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A trade secret consists of any confidential formula,device, or piece of information which gives its holder acompetitive advantage so long as it remains secret. An example would be the formula for Coca-Cola®. Tradesecrets can include information that is not novel enough tobe subject to patent protection, or not original enough tobe protected by copyright (e.g., a database of seismic dataor customer lists). Trade secret laws are used to prevent“misappropriations” of the trade secret, or to award damagesfor such misappropriations. Trade secrets are protectedunder state law, although recent federal law hasbeen enacted to prevent theft of trade secrets.

A trademark is a word, phrase, symbol, or design usedto identify the source of goods or services sold, and to distinguishthem from the goods or services of others. Forexample, the Coca-Cola® mark and the design that appearson their soft drink cans identifies them as products of thatcompany, distinguishing them from competitors such asPepsi®. Trademark law primarily prevents competitors from “infringing” upon the trademark, i.e., using “confusinglysimilar” marks to identify their own goods and services.Unlike copyrights and patents, trademark rights canlast indefinitely if the owner continues to use the mark.The term of a federal trademark registration lasts ten years,with ten-year renewal terms being available.

As noted above, IP rights, at least for patents and copyrights,may be considered rights in ideal objects. It is important to point out that ownership of an idea, or idealobject, effectively gives the IP owners a property right inevery physical embodiment of that work or invention. Considera copyrighted book. Copyright holder A has a rightto the underlying ideal object, of which the book is butone example. The copyright system gives A the right inthe very pattern of words in the book; therefore, by implication,A has a right to every tangible instantiation orembodiment of the book—i.e., a right in every physicalversion of the book, or, at least, to every book within thejurisdiction of the legal system that recognizes the copyright.