Law-Forums.org

[nissim42]

Or does just patenting something in any country counts for the whole world? Also, for copy rights, if a song, for example, is copy righted in the US, is also copyrighted in some other country like Mexico?

[bocley]

Each country has their own laws and regulations for intellectual property (ie: patents, copyrights, trademarks). It is us to you as the creator or owner of the intellectual property to decide which countries you want to file protection in. Of course it gets very expensive as you add more countries to your list. For example, if I invented a new type of stapler and got a patent on it in the United States but did not pay for Mexico. Than I could stop people from selling my type of stapler in the United States but anyone in Mexico could be free do copy my idea and sell it.

Hope that helps.

[favian]

very interesting questions. o_O I would say yes, you would have to patent/copyright in every country if you wish to have complete protection. Some countries are very lax about patent/copyright laws, though....take a look at China. There is such a thing as an international trademark, but not all countries are members of the organization in charge of them.