Law Ch. 41: IP

Distinctive Trademarks: Strong to weak

1. Fanciful/ Arbitrary (completely unrelated to bus.) 2. Suggestive (indirectly hints at meaning) 3. Descriptive Marks- must be in use for a long time and have attached understanding to be valid

Trade-mark Disallowed

1. Generic trademarks 2. Names 3. Geographic Locations 4. Deceptive 5. Similar to an existing mark

Requirements for Patent

1. Novel 2. Nonobvious 3. Utility 4. Patentable Subject Matter (tangible)

Types of Marks

1. Trademarks (Nike Shoes) 2. Service Marks (Weight Watchers) 3. Certification Marks (Kelly Blue Book) 4. Collective Marks (Boy scouts of America)

Utility Patent

94% of patents filed. Protect the function of an item and last for 20 from the date of filing

Trade Secrets

A formula, device, process, method, or compilation of information that, when used in business, gives the owner an advantage over competition -criminal offense to steal these

Patent Infringement

A patent holder has the exclusive right to make, use, or sell the patented invention during the term of patent

Trademark

Any combination of words and symbols that a business uses to identify its products or ser- vices and distinguish them from others

First Sale Doctrine

Essential to commerce: The first sale doctrine permits a person who owns a lawfully made copy of a copyrighted work to sell or otherwise dispose of the copy.

Patents

Give the inventor the right to prevent others from making, using, or selling their inventions for a limited time.

Lanham Act

Governs federal trademarks

Living Organisms

May be patented if they are different than anything found in nature and result from human ingenuity "anything under the sun that is made by man"

R symbol

May only be used once the trademark has been registered... but something is a trademark once it has been used in trade

Fair Use Doctrine

Permits limited use of copyrighted material without permission of the author for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, scholarship, or research

Design Patent

Protects the appearance, not the function, of an item

When is an item Copyright?

The second that work is written down, it is protected. bing, bang, boom

Term of a copyright

a copyright is valid until 70 years after the death of the author, or, in the case of works owned by a corporation, for 95 years from publication or 120 years from creation, whichever is shorter.

Copyright

gives its creator the exclusive right to reproduce, distribute, and perform his original work for a limited time -concerned with the presentation of the ideas, not the idea itself -cannot be utility

Plant Patents

new Plants are protected- provided the inventor can graft the plant asexually, not plant it