Under United States law, intellectual property referes to the creations of the human mind that can be sold or exchanged. The four varieties of intellectual property are:
- Copyright - Applies to original expressions of an idea, fixed in tangible form, including rose, poetry, plays, musical compositions, songs, artwords, architecture, performances, and computer software.
- Patents - Granted to the inventors of new, unobvious and useful inventions.
- Trademarks and Service Marks -Words, images, colors, sounds and other "mrks" used to identify the source of an item in commerce.
- Trade Secrets - Formulas and processes which are kep secret by the owner. Others may reverse engineer them, but stealing the trade secre is against the law.
For more informatin about the first three cllasses of intellectual property, consult the guides linked below: