Bus Law Ch. 9
Patent
Grant from the government to an inventor for "the right to exclude others from making, using, offering for sale, ore selling" the invention for twenty years after the inventor files a patent application.
Arbitrary and Fanciful Marks
Most favored by the courts because they are inherently distinctive, like made-up names (ex: Reebok), or they are names not related to the product (ex: Apple).
Descriptive Marks
Not as favored by the law and must be shown to have acquired customer recognition to be allowed protection (ex: Holiday Inn).
Cybersquatting
Occurs when a trademark is used improperly in a domain name.
Copyrights
Rights of literary property as recognized by law.
Collective Mark
A trademark or service mark that is used in commerce by members of a cooperative, an association, or other collective group or organization.
Trade Secret
"Any formula, pattern, device, or compilation of information which is used in one's business, and which gives him an opportunity to obtain an advantage over competitors who do not know how to use it." (ex: Coke's formula).
Fair Use
"For purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching,...scholarship, or research."
Trademark
A commercial symbol- design, logo, phrase, distinctive mark, name, or word- that a manufacturer prints on its goods so they can be readily identified in the marketplace. Must be distinctive and nonfunctional to be registered. Four types: arbitrary and fanciful, suggestive, descriptive, generic.
Intangible Property
Another name for intellectual property. Called this because it may be invisible, impossible to hold, and harder to value than physical property.
Dilution
Another violation of trademark rights.
Certification Mark
Any word, symbol, device, or any combination of these that is used, or intended to be used, in commerce to certify regional or other geographic origin (ex: "Made in Montana").
Service Marks
Apply to services such as advertising, insurance, hotels, restaurants, and entertainment. (Ex: "Home of the Whopper" is a service mark for Burger King).
Trade Dress
Concerns the "look and feel" of products and or service establishments. This includes the size, shape, color, texture, graphics, and even certain sales techniques of products.
Counterfeiting
Copying or imitating of a mark without authority to do so.
Intellectual Property
Created by mental effort, not by physical labor. Four main types: trademarks, copyrights, patents, trade secrets.
Suggestive Marks
Hint at the product (ex: Chicken of the Sea), due legal protection but establishing that can be more difficult than if the mark is arbitrary and fanciful.
Moral Rights
Includes the right of the author to have proper attribution of authorship and to prevent unauthorized changes in or destruction of an artist's work.
Lanham Act
Made common-law protection of trademarks a part of federal law. Allows a person to register a symbol with the Patent and Trademark Office.
Utility Patents
The invention must have a use and be operative, not just be a theory.
Trade Name
The name of a company or business.
Secondary Meaning
The primary significance of a mark or trade dress is to identify the source of the product, rather than the product itself.
Economic Espionage
Theft of commercial trade secrets.
Goodwill
When firms have created value and gained the trust of many customers.
Generic Marks
Words that are common and do not refer to products from a specific producer (words that were possibly once trademarks, ex: thermos, nylon, zipper).
Infringement
Wrongful, unauthorized use of intellectual property in violation of the owner's rights (basis for a tort action).