D216 - Unit 3

What must an invention be in order to be patentable?

"Novel." To be patentable, the invention must be novel, useful, and not obvious.

A company creates new technology to streamline the way companies run cash management accounts. Which kind of intellectual property protection should the company seek for the new technology?

"Patent." A patent protects an invention or any new and useful process, machine, or useful improvement thereof. The company in the scenario seeks to protect new technology that improves the way companies run cash management accounts. The technology is entitled to patent protection.

How may the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (PTO) help entrepreneurs?

"Protect intellectual property." The PTO helps entrepreneurs by registering their trademarks and other intellectual property for its protection.

What does a trademark indicate?

"Source of a good or service." A trademark is a word or logo that identifies the source of goods or a service.

Which type of trademark is "Dairy Queen" in association with soft served ice cream?

"Suggestive." Suggestive trademarks indicate something about the product's nature, quality, or characteristics, without describing the product directly. "Dairy Queen" suggests an association between its products and milk but it does not specifically describe ice cream. This mark requires imagination to make the connection.

Which kind of trademark is "Pillows" in connection with comfortable shoes?

"Suggestive." Suggestive trademarks indicate something about the product's nature, quality, or characteristics, without describing the product directly. "Pillows" suggests an association between its products and comfort but it does not specifically describe shoes. This mark requires imagination to make the connection.

A software company created a new computer program. Which part of the computer program is copyrightable?

"The high-level language of a source code of the program." Copyright protection extends to the parts that can be ready by humans, such as the high-level language of a source code.

An owner registered a trademark, "The Marq," with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office and claims that a company "Thee Mark" is infringing on its trademark. What must the owner prove?

"The owner must prove "Thee Mark" creates a likelihood of confusion origin of their goods or services." To succeed in a trademark infringement action, the owner must show that the defendant's use of the mark created a likelihood of confusion about the origin of the defendant's goods or services.

A songwriter filed suit in federal district court alleging another artist infringed the copyright of the songwriter's song. The artist's song is not identical, but a good portion of it sounds similar to the songwriter's song. What will happen in this suit?

"The songwriter will win because a substantial part of the songwriter's song was reproduced in the artist's song." If a substantial part of the original is reproduced, the copyright has been infringed.

Which intellectual property protection protects ideas?

"Trade secret." Unlike copyright and trademark protection, protection of trade secrets extends to both ideas and their expression.

Which type of intellectual property protection should a watch company seek for its slogan?

"Trademark." A trademark is any word, name, symbol, or slogan used to identify the source of a good or service. A trademark protects the brand of a company. Here, a company is seeking to protect its slogan. The name will help consumers identify the seller or source of the watches. The slogan is therefore entitled to trademark protection.

Which element is entitled to copyright protection?

"Video recording of choreographic work." A choreographic work is not copyrightable unless it has been videotaped and thus fixed in a tangible medium or expression.

Jimena, a marketing manager for Home Stuff LLC, is responsible for branding the company's products. Aspects of branding that can be trademarked include

"a catchy phrase, such as "Stuff your home with Home Stuff!"' A "catchy phrase" is a motto or a company slogan. Examples include "Ford Tough", "Things go better with Coke", or "Wayfair, we've got what you need".

O-Ring Corporation allows Piston Company to incorporate O-Ring's patented fuel-injection system into Piston's product. This is

"a license." Piston has been granted a license to incorporate O-Ring's fuel injection system into its product. From the text: "A license in this context is an agreement, or contract, permitting the use of a trademark, copyright, patent, or trade secret for certain purposes."

Paving Corporation taps into the computer network of Roadwork Inc., a competitor, and downloads confidential business data without Roadwork's knowledge or authorization. This is most likely

"a theft of trade secrets." When Paving Corporation taps into a competitor's computer network and downloads confidential business data, a theft of trade secrets has occurred. Stealing confidential business data by industrial espionage, such as by tapping into a competitor's computer, is a theft of trade secrets without any contractual violation and is actionable in itself.

Without the permission of the copyright owner, Nora copies the literary expression of Game of Thrones, changes the names of the main characters, and publishes the result as her own work. This is

"copyright infringement." If Nora copies the literary expression of Game of Thrones without permission and publishes her own work, she has infringed on the copyright. Simply changing the names of the characters is not enough to avoid copyright infringement. There has to be a substantial original content to avoid a problem. For example, in 1971 George Harrison was sued, successfully, over the song "My Sweet Lord" when the judge found that he had subconsciously copied the Chiffons 1963 hit "He's So Fine".

Information that may be protected as trade secrets includes

"customer lists." Customer lists may be protected as trade secrets. A trade secret is information that has value to a competitor. A competitor could use the customer lists to target those customers aggressively in a sales push.

Without permission, Race Runners Inc. uses a trademark that is similar to the registered mark of Swiftfoot, Inc. This use of the mark constitutes trademark dilution

"if the use diminishes the distinctive quality of the work." The Trademark Dilution Act (1995, amended 2006) states that similarity between one mark and the famous or previously registered mark gives rise to an association between the two marks. This would dilute the effectiveness of the Swiftfoot mark.

To be protected under the Copyright Act, a work must be

"original and fixed in a durable medium." To be protected under the Copyright Act, a work must be original and fixed in a durable medium. Copyright protection is reserved for original literary works, music, art, recordings, movies, video, software, and more durable media. The key words are original and durable.

