There is a tension between the desire to make
creativity rewarding to inventors, so they will continue to invent, and the desire to let many in society benefit
from new inventions.
With physical property, property rights are almost absolute. Only in special cases such as eminent domain,
where a community can appropriate, after compensating the owner, private property for public use, is there
a limit on one??™s right to what one owns. With intellectual property, the tension between promoting the good
of the inventor and promoting the good of the larger group has resulted in more limitations on the rights of
property owners. Intellectual property is not perfectly analogous to physical property, as we discussed above,
so the rules relating to intellectual property are different.
There are four recognized ways in which people protect their intellectual property, and each has its limitations.
The four are trademarks, trade secrets, patents, and copyrights.
Trademarks and Service Marks
Trademarks are the symbols, names, and pictures that companies use to identify their companies and products.
Service marks are essentially the same thing, but they identify a service, such as insurance, rather than a tangible
product.
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