Most people deal with intellectual property every day of their lives. While there can be overlap, each category affords different protections and is used with different types of material. A court decides whether a piece of information qualifies for trade secret protection by examining a variety of factors, most of which deal with how well-known the information is to the general public and what steps were taken to protect its disclosure. Disclosure of the trade secret to the public at any time will likely destroy any previously enjoyed protection.
Copyrights protect the tangible expression of ideas.
Common uses include protecting the contents of books, movie plots, paintings and sound recordings. Copyright protection attaches when the creator puts pen to paper and creates a tangible expression of the idea. This basic protection may be registered by filing an application for federal copyright registration, which requires a simple form, a modest fee, and a copy of the work you want to protect. Federal copyrights for works created and registered after 1978 generally last for seventy years after the author's death. If someone infringes your federally registered copyright, the statute provides for substantial damages as well as attorneys' fees.