Ocean Springs is a city in Jackson County, Mississippi, about 2 miles (3.2 km) east of Biloxi. It is part of the Pascagoula, Mississippi Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 17,225 at the 2000 census. The town has a reputation as an "arts community. " Its historic and secluded downtown area, with streets lined by Live Oak trees, is home to several art galleries and shops plying shiny wares new and old alike. It is also home to a number of ethnic restaurants relatively uncommon in surrounding communities, such as Mediterraneo, Phoenicia Gourmet, and Shady's Global Grille on Government street. One particular gastronomic landmark is the locally-owned Lagniappe Restaurant, a culinary gathering place for locals since the 1970s which now specializes in catering and private parties. Ocean Springs was the hometown of the late Walter Inglis Anderson, a nationally renowned painter and muralist who died in 1965 resulting from lung cancer. The town plays host to several festivals, including its Peter Anderson Festival and The Herb Festival. Ocean Springs was severely damaged on August 29, 2005, by Hurricane Katrina, which smashed many buildings along the shoreline, including the Ocean Springs Yacht Club, and the historic wooden Fort Maurepas, and gutted or flooded other buildings. Katrina's 25 ft (7.6 m) storm surge also destroyed the Biloxi Bay Bridge, which connected Biloxi to Ocean Springs.

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 Mississippi

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...