IPWatchdog.com is dedicated to providing a free, reliable and easily understandable resource on intellectual property law and related topics. We promise to demystify intellectual property and explain to you what it is, why you would want to consider obtaining intellectual property rights and how to go about obtaining worthwhile intellectual property protection. We also explain various pitfalls to avoid, as well as what you can do to help yourself.

The founder of IPWachdog.com is Gene Quinn, who is a patent attorney, law professor and a leading commentator on patent law and procedure. He launched IPWatchdog.com in October of 1999, and since that time the site has been a trusted resource on intellectual property for over 3 million unique visitors who have come here for information and news. Today IPWatchdog.com is one of the most popular intellectual property blogs on the Internet.

So what is intellectual property? Intellectual property is probably best thought of (at least in general terms) as creations of the mind that are given the legal rights often associated with real or personal property. The rights that are given to owners are a function of statutory law (i.e., law created by the legislature). These statutes may be federal or state laws, or in some instances both federal and state laws govern various aspects of a single type of intellectual property. The term intellectual property itself is now commonly used to refer to the bundle of rights conferred to owners by each of the following fields of law: (1) patent law; (2) copyright law,; (3) trademark law; (4) trade secret law; and (5) the right of publicity. Many people confuse these areas of intellectual property law, and although there may be some similarities among these kinds of intellectual property protection, they are different and serve different purposes. Each area of intellectual property is discussed in detail on the various pages of our website, and we will explain the differences between and among the various forms of protection in plain english.

Please feel free to browse through our pages. You will find detailed information on all aspects of intellectual property law, as well as invention marketing, including discussion of why you should have intellectual property law protection for your business and how to obtain the various forms of intellectual property, including patents, copyrights and trademarks. Additionally, before you consider doing business with an invention promotion or submission company please read The Truth About Invention Submission Companies.

Gene Quinn is a US Patent Attorney, blogger and a principle lecturer of the most popular patent bar review course in the US. Gene’s particular specialty is in the area of strategic patent consulting, patent application drafting, patent prosecution, technology licensing and litigation. In addition to representing inventors Gene also represents business with respect to copyright matters. Gene is also a member of the Board of Directors of the United Inventors Association, and is an inventor himself. Gene is also known by many as “The IPWatchdog,” having started the widely popular intellectual property website IPWatchdog.com in 1999.

Renee Quinn is the Chief Operating Officer of IPWatchdog, Inc., and has been working with IPWatchdog, Inc. since April of 2006. Her primary responsibilities include interfacing with inventors, entrepreneurs and small businesses. She is also in charge of accounts receivable, work on developing marketing campaigns and is responsible for coordinating outside vendors in a project managing capacity. Renee acquired a Masters of Business Administration with her course work focusing on e-Commerce and e-Business, with an emphasis on marketing via the World Wide Web. Her particular career focus to date has been on business-to-business and business-to-consumer marketing.