Benton Harbor is a city in Berrien County in the U.S. state of Michigan southwest from Kalamazoo. The population was 11,182 at the 2000 census. It is the lesser populated of the two principal cities included in the Niles-Benton Harbor, Michigan Metropolitan Statistical Area. It is the administrative home of Whirlpool Corporation, which acquired the Maytag Corporation in 2006, making it the world's largest producer of home appliances. Sites of interest are Shiloh House, built in 1910, which served as the administration building and men's dormitory for the House of David colony, a communal religious group; Morton House (on Morton Hill), built in 1849 by Eleazar Morton, which now houses a museum; nearby Sarett Nature Center, a 300-acre wildlife sanctuary which offers trails, an interpretative building, and classes, and Jean Klock Park on Lake Michigan. Near Benton Harbor is a large fruit market which replaced the prior fruit market located in the "flats" area of Benton Harbor, which was torn down during an urban renewal project during the 1960s. Benton Harbor and the City of St. Joseph (which is located across the St. Joseph River) are known locally as the "Twin Cities". Fair Plain and Benton Heights are unincorporated areas adjacent to Benton Harbor.

What is intellectual property law?

Under intellectual property law, owners are granted certain exclusive rights to a variety of intangible assets, such as musical, literary, and artistic works; discoveries and inventions; and words, phrases, symbols, and designs. Common types of intellectual property include copyrights, trademarks, patents, industrial design rights and trade secrets. Intellectual property law involves advising and assisting individuals and businesses on the development, use, and protection of intellectual property -- which includes ideas, artistic creations, engineering processes, scientific inventions, and more.

Answers to intellectual property law issues in Michigan

A patent is a document issued by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (PTO) that grants a monopoly for a limited...

Some types of inventions will not qualify for a patent, no matter how interesting or important they are. For example...

In the context of a patent application, an invention is considered novel when it is different from all...

Once a patent is issued, it is up to the owner to enforce it. If friendly negotiations fail, enforcement involves...

Patent protection usually ends when the patent expires.

For all utility patents filed before June 8, 1995,...

Typically, inventor-employees who invent in the course of their employment are bound by employment agreements that...

On its own, a patent has no value. A patent becomes valuable only when a patent owner takes action to profit from...

Copyright protects works such as poetry, movies, video games, videos, DVDs, plays, paintings, sheet music, recorded...

For works published after 1977, the copyright lasts for the life of the author plus 70 years. However, if the work...

The term "trademark" is commonly used to describe many different types of devices that label, identify, and...