Federal Regulation of Aftermarket Parts

SEMA has compiled two guides on how motor vehicle parts are regulated by the federal and state government. The first is a 6-page brochure that provides a concise overview.

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SEMA Member Guide to the New Health Care Law

The "Affordable Care Act" is sowing confusion for many SEMA members. The new health care law is being phased-in over a number of years and January 2014 is the deadline for larger companies to offer coverage or pay a penalty.

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Intellectual Property Rights Guide

SEMA is pleased to provide our members with the following information about trademarks, patents and copyrights. The ideas, names, logos and inventions of your company are valuable property and often can be legally protected for your exclusive use. The overview materials will familiarize you with the basics on this topic so that you may take advantage of the law on patents, trademarks and copyrights.

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Copyrights

By obtaining a copyright, a publisher, author, artist and/or composer gains exclusive rights to their production of original, expressive information (an artistic or literary work) for a limited time.

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Patent

Patents stimulate private investment in new, useful and non-obvious technological information (inventions) through the granting of exclusive property rights to the patent holder.

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Examples of Design and Utility Patents

See pratical examples of Design and Utility Patents and the benefits of patent registration.

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Stopping Illegal Imports of Trademarks, Copyrights, Patents

Learn more about the important mission of U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) in detection and seizing merchandise entering the United States that violates existing IPR.

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Trademark

A trademark is a name, logo or other feature used by a company to identify itself as the source of a product or service. If established properly, trademarks can be a means to establish legal rights prohibiting competitors from using the same distinguishing features and identifiers.

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Examples of Trademarks

View pratical examples of well known trademarks including words, designs, sound, color and trade dress.

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Important Links

Patent and Trademark Office, U.S. Department of Commerce

Copyright Office, Library of Congress

U.S. Customs and Border Protection, Department of Homeland Security