How the US sorts industrial property
Industrial intellectual property is a term used in international treaties and in many countries' laws for patents, industrial designs, and trademarks, as distinct from copyright. The US covers the same ground with different labels. Inventions are protected by utility patents, product appearance by design patents rather than a separate design registration, and trademarks through registration with the USPTO, though some trademark rights also arise from use alone. The US has no utility model system, so a company that relies on utility models abroad needs a different plan for lower-cost protection here. Trade secrets, protected under federal and state law, fill much of the remaining space.
Carrying rights across borders
Treaties let applicants claim the filing date of an earlier application in another member country if they file within a set priority period, and the PCT and the Hague system offer centralized filing routes for patents and designs. None of these creates a single international right; protection is still granted by each national or regional office. For trademarks, the Madrid system can extend a home registration to the US, but the USPTO examines it under US rules, including a requirement to declare a bona fide intention to use the mark. Priority deadlines are firm and differ by type of right, so tracking them is one of the first tasks.
Planning US protection
We begin by mapping your existing portfolio against the US categories and identifying gaps, such as utility models with no US equivalent or designs registered abroad but never filed here. We also check ownership, since rights held by a parent company, a subsidiary, or individual inventors may need assignments before US filings or enforcement. Distribution and licensing agreements for the US market should match the portfolio you actually hold. Bring a list of your registrations and applications, their priority dates, and your planned US launch timeline.
