That is a major function of IP, and, particularly within the past dozen years, IP has been seen, both here and abroad, as playing a key role in developing technologies for the next century. Still, broad treatment has proven useful for those who have no need for great depth as well as for those are beginning to study IP or attempting to integrate isolated knowledge acquired in courses or careers. In considering IP as such, one must appreciate the extent to which competition is preeminent in U.S. law. Ironically, some of the strongest evidence of its importance appears in IP cases. From this perspective, patent, copyright and trade secret protection comprise one of two major branches of IP law.
Trade secrets are theoretically unlimited in duration and governed mostly by state law.
Of the three, patents offer the strongest possible protection. Among other things, subject matter must usually be both objectively novel and unobvious to those familiar with relevant technology. Since 1978, copyrights may last to 50 years beyond an author's lifetime and are much more easily and cheaply obtained. However, copyrights are somewhat weaker than patents because independently created, identical, works do not infringe. This is mostly theoretical because defendants face serious difficulties convincing courts that they did not copy publicly available works.