About Codman

Our mission is to establish Codman as the leader in the treatment of central nervous system disorders by pioneering advanced neuroscience therapies. Learn more about our company.
 

Intellectual Property

According to the Intellectual Property Owners (IPO) Association, intellectual property describes intangible creations of the human intellect that are protected by law. However, these laws can vary by country.

The following information refers to US intellectual property protection. If you are visiting this site from outside the United States, you should consult the patent offices of your home country.

In the United States, intellectual property generally falls into one of three different categories:

PATENT

A patent refers to the rights to an invention, granted by the U.S. government or another foreign governing body. They exclude others from making, using, selling, offering for sale, or importing an invention without the permission of the inventor.

Patents do not grant the patent holder the right to make, use, sell, offer for sale, or import an invention. Securing these rights may involve additional steps, such as clearance or right to use search.

Learn more about patents and the patent process.

TRADEMARK

According to the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), a trademark is a word, name, symbol, or device which is used in trade with goods to indicate the source of the goods and to distinguish them from the goods of others. A servicemark is the same as a trademark except that it identifies and distinguishes the source of a service rather than a product. The terms "trademark" and "mark" are commonly used to refer to both trademarks and service marks.

You can file for a trademark online or perform a trademark search.

COPYRIGHT

The USPTO defines a copyright as a form of protection provided to the authors of "original works of authorship" including literary, dramatic, musical, artistic, and certain other intellectual works, both published and unpublished. The 1976 Copyright Act generally gives the owner of the copyright the exclusive right to reproduce the copyrighted work, to prepare derivative works, to distribute copies or phonorecords of the copyrighted work, to perform the copyrighted work publicly, or to display the copyrighted work publicly.

Copyrights are registered by the Copyright Office of the Library of Congress.