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.
Lexington is an independent city within the confines of Rockbridge County in the Commonwealth of Virginia. The population was 6,867 at the 2000 census. Lexington is about 55 minutes east of the West Virginia border and is about 50 miles north of Roanoke, Virginia. It was first settled in 1777. It is home to the Washington and Lee University (W&L) and Virginia Military Institute (VMI). It is the county seat of Rockbridge County. The Bureau of Economic Analysis combines the city of Lexington (along with nearby Buena Vista) with Rockbridge County for statistical purposes. Union General David Hunter led a raid on Virginia Military Institute during the American Civil War. Robert E. Lee and Stonewall Jackson are buried here. So too was Commander Matthew Fontaine Maury until he was removed to Richmond, Virginia the following spring. It is also the site of the only house Jackson ever owned, now open to the public as a museum. Sam Houston, 19th century statesman, politician and soldier, and, as of 2008, the only person in U.S. history to have been the governor of two different states — Tennessee and Texas — was born near here. At the Sam Houston Wayside is a 38,000 pound piece of Texas pink granite commemorating Houston's birthplace.