Pennsauken, NJ asked in Copyright, Patents (Intellectual Property) and Trademark for New Jersey

Q: I'm developing an early childhood education program and am not sure if I should copywrite, trademark, or patent it.

1 Lawyer Answer
Peter D. Mlynek
Peter D. Mlynek
Answered
  • Intellectual Property Lawyer
  • Moorestown, NJ
  • Licensed in New Jersey

A: Dear fellow New Jersian --

Under the US laws, there are 4 broad types of work protection:

(1) PATENTS, that protect inventions (new things, new way of doing things);

(2) TRADEMARKS, that protect names and symbols;

(3) COPYRIGHT, that protects an expression; and

(4) TRADE SECRET, that protects information.

Most likely, a childhood education program (books, workbooks, study guides, growth charts, developments tests, and like), would be best protected by a copyright.

You could look to protect it as well by a trademark or even a patent, but most likely it would make the most sense to protect it under the copyright laws. It really depends on your early childhood education program. To make sure, please consider talking with an intellectual property attorney (i.e., an attorney that does trademarks, copyrights, and/or patents).

The good news for you is that copyrights are the least expensive way of these three protections.

Good luck,

--Peter Mlynek

Intellectual Property Attorney

856-787-0880

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