Intellectual Property
Trademark: including (a) how they are obtained; (b) what requirements are necessary; (c) how they are "infringed;" (d) how long they last; and (e) how they may end or be lost
Any distinct mark or name can be registered as a trademark. Requirements: 1. It should be mark or symbol. 2. Should be distinct. 3. It should identify product, company or services etc. 4. Protects both consumers and producers. Creating counterfeit products using trademarks leads to infringement of the trademarks. They last forever.
What is "Fair Use?" Know and understand the four factors of fair use stated in Sec. 107 of the Copyright Act, including how to use them to analyze whether a specific use should be considered "fair." What does it mean if your use is "fair?"
Fair use is applicable only to copyright. Such uses can be done without permission from the copyright owner. In other words, fair use is a defense against a claim of copyright infringement. The four factors that are used to analyze a fair use are: 1.How much proportion of the copyright work is used? 2. Purpose of the use. 3. Potential market affects. 4. Nature of the Copyright work.
What is intellectual property, and why do we protect it?
Intellectual property is intangible form of property that is protected by system of laws such as patients, copyrights, trademarks and trade secrets, through which owners and inventors are given ownership rights over their creative work.
Trade secret: including (a) how they are obtained; (b) what requirements are necessary; (c) how they are "infringed;" (d) how long they last; and (e) how they may end or be lost
It is a secret used in the trade. You can develop your own Trade secret. Requirements: 1. It should not be easy to find. 2. It should be kept secret. 3. People can reverse engineer it. 4. If it is widely known, it is not a trade secret. Obtaining or selling the trade secret using unfair means leads to trade secret infringement. Trade secrets last forever.
Polaroid v. Kodak
Mr Land was inventor of camera can used capital of Polaroid to obtain a patent of the instant photo camera. This made Kodak to loose part of market share. So they also invented a similar camera and started selling it. Polaroid sued Kodak and won because Polaroid was having active patent. Kodak paid huge amount of money to inventor and Polaroid.
Do the "fair use" and "independent creation" defenses apply to Patent infringement cases?
No, the Patent is protected under very strong laws for 20 years. You cannot argue much in you defense if your invention violates Active patent granted to other inventor
Trade Secret (Is it granted by the government? Do you disclose it? Does it protect someone else from discovering it independently?)
Trade secrets should be kept secret and never disclosed to anyone. People are free to reverse engineer a trade secret.
Why must a potential copyright infringerhave been exposed to the copyrighted work to be held liable? (And does the infringer have to remember being exposed?)
Yes, but the infringer doesn't have to remember if he is exposed to copyright work. The plaintiff has to proof that infringer was exposed to copyright work in to held personal liable of infringement.
What are the five exclusive rights enjoyed by copyright holders?
1. Exclusive right to copy. 2. Exclusive right to distribute. 3. Exclusive right to Post. 4. Exclusive right to publically perform. 5. Exclusive right to derivative work
What is "trademark dilution?" How does it occur? Is it irreversible? Elements required fortrademark dilution (added by Congress in 1995 and reinforced in 1999)
1.Marks must be famous (Examples of famous marks: Coca-Cola, Harvard, McDonalds) 2.Commercial use 3.Protects against blurring or tarnishment It happens when someone else start associating their product with trademark product to gain sale.This will create confusing and people start thinking that there is no difference between
What happened in the A. & M. Records v. Napster case? How did this ruling impact the legality of uploading/downloading copyright-protected music and videos?
A. & M sued Napster for making their copyrighted music available to download or upload as MP3 on their website for free. Based on the evidence presented in the court about 70 percent of the music was copyrighted and belongs to plaintiff. Therefore, court issued an injunction on Napster for copyright infringement. Napster contributed to copyright infringement of A.&M.'s music. Napster said that they have created a very cool thing just like Sony by allowing people to download and pirate music. So court said Napster did everything intentional.
What is "time shifting?" What is "space shifting?" What is "vicarious liability?" What is "contributory infringement?" How are these terms significant to Sony, Napster and Grokster?
