They are different types of and legal protections of intellectual property. There are Copyrights, Patents, Trademarks, and Trade Secrets. Copyrights protect original works of authorship, such as literature, music, artistic works, and computer software, for example plagiarism, or use of music with in a game or music without the owner’s permission. As the holder of a copyright you have the exclusive right to reproduce, adapt and to distribute the work. Patents grant the rights on inventions, allowing the patent holder to exclude others from making, selling, or using the invention. An example would be the as seen on TV items you won’t see the item on shelves at Wal-Mart until patent runs out and other companies are allowed to make it. Trademarks are words, phrases, symbol, or designs that distinguishes the item from other competitors, such as Nike. Everyone can distinguish Nike product by just the Swoosh symbol. There is also Trade Secrets, which is a formula, process or device or any other way that keeps a company’s secret to give them an advantage. An example of a trade secret is Coca Cola. Their formula has been kept secret for decades, they have taken the necessary steps to control disclosure of the information (upcounsel.com). the law steps into place when any of these are filed with the federal government, such as the US patent office. They can provide protection from other competitors using your ideas. They can provide an attorney if needed. An e-company can benefit from any of these types of protections from the government, especially the Federal Trade Commission, depending what they offer. An example being Amazon. They fall under almost all of the different intellectual properties. Copyrights, being one of the first companies to offer online sales of anything needed except what is considered illegal. Trademarks
References: Intellectual Property Protection; (2014); www.upcounsel.com Selling On the Internet; (2012); www.business.ftc.gov