Intellectual property is the body of law (statutes and court opinions) that protects a person’s original works. There are generally four types of intellectual property: (1) patents; (2) copyrights; (3) trademarks; and (4) trade secrets. For example, patent law protects the works of people who create new utilities for chemicals and machines (utility patents), new designs (design patents), and new plant varieties (plant patents). Copyright law protects new works of authorship such as books, movie scripts, paintings, poetry, and songs. Trademark law protects the names and identifying marks (logos) of products and companies. And trade secrets are pieces of information that have economic value from not being generally known to the public or discoverable by lawful means, and that the owner strives to keep secret.

In Georgia, as in all states, intellectual property law is primarily governed by federal statutes, due to the interstate and often international nature of IP. Patents are protected under the United States Patent Act (Title 35 of the U.S. Code), which provides exclusive rights to inventors for their inventions, including utility patents, design patents, and plant patents. Copyrights are protected under the Copyright Act of 1976 (Title 17 of the U.S. Code), which covers original works of authorship such as literature, music, and art. Trademarks are governed by the Lanham Act (Title 15 of the U.S. Code), which protects brand names, logos, and other identifiers from being used by others in a way that could cause consumer confusion. Lastly, trade secrets are protected both by the Georgia Trade Secrets Act and the federal Defend Trade Secrets Act of 2016, which provide remedies for the misappropriation of confidential business information. While federal law provides the framework for intellectual property rights, state laws can also play a role, particularly in enforcement and in providing additional remedies for misappropriation or infringement.