Intellectual property includes patents and copyrights. Patents and copyrights give inventors, authors, artists and musicians exclusive rights to financially benefit from their creations for a limited time. They protect the items from being copied and from someone else financially benefiting from them.
Copyrights typically include:
- Original Poems, Stories, and Novels
- Original Songs
- Original movie scripts or movie productions
- Original Paintings, Sculptures or other Works of Art
Patents typically include:
- Inventions
- New machines or technology
Patents and copyrights are property which will be given to someone when you are gone. Before you decide to leave your copyrights or patents to anyone, you need to give careful consideration to the qualifications of possible beneficiaries. A copyright needs to be properly distributed and monitored and a patent may need to be updated or need close monitoring. There can be tax advantages to selling a patent rather than leaving it in your estate, but the same is not necessarily true for a copyright.
Getting Legal Help
An experienced estate planning attorney can help you make a strategic plan for estate that includes the best plan for distributing or selling your patents or copyrights. Contact us today at 973-841-5111.
Posted in: Elder Law, Estate Planning, New York Estate Planning