What is the difference between a patent and a copyright?
In California, intellectual property law is the legal protection for creations of the mind. These creations can be in the form of a product, a process, or a symbol. Two of the most common forms of intellectual property protection are patents and copyrights. A patent grants the inventor exclusive rights to an original invention. Patents in California are granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office and are typically limited to a particular territory, or in the case of the United States, a particular state or region. Patents protect inventions, such as new or improved products, or processes that are useful, novel, and non-obvious. The duration of patents in California is typically twenty years, allowing the inventor to exclusively benefit from the invention during this period. On the other hand, a copyright protects an original work of authorship. Copyrighted works can include any type of literary, artistic, or scientific work. In California, copyrights are granted by the United States Copyright Office and typically last for the life of the author plus an additional 70 years. Copyrighted works can be used for a variety of purposes, including distributing, reproducing, performing, displaying, and adapting the work. In summary, the difference between a patent and a copyright is that a patent protects an invention, whereas a copyright protects an original work of authorship. Whereas patents are granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office and typically last for twenty years, copyrights are granted by the United States Copyright Office and typically last for the life of the author plus an additional 70 years.
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