Patent law is often referred to as patent and trademark law. This is an area of intellectual property law that deals with the US Patent office, part of the United States Copyright office. Intellectual property law is the only specialized field of law in the United States. Like bankruptcy, it deals with the federal system instead of state law. Unlike bankruptcy, not every attorney can practice this area of law.
A trademark is a symbol, a name, a slogan, a logo or anything else that, when someone else sees it, they associate with your business. It is different from a copyright in that it deals with intellectual property that is mostly concentrated in the arts. A trademark is something that is used in business and is protected under patent law.
Most businesses seek to carry a trademark that will distinguish them, in the eyes of customers, from their competitors. Once a trademark has been established, it is protected under patent law. Once it has been established, unlike patent law that is used for inventions, it can be renewed indefinitely. This distinguishes it not only from ordinary patents, but also from copyrights that as they are only held for periods of time. A trademark can last forever, as long as there is someone around to renew the registration.
Anything can that, when someone sees, they associate with you business can be considered to be a trademark. This includes a certain spelling of your name, the way letters and numbers are used, logos, colors that are incorporated into your business, name, etc. Anything that connects the public with your business can be considered a trademark. Many businesses have several trademarks and they are protected under patent law.
A business must protect their trademark under patent law to keep other businesses from using it to their advantage. If a business takes your trademark and uses it for their own, with the intent to profit, then they have committed trademark infringement and are subjected to patent law. They can be sued for trademark infringement. Most businesses are fiercely protective of their trademarks in that their customers associate it with their business. If another business were to take the trademark and use it, they would be associated with the first business. This can prove disastrous either way for the business to whom the trademark belonged, especially if the second business had a bad reputation.
Patent law protects a business trademark, which is often just as important to a business as the products or services being rendered. If your business has an image or slogan that people associate with it, you should have it protected under patent law.
If you have a trademark for your business, you will want to make sure that this intellectual property is protected under patent law. You should be sure to patent your trademark so that no one else can profit from it. If someone does use your trademark without your permission, you should talk to an intellectual property attorney to see if they are in violation of trademark law.