Patent & Trademark Resources
Protecting Your Intellectual Property
If you have developed a unique product, brand, process, or creative work, you may benefit from intellectual property protection. The resources below can help you learn more about patents, trademarks, and copyrights.
What's the Difference?
Patent protects
Trademark protects
Trademark protects
- Inventions
- Processes
- Products
- Technical innovations
Have questions about patents?
Trademark protects
Trademark protects
Trademark protects
- Business names
- Logos
- Slogans
- Brand identifiers
Have questions about trademarks?
Copyright protects
Trademark protects
Copyright protects
- Written content
- Photography
- Software code
- Artwork
- Videos
Have questions about copyrights?
How the SBDC Can Help
What the SBDC Can't Do
What the SBDC Can't Do
- Understand the basics of intellectual property
- Identify appropriate resources
- Connect with professional service providers
- Incorporate intellectual property considerations into business planning
What the SBDC Can't Do
What the SBDC Can't Do
What the SBDC Can't Do
- Legal advice
- Patent filings
- Trademark filings
- Intellectual property legal opinions
LegalCORPS Assistance
What the SBDC Can't Do
LegalCORPS Assistance
LegalCORPS offers non-litigation transactional business and intellectual property protection legal aid to entrepreneurs, business owners, inventors, and nonprofits with limited resources and/or access to the legal system.
Visit LegalCORPS to learn more.
West Central MN SBDC and the Minnesota SBDC Network is a proud part of the Department of Employment and Economic Development in the State of Minnesota. It is funded in part through a Cooperative Agreement with the U.S. Small Business Administration. All opinions, conclusions, and/or recommendations expressed herein are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the SBA.
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