Generally,intellectualpropertyisintangibleandiscreatedbyintellectualeffortasopposedtophysicaleffort.IntheUnitedStates,patents,copyrightsandtrademarksaregovernedbyfederallaw.Tradesecretsaregovernedbystatelaw.
Apatentisagovernmentalgrantofanexclusivemonopolyasanincentiveandarewardforanewinvention.Tobepatentable,anideamustbenovel,usefulandnonobvious.1IntheU.S.A.,theownerofapatentcontrolstherighttomake,sellanduseaproductforaperiodofseventeenyearsandadesignforfourteenyears.Ifonemanufactures,sells,orusesapatentedinventionwithoutauthorizationofthepatentowner,hehasprobablycommittedpatentinfringement.Theinfringementexistseveniftheinfringerdidnotknowaboutthepatent.Infringerscanbeliablefordamagesandmaybeenjoinedfromfutureinfringement.
However,thepartychallengedwithpatentinfringementcanescapeliabilityinavarietyofways.Onewayisbyprovingthatthechallengedproductorprocessisoutsidethescopeofthepatent.Anotherwayisbyprovingthatthepatentisinvalidbecauseitfailstomeetthecriteriaforpatentability.Athirdwayistoestablishthatthepatentholderhasmisusedthepatent.Misuseofapatentoccurswhenapatentholderusesthepatenttoachievesomethingillegally.Themostcommontypeofmisuseoccurswhenthepatentholderusesthepatenttoviolatetheantitrustlaws.
然而，被质疑专利侵权的一方可以用许多方式逃避责任。一个方式是证明被质疑的产品或过程是在专利的领域之外。另一个方式是证明由于专利未能满足专利性的标准而无效。第三个方式是证实专利权人滥用专利。当一个专利权人利用专利去非法的完成某些事时，专利滥用就发生了。最常见的滥用专利权常发生在专利权人利用其专利违反反垄断法的时候。
Atrademarkisamarkongoodsthatdistinguishesthemarkedgoodsfromcompetinggoods.Themarkmaybeaword,pictureordesign.Inordertoqualifyasatrademark,themarkmustnotbeoverlydescriptiveorgeneric.Trademarksareprotectedthroughregistration.Unauthorizeduseoftheregisteredtrademarksofothersisillegal.Publicperceptionplaysasignificantroleintrademarklaw.Ifthepubliccomestoperceivethatatrademarkisgeneric,itwillloseitslegalstatusasatrademark.Publicperceptioncanalsocreatealegalrightforanattributeofaproduct.Ifaproduct'sshapeorstyleorfeaturesarearbitraryandnonfunctional,andthegeneralpubliccomestoviewthesefeaturesasassociatedwithaparticularproduct,theyaresaidtohaveacquiredasecondarymeaning,whichmayberegisteredandprotected.
Atradesecretmayconsistofanyformula,deviceorcompilationofinformationwhichisusedinone'sbusiness,andwhichgiveshimanopportunitytoobtainanadvantageovercompetitorswhodonotknoworuseit.Tradesecretsmustbekeptsecret.Toqualifyforprotection,thesecretmustgivethefirmacompetitiveadvantage.Unlikepatentsandcopyrights,thereisnotimelimitonthelifeofatradesecret.Itiseffectiveaslongasthesecrecyismaintained.Thelawprotectstradesecretsfromwrongfulappropriation.Thisdoesnotmeanthatacompetitorcannotusethesamemanufacturingprocess.Itonlymeansthatthecompetitormustarriveattheideaindependently.