Intellectual Property
Non-Disclosure Agreements (NDA’s)
We know your data and ideas are precious, so we will never publicly disclose any of your confidential information without express consent. We are more than happy to sign a non-disclosure agreement with our customers if desired to provide further assurances on this matter (even before you commit to working with us).
Patents
Patents are a form of protected Intellectual Property that grant the patent owner the exclusive right to manufacture or use the design, mechanism, or process for a number of years.
Our work often results in a patentable concept, feature, or process. While we do not have any patent attorneys on staff at Verj, we will work closely with you or your attorney to submit any patent applications.
If you know of an existing patent, or one is discovered along the way that poses a potential challenge, we can propose alternative solutions that do not infringe on the existing patents and still achieve your desired goals!
In the United States, patents are divided into three categories: Utility, Design, and Plant Patents.
Patent Types & Definitions
Utility Patents
Utility Patents cover all functional aspects of a design. This covers physical products, processes (e.g. a new way to manufacture car tires), and software functionality. Utility patents last 20 years from the date of filing.
Design Patents
Design Patents cover the visual appearance of products (like the appearance of the iPhone). These patents last 15 years from the date of filing (Note that the duration was previously shorter for patents filed before May 13, 2015).
Plant Patents
Plant Patents are related to agriculture — sorry, we can’t help you with this one, although we would be happy to give you our tasting notes on that new apple variety.
Provisional Patents
Provisional Patents are not a separate category, rather it is an abbreviated place-holder application that can be filed for any of the above three types of to help establish the priority filing date.
Prior Art
Prior Art is the official term used to refer to existing patents (even when dealing with purely functional aspects). If you know of an existing patent, or one is discovered along the way that poses a potential challenge, we can propose alternative solutions that do not infringe on the existing patents and still yield your desired goals!
Copyrights
Copyrights automatically* provide protection for many original creative works including literature, websites, music, and more. However, this does not cover physical product design, which is where a design patent is useful (see above). For more information on copyrights, refer to the official US copyright website, copyright.gov.
*There are some additional benefits to officially registering a copyrighted work. Refer to the official US copyright website for more details.
Trademarks
Trademarks provide protection for brand names or slogans. Read more about Trademarks from the official USPTO (United States Patent and Trademark Office) website, uspto.gov.