Patents and Protection   In today’s global economy competition is quite intense and at the forefront of the subject of Intellectual Property.  Intellectual property rights are demanded on a global scale and abused on a global scale.   Patents and Protection is a short series of sessions that provides an overview of Intellectual Property issues and options from a global perspective.   The material also reviews how Intellectual Property rights benefit an individual, a company, or even a nation.  This session reviews the purpose and merits of: §         Design Patents §         Provisional Patents §         Utility Patents §         Methods Patents §         Trade Secrets §         Trade Marks §         Copyrights   Patents and Protection also reviews the purpose and merits of the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT), which over 135 countries have signed.  The PCT acknowledges numerous Intellectual Property rights of individuals and companies in one country and then extends some of those rights into another country.  A better understanding of these rights can give a company an advantage over its global competitors and/or improve the chances a company will be successful with marketing a product in a foreign country.   Intellectual Property protection is usually a very expensive process; however, the expense of not protecting Intellectual Property may be much more expensive.