Why is intellectual property (IP) important?  Advances in the arts and technology are fostered when we provide creators and innovators with a means to   be compensated for their efforts and the ability to stop unauthorized copying.

Without the legal right to protect new ideas, businesses, institutions and individuals could not reap the full benefits of their inventions and would focus less on research and development. Nor would artists receive compensation for their creations.  

This talk will briefly touch on the high level importance of intellectual property and quickly move to an overview of the four pillars of intellectual property: patents, trademarks, copyrights, and trade secrets.   Each will be addressed in terms of their application to commercial enterprise and how these rights are acquired and maintained, with an emphasis on patents as the most valuable to innovators in the sciences.

Jim Lennon is IP lawyer/partner with Young Conaway Stargatt & Taylor, LLP, one of Delaware’s largest law firms, and has been representing clients in IP disputes and transactions for over fifteen years.  Jim holds a BS in geology from the University of Delaware and a JD in law from the University of North Carolina.  Prior to his career in law, Jim was a geologist with DuPont.