control: philosophic foundations and contemporary issues . Routledge.
Schwartz, D. L., & Sichelman, T. M. (2017). Data sources on patents, copyrights, trademarks, and other intellectual property. Copyrights, Trademarks, and Other Intellectual Property (September 1, 2017) , 2 .
Torremans, P. (2019). Holyoak and Torremans intellectual property law . Oxford University Press, USA.
