Business Law Chapter 8 Vocab

Trademark

A brand that has exclusive legal protection for both its brand name and its design 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

A certification 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. Certification marks include "Good Housekeeping Seal

license

A clear way to define the copyright of your creative work so people know how it can be used. A license in this context is an agreement, or contract, permitting the use of a trademark, copyright, patent, or trade secret for certain purposes. The party that owns the intellectual property rights and issues the license is the licensor, and the party obtaining the license is the licensee. The licensee generally pays fees, or royalties, for the privilege of using the intellectual property. A license grants only the rights expressly described in the license agreement. A licensor might, for example, allow the licensee to use the trademark as part of its company or domain name, but not otherwise use the mark on any products or services.

Collective Mark

A mark used by members of a cooperative, association, union, or other organization to certify the region, materials, mode of manufacture, quality, or other characteristic of specific goods or services. When used by members of a cooperative, association, or other organization, a certification mark is referred to as a collective mark.

service mark

A trademark that is used to distinguish the services (rather than the products) of one person or company from those of another. A service mark is essentially a trademark that is used to distinguish the services (rather than the products) of one person or company from those of another. For instance, each airline has a particular mark or symbol associated with its name. Titles and character names used in radio and television are frequently registered as service marks. Other marks protected by law include certification marks and collective marks.

Copyright

An exclusive right granted by the federal government allowing the owner to reproduce and sell an artistic or published work. 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. The Copyright Act of 1976,22 as amended, governs copyrights. Works created after January 1, 1978, are automatically given statutory copyright protection for the life of the author plus 70 years.

patent

Exclusive rights over an invention; copyright; (v.) to arrange or obtain such rights; (adj.) plain, open to view; copyrighted 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. For many years, U.S. patent Clarkson, Kenneth W.; Miller, Roger LeRoy. Business Law: Text and Cases (MindTap Course List) (p. 157). Cengage Learning. Kindle Edition.

Dilution

In 1995, Congress amended the Lanham Act by passing the Federal Trademark Dilution Act,2 which allowed trademark owners to bring suits in federal court for trademark dilution. Under the TDRA, 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. Trademark dilution laws protect "distinctive" or "famous" trademarks (such as Rolls Royce, McDonald's, Starbucks, and Apple) from certain unauthorized uses. Such a mark is protected even when the use is on noncompeting goods or is unlikely to cause confusion. More than half of the states have also enacted trademark dilution laws.

trade secret

Information or a process that gives a business an advantage over competitors who do not know the information or process. 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. Unlike copyright and trademark protection, protection of trade secrets extends to both ideas and their expression.

trade dress

The image and overall appearance ("look and feel") of a product that is protected by trademark law. overall impression created by a product or its packaging. Clarkson, Kenneth W.; Miller, Roger LeRoy. Business Law: Text and Cases (MindTap Course List) (p. 156). Cengage Learning. Kindle Edition.

Tradename

a commercial, legal name under which a company does business 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 instance, 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.

intellectual property

a work or invention that is the result of creativity, such as a manuscript or a design, to which one has rights and for which one may apply for a patent, copyright, trademark, etc. Intellectual property is any property that results from intellectual, creative processes—the products of an individual's mind.