FRL Chapter 8

Counterfeit Goods

Counterfeit goods copy or otherwise imitate trademarked goods, but they are not the genuine trademarked goods.

Remedies for Patent Infringement

If a patent is infringed, the patent holder may sue for relief in federal court. The patent holder can seek an injunction against the infringer and can also request damages for royalties and lost profits. In some cases, the court may grant the winning party reimbursement for attorneys' fees and costs. If the court determines that the infringement was willful, the court can triple the amount of damages awarded (treble damages).

Trademark

A trademark is a 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. In other words, a trademark is a source indicator.

certification mark is

mark is used by one or more persons, other than the owner, to certify the region, materials, mode of manufacture, quality, or other characteristic of specific goods or services.

Licensing

so. A license in this context is an agreement, or contract, permitting the use of a trademark, copyright, patent, or trade secret for certain purposes.

Registration

somebody owns it. Generally, copyright owners are protected against the following: 1. Reproduction of the work. 2. Development of derivative works. 3. Distribution of the work. 4. Public display of the work.

Copyrights

A copyright is an intangible property right granted by federal statute to the author or originator of a literary or artistic production of a specified type. When copyright protection ends, works enter into the public domain. Intellectual property, such as songs and other published works, that have entered into the public domain belong to everyone and are not protected by copyright or patent laws.

patent

A patent is a 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. Patents for designs, as opposed to those for inventions, are given for a fourteen-year period.

Service, Certification, and Collective Marks

A service mark is essentially a trademark that is used to distinguish the services products) of one person or company from those of another. For instance, each airline has a particular mark or symbol associated with its name.

Patent Infringement

If a firm makes, uses, or sells another's patented design, product, or process without the patent owner's permission, that firm commits the tort of patent infringement. Patent infringement may also occur even though not all features or parts of a product are copied.

Remedies for Copyright Infringement

Those who infringe copyrights may be liable for damages or criminal penalties. These range from actual damages or statutory damages, imposed at the court's discretion, to criminal proceedings for willful violations.

trade dress

refers to the image and overall appearance of a product.

trade secret

trademarked. A trade secret is basically information of commercial value, such as customer lists, plans, and research and development. Trade secrets may also include pricing information, marketing methods, production techniques, and generally anything that makes an individual company unique and that would have value to a competitor.

What Is Protected Expression?

Literary works (including newspaper and magazine articles, computer and training manuals, catalogues, brochures, and print advertisements). 2. Musical works and accompanying words (including advertising jingles). 3. Dramatic works and accompanying music. 4. Pantomimes and choreographic works (including ballets and other forms of dance). 5. Pictorial, graphic, and sculptural works (including cartoons, maps, posters, statues, and even stuffed animals). 6. Motion pictures and other audiovisual works (including multimedia works). 7. Sound recordings. 8. Architectural works. 25. Klinger v. Conan Doyle Estate, Ltd., 988 F.Supp.2d

First sale doctrine

Section 109(a) of the Copyright Act provides that the owner of a particular item that is copyrighted can, without the authority of the copyright owner, sell or otherwise dispose of it. This rule is known as the first sale doctrine. Under this doctrine, once a copyright owner sells or gives away a particular copy of a work, the copyright owner no longer has the right to control the distribution of that copy. Thus, for instance, a person who buys a copyrighted book can sell it to someone else. The

Statutory Protection of Trademarks

Statutory protection of trademarks and related property is provided at the federal level by the Lanham Act of 1946.1

copyright protection for software

The Computer Software Copyright Act amended the Copyright Act to include computer programs in the list of creative works protected by federal copyright law.32 Generally, copyright protection extends to those parts of a computer program that can be read by humans, such as the "high-level" language of a source code.

Trade Names

Trademarks apply to products. A trade name indicates part or all of a business's name, whether the business is a sole proprietorship, a partnership, or a corporation. Generally, a trade name is directly related to a business and its goodwill. A trade name may be protected as a trademark if the trade name is also the name of the company's trademarked product—for example, Coca-Cola. Unless it is also used as a trademark or service mark, a trade name cannot be registered with the federal government. Trade names are protected under the common law, but only if they are unusual or fancifully used.

state and federal law on trade secrets

Under Section 757 of the Restatement of Torts, those who disclose or use another's trade secret, without authorization, are liable to that other party if either of the following is true: 1. They discovered the secret by improper means. 2. Their disclosure or use constitutes a breach of a duty owed to the other party.

what is patentabe

Under federal law, "[w]hoever invents or discovers any new and useful process, machine, manufacture, or composition of matter, or any new and useful improvement thereof, may obtain a patent therefor, subject to the conditions and requirements of this title."15 Thus, to be patentable, the applicant must prove that the invention, discovery, process, or design is novel, useful, and not obvious in light of current technology. In sum, almost anything is patentable,

Trademark Infringement

When a trademark has been infringed, the owner of the mark has a cause of action against the infringer. 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. The owner need not prove that the infringer acted intentionally or that the trademark was registered

collective mark

When used by members of a cooperative, association, or other organization, a certification mark is referred to as a collective mark.

copyright infringement

Whenever the form or expression of an idea is copied, an infringement of copyright has occurred. The reproduction does not have to be exactly the same as the original, nor does it have to reproduce the original in its entirety. If a substantial part of the original is reproduced, the copyright has been infringed.

. Trademark Dilution

passing the Federal Trademark Dilution Act,2 which allowed trademark owners to bring suits in federal court for trademark dilution. to state a claim for trademark dilution, a plaintiff must prove the following: 1. The plaintiff owns a famous mark that is distinctive. 2. The defendant has begun using a mark in commerce that allegedly is diluting the famous mark. 3. The similarity between the defendant's mark and the famous mark gives rise to an association between the marks. 4. The association is likely to impair the distinctiveness of the famous mark or harm its reputation.