World of Finance by M.Vijaya Sai You protect physical property with security systems and watchdogs, you protect your intellectual property with a patent, copyright, or trademark. To use these safeguards, you need to know the steps involved in the patent process, the basics of copyright protection, and how to identify your design, idea, or other creative work legally. You can use trade secrets to protect yourself and your work as well, and to speak the lingo, you need to become familiar with a new set of acronyms. The Patent Process A patent is the most expensive and complex type of IP ( intellectual property) right. Decide whether you can protect your IP with a copyright, trademark, or service mark, or by keeping it under wraps as a trade secret before you go though the patent process. If you and your IP professional decide that a patent is the way to go, and you have the time and money to see the process through t...