Copying a broadcast show to watch it later is called "time shifting". Moving music from one computer to another is "space shifting". When you are liable for someone else's stuff is called "vicarious liability". When your actions contributed to copyright infringement is called "contributory infringement".
What is the significance of "patent pending" on a product or advertisement?
If you have patent pending than other companies may not try to file same patent. You can start advertising your product and services while your patent is pending. This will help you create your monopoly when patent is granted. Even if the patent is denied, you will have name in the market
How is trademark protection historically and substantively different than any other form of intellectual property protection. (Hint: Whom does it protect?) How are trademarks relevant to domain names and cybersquatting?
It is different because it can be used to identify the product, company, service etc. It protects both consumer and the manufacture. It protects consumers from fraud. Cases of cybersquatting often cause the most concern to trademark holders and have been the subject of the majority of litigated disputes. If someone who lacks a legitimate claim registers a domain name with the intent to sell the name. prevent the trademark holder from gaining access to the name, or divert traffic, this activity will be considered cybersquatting.
What does it mean if a patented invention or copyrighted work is in the "public domain?"
It means that other public have access to the patent and copyrighted work. They can use it without permission from the inventor or the author.
What is the Statute of Anne? What did it do and when did it go into effect? How does it relate to current copyright law
It was the first copyright law in 1710 during the age of printing press. It was the first statute provided for copyright regulation by the government and courts of Britain, rather than by private parties. This law servers as the background for the copyright law of digital age because same concept of copying books applies to digital content such as songs, movies etc. It was not easy to copy stuff in past than it is today. The copyright act of 1976 keeps the basics of Statute of Anne.
How does each form of IP serve to protect intellectual property? Why are some better than others in various situations?
Patent- Protects Inventions. Copyright- Protect original work. Trademark- protects both company and consumer from fraud. Trade secrets- helps protect secrets used in trade to get flourishing business. It depends on the way you want to use your invention.
Patents: including (a) how they are obtained; (b) what requirements are necessary; (c) how they are "infringed;" (d) how longthey last; and (e) how they may end or be lost
Patents can be obtained by filing your patents with the patent office. Requirements: 1. It has to be Novel (new). 2. Non-Obvious to an ordinary person with skills in that field. 3. It should be useful. 4. (implied) It should be a machine or a formula. Patents lead to infringement if someone other than the inventor starts using it before its expiration. Patent last for 20 years from the day it is applied. Patent is strongest form of IP because it is strongly protected under law for 20 years. They are designed to protect inventions. It provides inventor with the monopoly of making money for 20 years.
What does society gain from intellectual property laws' existence?
Protecting IP helps to motivate people to make new inventions and you can sell rights of your product to the companies to make money (capital gains)
What is the "first sale doctrine?" What rights does it give the legitimate owner of a copyrighted work?
The doctrine enables the distribution chain of copyrighted products, library lending, giving, video rentals and secondary markets for copyrighted works (for example, enabling individuals to sell their legally purchased books or CDs to others). However, all normal exclusive rights of the copyright holder remain withthe original creator unless specifically conveyed. This means that if you own a piece of copyrightwork, you can give it away, but you cannot make copies of it
How is a trademark unique?
Trademark is unique because it protects both owner and the consumer from fraud. The main goal of the Trademark is to identify the product or company or the service. You are not allowed to copy it because it can cause confusion
What trade-offs are made by the inventors/creators to obtain intellectual property protection?
Tradeoffs for the inventors is that Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) grant monopolies to the inventor for a period of time. Asa result, inventors can sell their inventions at a price greater than marginal cost
Copyright: including (a) how they are obtained; (b) what requirements are necessary; (c) how they are "infringed;" (d) how long they last; and (e) how they may end or be lost
You automatically gets copyright of the original work you created unless you give permissions to use it. Requirements: 1. Original work. 2. Creative/non-functional. 3. Fixed in tangible form. If the work is copyright work then you cannot obtain a patent for it and vice versa. If someone copy you original work as a whole can leads to copyright infringement. It last for Lifetime of the person created work + 70 years