IP Quiz Questions

A law student takes photos during a trip to Europe, using a fully automatic digital camera. Which is most accurate? a) The law student has a valid copyright assuming the images are minimally creative. b) The law student has a valid copyright; there is no minimum level of creativity required. c) The law student does not have a valid copyright, because photographs are not copyrightable. d) The law student does not have a valid copyright because only artistic works of recognized stature are protected by copyright law.

A

Bellacitta S.A. operates a fashionable Italian-style restaurant in Los Angeles, California. It serves food based on recipes strongly evocative of Roman cuisine. In fact, the recipes come from a master chef who is fifth generation American of original Irish heritage and all the ingredients are purchased locally. Additionally, none of the restaurant's cooks are from Rome (or have ever been there) nor did they train under Roman or Roman-trained chefs. The restaurant operates under the name "Trattoria Roma." A survey shows that beyond question the relevant consumers believe both that the food is "authentically Roman" and strongly associate the mark with Bellacitta's restaurant. A) Bellacitta will not be able to federal register the name "Trattoria Roma" because the mark is primarily geographically deceptively misdescriptive of the goods sold. B) Bellacitta will be able to federally register the name "Trattoria Roma" be

A

Consider the ability to protect the color red for pills designed to treat blood conditions. This would likely be considered: A) Unprotectable on grounds of functionality B) Suggestive and protectable without secondary C) Arbitrary and protectable with secondary meaning D) Descriptive and protectable only upon showing secondary meaning

A

For the last four years Italian Pies Company has operated several restaurants in the Chicago metropolitan area under the mark "Most Excellent WOP Pizza." The restaurants have been highly successful and Italian Pies has decided to expand its business into other areas of the country. Their lawyer has told them they should apply for a federal registration as soon as possible. Which of the following is MOST LIKELY to preclude federal registration of the "Most Excellent WOP Pizza" mark A) The word "Excellent" is descriptive. B) The word "WOP" pejoratively refers to those of Italian ancestry C) The word "pizza" is generic. D) Italian Pies use is limited to the Chicago metropolitan area.

A

Searches, LLC operates an internet search engine. To enhance its revenues Searches has started a "sponsored advertisement" program. For a fee, Searches will show the program participant's advertisements along with the search results whenever the search request includes an identified trademark. The trademark may belong to the participant or another (including competitors). Which of the following is Searches' s BEST defense if it is sued by the owner of a valid trademark claiming that showing a competitor's advertisement triggered by the owner's mark in a consumer search request constitutes confusion-based trademark infringement? a) The mark is not being used as a trademark. b) The plaintiff's mark is invalid. c) Searches is not selling any goods or services. d) Searches has not actually sold the mark.

A

What form of protection is available for a functional feature of a product? A) Utility patent only B) Design patent only C) Both a design and utility patent D) Neither a design nor a utility patent

A

A sells B the mark for his lawn care company along with his customer list. Later A sells C all of the physical assets of the company including lawn care equipment and trucks. B began use of the mark immediately upon purchase and continued to operate in A's former territory. C begins to use the equipment he purchased from A and continues to use the mark because it is prominently displayed on the doors of all the trucks and on all ride-on mowers. B sues C for infringement of the mark. A) B prevails because he used the mark in good faith. B) B prevails because he obtained the goodwill of the mark as well as the mark. C) C prevails because the assignment to B was an assignment in gross D) C prevails the mark has to transfer with physical property.

B

Artist is an "appropriation" artist whose works is based on the alteration of other artists' creations. A acquires a copy of Painter's latest work. A composes a paragraph decrying the mundane style of the work and writes it all over the copy's surface. P sues for infringement. Fair use aside, is A's conduct a violation of any of P's exclusive rights? A) No, A has created a completely different work adding his own elements of originality. B) Yes, A's conduct violates P's adaptation right. C) No, A's alteration is of a copy he rightfully acquired rather than the original, so no exclusive rights are at issue. D) No, because A did not offer the altered work for sale.

B

Patent infringement can be shown by proof of: A) A likelihood of confusion B) Literal infringement or infringement under the doctrine of equivalents C) Breach or use of improper means D) Literal infringement but not infringement under the doctrine of equivalents

B

The market for in-line skates is highly competitive, and "Rollerblade" is the leading brand (the mark has been registered for many years). A new competitor wishes to make use of the name "Ray's Rollerblades" and does not wish to use the more cumbersome "Ray's In-Line Skates." Which of the following most accurately describes the situation? A) Ray can use the name "Ray's Rollerblades" under the doctrine of trademark fair use. B) Ray can use the name "Ray's Rollerblades" if he can prove that "Rollerblades" is or has become generic. C) Ray cannot use the name "Ray Rollerblades" even if he can prove that it is or has become generic because the mark is incontestable. D) Ray cannot use the name "Ray's Rollerblades" because "in-line skates" is a reasonable alternative.

