Generally, intellectual property is intangible and is created by intellectual effort as opposed to physical effort. In the United States, patents, copyrights and trademarks2 are governed by federal law. Trade secrets are governed by state law.
通常来讲,常识产权是无形的并且是由相对于体力劳动的智商劳动创造的。在美国，专利权、版权和商标权是由联邦法管辖的，而商业秘密是由州法律管辖。
A patent is a governmental grant of an exclusive monopoly as an incentive3 and a reward for a new invention. To be patentable, an idea must be novel, useful and nonobvious. 1In the U. S. A. , the owner of a patent controls the right to make, sell and use a product for a period of seventeen years and a design for fourteen years. If one manufactures, sells, or uses a patented invention without authorization4 of the patent owner, he has probably committed patent infringement5. The infringement exists even if the infringer6 did not know about the patent. Infringers can be liable for damages and may be enjoined7 from future infringement.
专利权是政府对一项新创造授与的独占的权利，以给予该创造以鼓励和奖励，一项具备专利性的想法需要拥有新颖性、实用性和非显著性。在美国，专利权人对商品的制作、销售及用有十七年的控制权，而设计是十四年。假如某人未经专利权人授权而制造、销售及用该专利创造，那样他就可能是专利侵权行为。即便侵权人不知道专利侵权依旧存在。侵权人可以需要赔偿并且禁止将来侵权。
However, the party challenged with patent infringement can escape liability in a variety of ways. One way is by proving that the challenged product or process is outside the scope of the patent. Another way is by proving that the patent is invalid8 because it fails to meet the criteria9 for patentability. A third way is to establish that the patent holder10 has misused12 the patent. Misuse11 of a patent occurs when a patent holder uses the patent to achieve something illegally. The most common type of misuse occurs when the patent holder uses the patent to violate the antitrust laws.
然而，被质疑专利侵权的一方可以用很多方法逃避责任。一个方法是证明被质疑的商品或过程是在专利的范围以外。另一个方法是证明因为专利未能满足专利性的规范而无效。第三个方法是证实专利权人滥用专利。当一个专利权人借助专利去非法的完成某些事时，专利滥用就发生了。最容易见到的滥用专利权常发生在专利权人借助其专利违反反垄断法的时候。
A copyright protects the physical expression of intellectual or artistic13 effort, not the idea. A copyright is effective for the life of the creator plus fifty years. Anyone who creates an original work is protected by an automatic common law copyright. Published materials without statutory copyright protection are said to him in the public domain14 and may be used by anyone, without the consent of the creator, 3To obtain statutory copyright protection, materials must be published with the copyright notice, which takes the form of the word copyright or the abbreviation copr. , or the symbol followed by the name of the copyright owner. Copyrights may be registered with the Register of Copyright and copies of the copyrighted material are provided by the Library of Congress. If one violates the copyright created by the copyright notice, he may only be enjoined from future violations15. If he violates a copyright created by registration16, he may be liable for damages, fines or imprisonment17. Owners of copyrights may assign their ownership to others.
版权保护的是对智商或艺术成就的有形描述，而不是主意。版权的保护期是创作者的终身再加五十年。其他人创作了作品之后都自动遭到普通法版权的保护，未获成文法版权保护的出版物被叫做在公共范围，其他人都可以不经作者赞同而用。要想获得成文法版权的保护，作品出版时需要有版权标志，其形式有单词copyright或缩写copr.及附有版权人名字的符号c。版权可以向版权登记簿登记并且国会图书馆将提供作品的复印件。假如侵有通过版权标志遭到保护的版权，侵权人可能仅仅被禁止再侵权行为；但假如侵有注册版权，侵权人便会承担支付损害赔偿，罚款或被监禁的法律责任。版权人可以出售他们的权利给别的人。
A trademark1 is a mark on goods that distinguishes the marked goods from competing goods. The mark may be a word, picture or design. In order to qualify as a trademark, the mark must not be overly descriptive or generic18. Trademarks are protected through registration. Unauthorized use of the registered trademarks of others is illegal. Public perception plays a significant role in trademark law. If the public comes to perceive that a trademark is generic, it will lose its legal status as a trademark. Public perception can also create a legal right for an attribute of a product. If a product's shape or style or features are arbitrary and nonfunctional, and the general public comes to view these features as associated with a particular product, they are said to have acquired a secondary meaning, which may be registered and protected.
商标是用来不同被标记的产品和相角逐的产品间的产品标记。商标可以是一个词，画或者设计。为了符合商标的规范，标记不可以过度描述的或普通的。商标通过注册保护。未经授权用别人注册商标是违法的。公众的认知在商标法中饰演着一个要紧的角色。假如公众开始觉得某个商标是普通的，它将会失去商标的法律地位。公众的认知也能为商品的某个性质创造法律权利。假如一商品的形状、式样或特点是任意的且不拥有功能性的，假如公众将它视为与特定的商品有联系的话，它就被叫做获得了引申义，那样该形状、式样或特点也可以注册并遭到保护。
A trade secret may consist of any formula, device or compilation19 of information which is used in one's business, and which gives him an opportunity to obtain an advantage over competitors who do not know or use it. Trade secrets must be kept secret. To qualify for protection, the secret must give the firm a competitive advantage. Unlike patents and copyrights, there is no time limit on the life of a trade secret. It is effective as long as the secrecy20 is maintained. The law protects trade secrets from wrongful appropriation21. This does not mean that a competitor cannot use the same manufacturing process. It only means that the competitor must arrive at the idea independently.
一个商业秘密可能由在某个公司用的公式、设计及信息编辑等组成，并且该商业秘密赋予它机会去得到优势超越不了解或未用该秘密的角逐者。商业秘密必需保有秘密。要符合保护的规范，该秘密需要给予公司角逐性的优势。不象专利和版权，商业秘密没时间限制。只须控制着秘密，它就有效。法律保护商业秘密不被非法窃取。这并不意味着角逐者不可以用同样的制造过程。它仅仅意味角逐者需要独立的得到这个主意
