ABSTRACT
The first step to protecting the intellectual property (IP) of a company is to use the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). The USPTO is the source for all information needed on patents, trademarks, and IP law and policy. A patent, as ruled by the U. S. Supreme Court, is anything that is "a product of human ingenuity" and can be protected by patent. The patenting of nanotechnology is bringing its own set of complexities to the patenting realm because of the new tools like the scanning tunneling microscope (STM) and similar tools that affected the nanotechnology applications because they did not conform to the existing classifications of IP. IP rights are protected under various federal and state laws. The Agreement in Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights offers criteria to help prevent patent disputes. This agreement defines patentable matter as "any invention that involves an innovative step and has a potential industrial application".
