Intellectual Property
An author must file a timely application in order to receive copyright protection.
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Because Amazon.com's 1-click ordering system failed to meet the "nonobvious" requirement in the patent laws, the company was denied a patent.
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For trade secrets to be protected, a business owner only needs to take a single action to prevent his or her trade secret from being discovered.
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In order to receive copyright protection, a work must be marked as being copyrighted.
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In the United States, if two people independently develop the same invention, the patent will be granted to the first to file for the patent, not the first to invent the invention.
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It is easy and inexpensive to pursue a patent infringement case.
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Patents are renewable for an unlimited period of time.
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The United States still follows the first-to-file rule, which means the first person to file an item or process is given protection over another who was the first to invent an item or process.
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The granting of a patent terminates the ability to challenge its validity.
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Trademark law is exclusively federal law.
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Trademarks are protected for a nonrenewable 10-year period.
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When a trademark becomes generic, it loses its trademark protection so that no one is able to use the mark.
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With computer software, source code but not object code, can be copyrighted.
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A patent cannot be acquired for an invention that has been in public use for more than 1 year at the time of application.
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A patent holder may recover damages and receive an injunction against an infringer in a patent infringement action.
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A trademark can be registered even before it is actually used in commerce so long as the registrant verifies a bona fide intention to use the mark in commerce and actually does so within 6 months.
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Business models used for commerce on the Internet can be patented.
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Customer lists and compilations of data are among items considered to be trade secrets.
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Honeywell successfully pursued a patent infringement case involving autofocus camera technology against Minolta and several other camera manufacturers.
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If an owner fails to take all reasonable precautions in preventing a trade secret from being discovered, the secret is no longer protected under state unfair competition laws.
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Improvements to previously patented machines can be patented.
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In 1998, the length of copyright protection for an individual holder was extended to the life of the author plus 70 years.
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In order to be eligible for copyright protection, a tangible writing or other item is required.
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Life forms may be patented under U.S. patent law.
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Patents for inventions are valid for 20 years.
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Prior to passage of the Economic Espionage Act of 1996, there was no federal statute that directly addressed the stealing of trade secrets.
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The American Inventors Protection Act requires the U.S Patent and Trademark Office to take action on a patent application within 3 years in most cases.
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The Digital Millennium Copyright Act prohibits access to copyrighted digital works by circumventing the encryption, even if the work is not misused.
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The Economic Espionage Act includes software programs within its definition of trade secrets.
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The Economic Espionage Act of 1996 provides for criminal penalties for violation of its provisions.
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The fair use doctrine allows limited public use of copyrighted material without the permission of the copyright holder.
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The victim of stolen trade secrets can recover any profits made by someone from the stolen trade secret.
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U.S. patent law allows cyber business plans to be patented.
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Under the U.S. Constitution, patent law is federal law.
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