Chapter 7: Intellectual Property and Cyber Piracy

36) What is a provisional patent application?

A provisional right gives an inventor 3 months to prepare and file a final and complete patent application.

5) A competitor can lawfully use a rival's trade secret if the competitor got the trade secret by means of ________.

B) reverse engineering

20) When does a patent enter the public domain?

B) when the patent term period has expired

37) ________ is a legal right that gives the author of qualifying subject matter, and who meets other requirements established by law, the exclusive right to publish, produce, sell, license, and distribute the work.

C) Copyright

40) For how long is the copyright protection provided to individuals under the Copyright Term Extension Act of 1998?

C) Individuals are granted copyright protection for their lifetime plus 70 years.

21) Which of the following statements is true of the patent period in the United States?

C) The patent term begins to run from the date the patent application is filed.

39) Which of the following is a provision made under the Berne Convention?

C) The treaty eliminates the need to place the copyright symbol or the word "copyright" on a copyrighted work.

14) How do patent laws help an inventor?

C) They provide protection for patented inventions from infringement.

16) What is a patent number?

C) a number assigned to a patent once the patent is granted

63) A ________ is a term for a mark that has become a common term for a product line or type of service and therefore has lost its trademark protection.

C) generic name

2) A ________ is a product formula, pattern, design, compilation of data, customer list, or other covert business information.

C) trade secret

58) A company logo would be an example of a ________.

C) trademark

61) "Just Do It" is a famous tagline used by the Nike Corporation. Which of the following types of intellectual property would this tagline come under?

C) trademark

42) Which of the following would be considered a copyright infringement?

C) using several clips of a documentary movie

17) A ________ is a patent that protects the functionality of a patent.

C) utility patent

62) What is acquiring secondary meaning in trademark terms?

C) when ordinary words establish new meaning due to its attachment to a product or service

10) A competitor can lawfully discover a trade secret by performing reverse engineering.

TRUE

23) A patent can only be claimed for a limited amount of time.

TRUE

25) Abstractions and scientific principles cannot be patented unless they are part of the tangible environment.

TRUE

27) If an invention is obvious, then it does not qualify for a patent.

TRUE

30) In the United States, the first party to file a patent on an invention receives the patent even though some other party was the first to invent the invention.

TRUE

33) Utility patents for inventions are valid for 20 years.

TRUE

34) A provisional application for a patent gives an inventor three months to prepare a final patent application.

TRUE

49) After the copyright period runs out, the work enters the public domain.

TRUE

50) Copyrights owned by businesses are protected for 95 years from the year of first publication.

TRUE

51) The fair use doctrine for copyrights allows certain limited unauthorized use of copyrighted materials.

TRUE

53) The No Electronic Theft Act (NET Act) can be invoked for copyright infringements that do not involve financial gain.

TRUE

65) A company slogan is an example of a trademark.

TRUE

66) A trademark is only issued if the registrant proves he has used the mark in commerce.

TRUE

70) The trademark symbols "TM" and "SM" can be used with marks that have not been registered.

TRUE

74) Ordinary words or symbols that have taken on a secondary meaning will qualify as marks.

TRUE

9) Intellectual property falls into a category of property known as intangible rights.

TRUE

71) A service mark is used to distinguish the product of the holder from those of its competitors.

FALSE

72) A party has to be a member of an organization to use a certification mark.

FALSE

73) A collective membership mark identifies different products in the same product line of an organization.

FALSE

75) Distinctive marks are ordinary words or symbols that have acquired special meaning with a product or service.

FALSE

76) Trademarks that have become generic names are protected under federal trademark law.

FALSE

77) In a dilution lawsuit, the plaintiff needs to show proof of actual harm suffered in order to win the lawsuit.

FALSE

57) John Crichton had applied for a trademark logo at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office for his new startup company, stating that he would use the logo in commerce within the next six months. But even after six months, he had not yet used the logo. Which of the following recourses does trademark law allow John Crichton so that he can retain his logo until he uses it in commerce?

A) Apply for a six-month extension for the logo.

7) What federal statute was enacted by the Congress to protect trade secrets?

A) Economic Espionage Act

41) What happens to a copyrighted work after it has finished its copyright period?

A) The work will enter the public domain to be used for free.

19) According to the public use doctrine for patents, ________.

A) a patent will not be granted if the invention was already in public use for more than a year prior to the filing of the patent application

4) If a competitor reverse engineers a trade secret, then the competitor is ________.

A) allowed to use the trade secret but not the original trademark

60) A mark that indicates that a person has met the standards set by an organization and is a member of that organization is known as a(n) ________ mark.

A) collective membership

56) Which of the following intellectual properties is protected by the Lanham Act?

A) trademark

18) Which of the following statements is true of patenting a scientific principle?

B) A scientific principle can only be patented if it is a part of the tangible environment.

43) Which of the following accurately describes the fair use doctrine with reference to copyrighted material?

B) It permits certain limited use of a copyright by someone other than the copyright holder without the permission of the copyright holder.

46) How is a copyright different from a patent?

B) Patents have a limited term period, while copyrights carry lifelong terms.

64) ________ is a type of trademark dilution where a famous mark is linked to products of inferior quality or is portrayed in an unflattering, immoral, or reprehensible context likely to evoke negative beliefs about the mark's owner.

