Legal Question in Intellectual Property in Illinois

There is a patent-like form of protection for this as a "mask-work" administered by the Copyright Office under 17 USC Ch. 9. 17 USC Sect. 908 provides for registration of mask works with the Copyright Office and 17 USC Sect. 904 provides a 10 year period of exclusivity. The Copyright Office has a "Circular 100" available online which explains the process and the protection. This is done using Form MW and the current Government fee for Form MW registration is $105. Attorney fees will run about $200-400. Many patent attorneys and/or copyright attorneys are not familiar with this form of protection, so choose one who is. I am an Illinois attorney and can do this registration for you. As with most copyright registrations, you can do this yourself once you are familiar with the process, but the first time it is foolish to do it yourself when the cost is so low and the coverage so valuable and important.