This article provides an overview of patent, trademark and trade secret laws. The article is from the Internet Law and Business Handbook by Mark Radcliffe and Dianne Brinson. Although copyright law is the most important intellectual property law governing open source software, but other intellectual property laws such as patent, trademark and trade secret laws also apply to open source software.
Mark Radcliffe is a senior partner at DLA Piper and is the pro bono outside general counsel of the Open Source Initiative and represents many open source startups as well as advising large companies on their use of open source software.