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The table below provides a simplified comparison of patents and copyrights, the two forms of intellectual property of most interest in a university environment. When reviewing the table, keep in mind that a single innovation might be subject matter for more than one type of intellectual property.
| Patents | Copyrights | |
|---|---|---|
| Constitutional Basis | Article I, Section 8 of the U.S. Constitution | Article I, Section 8 of the U.S. Constitution |
| Implementing Statute | Patent Act (Title 35 of the U.S. Code) | Copyright Act (Title 17 of the U.S. Code) |
| Subject Matter | Inventions: any useful process (including a computer software process), manufactured item, machine, composition of matter (including biological matter), and any new and useful improvement on any of the above categories | Works of Authorship: original expression in writings (including sets of computer instructions), recorded speech, recorded or written music, paintings, etc.; does not include any idea, procedure, process, method of operation, or concept embodied in the expression |
| Loss of Rights | No patent if invention was known by others before the patent application, described in a single publication or offered for sale more than one year prior to the application, abandoned by the inventor, or not invented by the applicant(s) | No copyright if work is not original, i.e. is copied from another source, or if work is only transitory, e.g. unrecorded, extemporaneous speech |
| Additional Criteria | Must be non-obvious: no patent if subject matter as a whole would have been obvious, at the time just prior to when the invention was made, to a person of ordinary skill in field of the invention | Must be fixed in some tangible medium: printed on paper, recorded on audio or video tape, stored on computer disk, etc. |
| Bundle of Rights | Grant or withhold agreement not to sue others who make, use, or sell the patented invention in the jurisdiction of the patent | Grant or withhold agreement not to sue others who reproduce, distribute, publicly perform or display, or make derivative works from the copyrighted work |
| Start of Protection | When patent is issued (might be 18-36 months after patent application filed) | As of the moment when original expression is fixed in a tangible medium; subsequent federal registration is sometimes advantageous, but not required |
| Length of Protection | 20 years from date of patent application (filing date) | For works authored by an individual: from first fixation until 70 years after author's death; up to 120 years for Works for Hire |
| Ownership | Inventors listed on the issued patent are the initial owners; they might be contractually required to assign (transfer) ownership to others, such as an employer |
Author of the work is the initial owner; author might be contractually required to assign (transfer) ownership to others, such as an employer Work for Hire: employer or entity that commissioned the work is considered the author, and thus the initial owner |
| Non-infringing Activity | Formally permitted experimental use is very limited | Limited use possible under doctrines of fair use, reproduction by libraries and archives, or transfer of a particular copy of the work |
