What is the difference between copyright and patent infringement?
Copyright infringement occurs when someone copies, reproduces, or publicly distributes another person’s creative work without permission. This includes things such as music, books, images, and videos. When someone commits copyright infringement, they are breaking the copyright owner’s exclusive right to their work. Patent infringement, on the other hand, is when someone creates, sells, uses, or imports an invention without permission from the patent holder. A patent is a set of exclusive rights granted to an inventor in relation to a particular invention, and these rights allow the inventor to stop anyone else from making, using, or selling the invention without their permission. Patent infringement is a violation of the exclusive rights given to the patent owner by the United States Patent and Trademark Office. In North Carolina, copyright and patent infringement are both taken seriously and can result in harsh punishments. Depending on the severity of the infringement, copying or distributing protected work could lead to a lawsuit and monetary damages, or in some cases, criminal charges. Patent infringement could also result in fines, or the person responsible could be ordered to stop using the patented invention.
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