GoodGro Inc. makes genetically modified seeds that are identical to Harvest Corporation's patented seeds, without Harvest's permission. This is most likely

"patent infringement." GoodGro making identical seeds to Harvest's patented seeds is patent infringement. Harvest will sue for patent infringement because their patent covers the gene sequence within the seed itself; this is how patents are granted in agriculture. Monsanto has sued famers for patent infringement if they allow seeds that have blown into their fields accidentally to grow.

Serena invents a new, unique, long-life battery. A grant from the government that gives Serena the exclusive right to make and sell the battery for a certain period of time is

"patent." Serena will be granted a patent by the government. Serena will be given exclusive rights to make and sell her battery for twenty years. Had she simply designed the new battery; her patent would have been for fourteen years.

Prognosis Inc. owns a brain-computer interface that enables physicians to diagnose and treat some diseases quickly and accurately. Federal copyright protection extends to

"the parts of the app that can be read by computers." Federal copyright protection extends to the parts of the app that can be read by computers, such as the binary language code, the overall structure, sequence, and organization of the program.

Predictive Data LLC makes and sells software that enables a business to target its advertising precisely. The company could successfully bring an action for copyright infringement against a competitor who copies

"the parts of the software that can be read by humans." Predictive Data can bring an action for copyright infringement who copies the parts of the software that can be read by humans. Copyright protection extends to the human readable sections of the software such as high-level source code.

The marketing process for "Price & Profit," an app that businesses can use to track their revenue, profit, and payroll, is protected by

"trade secrets law." The marketing process is protected by trade secrets law. A trade secret is information that has value to a competitor like customer lists, plans and research and development. The marketing process is a critical plan for the success of a product launch, sales program, or sales incentive program.

Brewed Beans Inc. makes and sells "CoCoCafe," a chocolate-flavored coffee. Darkroast Inc. later markets a similar drink under the name "KoKoKafe." This is most likely

"trademark infringement." Darkroast's marketing KoKoKafe is trademark infringement. Whenever a trademark is copied to a substantial degree, intentionally or unintentionally, the trademark has been infringed. "KoKoKafe" is substantially the same as "CoCoCafe".

Like most successful companies, Phones Inc. has trade secrets. The law protects those secrets if the information is

"unique and has value to a competitor." The law protects trade secrets if they are unique and have value to a competitor. A trade secret is information that has value to a competitor like customer lists, plans and research and development.

A teacher copied a photo out of a textbook for a lesson. The teacher made 37 copies, one for each student. Did the teacher infringe on the artist's work?

No, because the work was reproduced for teaching purposes." Although Gloria reproduced the artist's work, Gloria is not liable for infringement because she reproduced it for teaching purposes, which constitutes fair use.

A company overheard a competitor discussing its plans to start selling a new line of widgets. The company formed a new business with a name similar to the competitors. The company wants to register a trademark name for the new business name in connection with widgets. It is unlikely the company will sell widgets, but it wants to prevent the competitor from obtaining a trademark. Can the company file an application with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office?

No, the company cannot file an application with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office because it does not have an intent to sell widgets." A mark can be registered if (1) it is currently in commerce or (2) the applicant has a bona fide intent to put it into commerce within six months.

copyright

an intangible property right granted by federal statute to the author or originator of a literary or artistic production of a specified type

patent

grant from the government that gives an inventor the exclusive right to make, use, or sell his or her invention for a period of twenty years

An artist was on social media and saw someone re-creating a piece of their artwork. Which kind of suit should the artist pursue?

"Copyright infringement." The U.S. Copyright Act protects against the reproduction of original works of authorship.

Phoenix Inc. is a publisher. Phoenix uses a logo featuring a bird rising from a flame to identify its publications. The publications are printed in a unique process that includes a 3-D printer. Phoenix could most likely obtain trademark protection for its

"logo." The logo is a distinctive bird rising from a flame (phoenix) mark that is used to identify the Phoenix publications. Trademarks are the way these items are protected.

Ruby invents a new type of pillow and obtains a patent for it. Sleep-Time Inc. believes that Ruby's pillow infringes on one of Sleep-Time's previously patented products. Sleep-Time must file a challenge to Ruby's patent within

6 years." Sleep-Time must file a challenge to Ruby's patent within 6 years. Section 286 of the US Patent code sets 6 years as the statute of limitations for filing an action for patent infringement.

trade secret

basically information of commercial value, such as customer lists, plans, and research and development

Trademark

distinctive mark, motto, device, or implement that a manufacturer stamps, prints, or otherwise affixes to the goods it produces so that they can be identified on the market and their origins made known coca cola

Which type of trademark is "Xerox" in association with the sale of printers?

"Fanciful trademark." Fanciful trademarks use invented words. "Xerox" is an invented word and is therefore inherently distinctive.

What is the strongest type of trademark?

"Fanciful." Fanciful trademarks are the strongest because they are the most distinctive. Trademarks rank in strength from fanciful, arbitrary, suggestive, descriptive, and generic (no protection at all).

Andrea wrote a book with a common storyline of revenge. Three years later, James wrote a book with the same storyline of revenge, but there were no other similarities between the books. What is the likely outcome if Andrea sues James for copyright infringement?

"James will win because the storyline is common." It is not possible to copyright an idea such as a common storyline.

What constitutes fair use?

"News reporting." Under the fair use doctrine, excerpts of copyright material may be used for limited purposes such as news reporting without the owner's permission.