Copyrights, Trademarks, and Patents in Innovation

A couple of weeks back, while browsing LinkedIn, I found myself engrossed in the myriad of concise yet informative articles shared by the community, covering a range of topics from innovative technologies to overcoming professional challenges. The most common event that I found was many people sharing standards or documents violating copyright laws. Immediately, I was digging a little deeper into it, launching a poll trying to know what the audience thinks about how copyright affected them. The predominant response was that "Copyright fosters research," a sentiment I strongly agree with. Registering one's intellectual efforts with the U.S. Copyright Office not only safeguards the authorship but also contributes to a comprehensive public record of research and potentially facilitates royalty earnings for published work.

During this exploration Antonio Carlos Romero Sabalza brought to my attention two additional legal concepts: trademarks and patents(1). Trademarks, defined as any word, phrase, design, or combination thereof that identifies and distinguishes one's goods or services from those of others, and patents, pertaining to new, unique, and industrially applicable technical inventions, including chemical compositions or mechanical processes.

Looking deeper into this topic, I got a great surprise about how many people are doing great work to preserve copyright by promoting the progress of science and useful art. In this opportunity, I read the annual report of the U.S. Copyright Office, and the following aspects can be highlighted:

• The US Copyright Office received 486,428 claims to copyright in FY 2022.(2)
• The US Copyright Office helps the Library of Congress, expanding its collections for the benefit of the public, transferring hundreds of thousands of works, which were valued at $44,873,082.(2)
• The Copyright Office has digitized 4,794 copyright record books and made available 3,600 of those online, with more being released monthly.(2)
• Copyright Registrations, between 1790 and 2022, have been 40,116,623.(2)

This extensive 29-page report underscores the critical role of copyright in protecting intellectual property. It serves as a call to action for everyone to acknowledge and credit the creators, recognizing the unseen effort behind every piece of research, no matter its scale.

Furthermore, organizations like API, ASME, and ASTM have long endeavored to protect their standards and research from unauthorized distribution. While challenging, these efforts are crucial for preserving not only their tangible assets but also the invaluable intellectual contributions of scientists and researchers.

Reference.

(1) https://www.uspto.gov/about-us

(2) 2022 annual report of the U.S. Copyright Office