B) Tarnishment

55) ________ is any trade name, symbol, word, logo, design, or device used to identify and distinguish goods of a manufacturer or seller or services of a provider from those of other manufacturers, sellers, or providers.

B) Trademark

44) In terms of copyright law, the use of copyrighted material in a satire or parody would be an example of ________.

B) application of fair use doctrine

59) A ________ mark is a mark that confirms that a seller of a product or service has met certain geographical location requirements, quality standards, material standards, or mode of manufacturing standards established by the owner of the mark.

B) certification

38) Which of the following is suitable for copyrighting?

B) musical compositions

13) A ________ is a grant by the federal government upon the inventor of an invention for the exclusive right to use, sell, or license the invention for a limited amount of time.

B) patent

11) Give an account of the Economic Espionage Act and its importance in combating cyber piracy.

Congress enacted the federal Economic Espionage Act (EEA), which makes it a federal crime to steal another's trade secrets. Under the EEA, it is a federal crime for any person to convert a trade secret to his or her benefit or for the benefit of others, knowing or intending that the act would cause injury to the owner of the trade secret. One of the major reasons for the passage of the EEA was to address the ease of stealing trade secrets through computer espionage and using the Internet. Confidential information can be downloaded onto a CD or Flash drive, placed in a pocket, and taken from the legal owner. Computer hackers can crack into a company's computers and steal customer lists, databases, formulas, and other trade secrets. The EEA is a very important weapon in addressing computer and Internet espionage and penalizing those who commit it. The EEA provides for severe criminal penalties. The act imposes prison terms on individuals of up to fifteen years per criminal violation.

15) In the context of patents, which of the following is a key function of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit?

D) It helps to promote uniformity in patent laws.

45) Uploading copyrighted material to an unauthorized web site by a non-copyright holder would count as an act of copyright infringement under the ________.

D) No Electronic Theft Act

22) Which of the following types of patents is valid only for a period of 14 years?

D) design patent

1) Intellectual property falls into a category of property known as ________.

D) intangible property

8) According to the Economic Espionage Act, ________.

D) it is a federal crime to steal another's trade secret

6) Apart from recovering damages, and recovering profits made by the offender, successful plaintiffs in a misappropriation of a trade secret case can also ________.

D) obtain an injunction prohibiting the offender from divulging the trade secret

12) Which of the following is considered to be a part of intellectual property?

D) patents

3) A closely guarded formula for a recipe protected by a soft drink manufacturer would be considered as an example of a ________.

D) trade secret

79) Give an account of trademark dilution.

Dilution is broadly defined as the lessening of the capacity of a famous mark to identify and distinguish its holder's goods and services, regardless of the presence or absence of competition between the owner of the mark and the other party. The two most common forms of dilution are blurring and tarnishment. Blurring occurs where a party uses another party's famous mark to designate a product or service in another market so that the unique significance of the famous mark is weakened. Tarnishment occurs where a famous mark is linked to products of inferior quality or is portrayed in an unflattering, immoral, or reprehensible context likely to evoke negative beliefs about the mark's owner.

24) A patent number is given to a patent that is still under consideration.

FALSE

26) Improvements to existing machines, processes, or compositions of matter cannot be patented.

FALSE

28) Utility patents for inventions are valid for the whole of the inventor's life and 70 years after that.

FALSE

29) The patent term begins to run from the date the patent is issued.

FALSE

31) A patent in the public domain can be purchased by a non-patent holder.

FALSE

32) Non-patented inventions that have been in public use for over a year can still be patented.

FALSE

35) A utility patent is a patent that may be obtained for the ornamental nonfunctional design of an item.

FALSE

47) Copyrights are addressed separately by different state laws.

FALSE

48) Copyright for a work can only be claimed once the U.S. Copyright Office issues it.

FALSE

52) The fair use doctrine for copyrights does not allow reproduction of a work in a legislative or judicial proceeding.

FALSE

67) The trademark symbol "TM" is used to indicate a registered mark.

FALSE

68) The trademark symbol "SM" is used to indicate a mark associated with a product.

FALSE

69) A party that does not register its brand name has no legal right over it.

FALSE

78) Explain what a generic name is with reference to trademarks.

Once a company has been granted a trademark or service mark, the company usually uses the mark as a brand name to promote its goods or services. The owner of the mark wants to promote its brand so that consumers and users will easily recognize the brand name. However, sometimes a company may be too successful in promoting a mark, and at some point in time, the public begins to use the brand name as a common name to denote the type of product or service being sold rather than as the trademark or service mark of the individual seller. A trademark that becomes a common term for a product line or type of service is called a generic name. Once a trademark becomes a generic name, the term loses its protection under federal trademark law.

54) Explain the process of copyright registration.

To be protected under federal copyright law, a work must be the original work of the author. Published and unpublished works are registered with the U.S. Copyright Office in Washington, DC. Registration of a copyright is permissive and voluntary and can be effectuated at any time during the term of the copyright. Copyright registration creates a public record of the copyrighted work. A copyright registration certificate is issued to the copyright holder. Registration permits a holder to obtain statutory damages for copyright infringement, which may be greater than actual damages, and attorney's fees.