Guides: Entrepreneurship and Innovation in Education: Legal Resources

Intellectual Property

There are different kinds of intellectual property (IP), including trademarks, patents, and copyright. In the United States, you can register your IP with the federal government for legal protection.

Use the USPTO's IP Identifier tool to identify the kind of IP you have.

Below table adapted from the USPTO.
	Trademark	Patent	Copyright
What's legally protected?	A word, phrase, design, or a combination that identifies your goods or services, distinguishes them from the goods or services of others, and indicates the source of your goods or services.	Technical inventions, such as chemical compositions like pharmaceutical drugs, mechanical processes like complex machinery, or machine designs that are new, unique, and usable in some type of industry.	Artistic, literary, or intellectually created works, such as novels, music, movies, software code, photographs, and paintings that are original and exist in a tangible medium, such as paper, canvas, film, or digital format.
What's an example?	Duolingo® (name, logo, etc.)	ProctorU's method for online exam monitoring	Khan Academy's videos and exercises
What are the benefits of federal protection?	Protects the trademark from being registered by others without permission and helps you prevent others from using a trademark that is similar to yours with related goods or services.	Safeguards inventions and processes from other parties copying, making, using, or selling the invention without the inventor’s consent.	Protects your exclusive right to reproduce, distribute, and perform or display the created work, and prevents other people from copying or exploiting the creation without the copyright holder’s permission.
Who is the issuing authority in the US?	The Patent and Trademark Office (PTO)	The Patent and Trademark Office (PTO)	The Copyright Office
Where can I research competitors' intellectual property?	The USPTO's Trademark Search system	Derwent Innovations Index (DII) or The USPTO's Patent Public Search tool	The Copyright Office's Copyright Public Records Portal

Key References

Legal Guide for Starting and Running a Small Business by Stephen Fishman
Call Number: eBook

Publication Date: 2023

Covers legal aspects of starting a business, including how to: raise start-up money, decide between an LLC or other business structure, get licenses and permits, choose the right insurance, negotiate contracts and leases, avoid problems if you're buying a franchise, hire and manage employees and independent contractors, and limit your liability and protect your personal assets.

Nolo.com
Nolo has been a publisher of plain-English legal books, software, and forms for nearly 30 years. Everything published is regularly revised and updated by a staff of lawyer-editors. Their business encyclopedia contains information on business plans, financing, obtaining a business license, and more.
IRS - Starting a Business
Basic federal tax information for small business owners and those looking to start a business. Includes information on identifying your businesses' structure, employer identification numbers, business taxes, and more.

Assistance through Local Law Schools

Penn Law Entrepreneurship Legal Clinic
Founded in 1981 with Wharton, Penn Law’s Entrepreneurship Legal Clinic (ELC) provides pro bono transactional legal services to Philadelphia area entrepreneurs and businesses.
Detkin Intellectual Property & Technology Legal Clinic - Penn Law
The Detkin Intellectual Property & Technology Legal Clinic (DIPTC) provides pro bono transactional patent, copyright, trademark, trade secret, and privacy counsel to individuals, and non-profit and for-profit ventures in science, technology, business, and the arts.
Drexel Entrepreneurial Law Clinic
The Entrepreneurial Law Clinic provides legal advice for Philadelphia start-ups by matching students with a select number of innovative start-up company clients.
Villanova Clinic for Law and Entrepreneurship
A clinical law program that provides pro bono legal services to Philadelphia-area enterprises, non-profit organizations, entrepreneurs, and small businesses.

Assistance through Local Law Firms

Ballard Spahr - BASE
Ballard Academy for Student Entrepreneurs (BASE) offers participants practical legal advice for developing a new venture, a value-added team of experienced and accessible lawyers, and an education on how to avoid mistakes and how to solve problems when they arise.
Cozen O'Connor - COpilot
COpilot provides legal resources to establish your growing business, including downloadable templates, such as a Certificate of Incorporation for Delaware.
Saul Ewing - RAMP
The firm's Resources, Access & Mentoring Program (RAMP) brings together entrepreneurs, investors, mentors, institutions of higher education, and commercial partners to help start businesses and commercialize technologies.