B

When an employee in a research and development department creates an invention during the normal course of employment, to which of the following do the rights to the invention belong? A) The employee B) The employer C) The rights are shared under the shop right doctrine D) Ownership depends on the specific terms of the employment contract

B

Architect drafts blueprints for NSU's law library, which is built to spec by Contractor. In the design, Architect includes a distinctive interior spiral staircase. Contractor then includes the distinctive interior spiral staircase in a subsequent build. A) Contractor is free to use the distinctive spiral staircase because it is a utilitarian object. B) Contractor may not use a spiral staircase in any subsequent build without Architect's permission. C) Contractor may not use any of the distinctive design elements created by Architect in his spiral staircase. D) Architect owns the copyright to interior spiral staircases.

C

BigDrinks, Ltd. has designed a new beverage container. Under which of the following circumstances is the design of the container most likely NOT to be functional? A) If the design improves the ability of the container to keep the beverage cold. B) If the design reduces the cost of storing and shipping the beverage. C) If the design makes it difficult to pour the beverage D) If the design reduces the cost of materials used in manufacturing the container.

C

In 1992, Artist paints a work entitled Darkness depicting the brutal beating of a citizen by the police. A sells the work to Collector, who loans it to a museum. A dies in 2008 and in his will, A states that he no longer agrees with the message of Darkness and wants the work destroyed as an expression of repudiation. A's executor files an Action under VARA to have the painting destroyed. Will the action succeed? A) Yes, to allow the painting to hang in the museum after repudiation is considered a misrepresentation of the A's view violating his right of attribution. B) Yes, to allow the painting to hang in the museum after repudiation is considered a mutilation of the A's work violating his right of integrity. C) No, A's VARA rights expired on his death in 2008. D) No, while A's rights are still enforceable, a right to have a painting destroyed is not among them.

C

Priority over others as to trademark ownership under the Lanham Act can be attained through: A) Use in commerce only. B) Use in commerce or filing an application with a bona fide intent to use (regardless of whether actual use in commerce ever takes place). C) Use in commerce or filing an application with a bona fide intent to use (upon following the proper procedures to establish actual use in commerce). D) Use in commerce of the filing of an international trademark agreement.

C

The written description of the specification: A) Describes the invention in sufficient detail to enable PHOSITA to make use of the invention without undue experimentation. B) Describes the best way to carry out the invention. C) Contains a written description of the invention and the manner or process of making and using it to enable PHOSITA to practice the invention. D) Describes the subject matter, which the inventor considers the invention.

C

Wellshod holds a valid registration for the word "horse", which it uses as a trademark on work shoes. It is first to adopt and first to register in the US. It sells shoes throughout KY, TN, southern IN, IL and OH. It recently discovered that Little Guys, a small local manufacturer of work shoes, also uses "horse" on its products. Little Guys adopted the mark three years after Wellshod had filed for federal registration. Little Guys sells very small volumes in Eugene, OR and its products cannot be found anywhere beyond a 100 mile radius of that city. There are no consumer associations between the mark and Wellshod's products anywhere in the Northwest, including Eugene. A) Wellshod can immediately force Little Guys to stop using the mark. B) WS can stop LG from using the mark when Wellshod expands into LG's geographic market. C) WS can stop LG from using the mark when WS's expansion into LG's geographic market is pr

C

What test has the Supreme Court adopted for defining a "work made for hire" by an employee under copyright law? A) Contractual right to control B) Actual control C) Common law agency D) Formal, salaried employee

C

Which of the following is not protected by copyright? A) Literary works B) Musical works C) Ideas D) Architectural works

C

A genetically modified, asexually reproduced plant is eligible for protection under the: A) Plant Patent Act B) Traditional Utility C) None of the above D) Either (A) or (B)

D

A utility patent can protect a: A) New product B) New process C) Improvements of an existing product or process D) All of the above

D

Lack of novelty precludes patentability of an invention when: A) The device is either publicly used or sold or patented or described in a printed publication in the US before the date the patent applicant files the application. B) The device is patented or described in a printed publication before the date the patent applicant files the patent application. C) The device is either publicly used or sold, or is patented or described in a printed publication anywhere in the world before the date the patent applicant files the patent application. D) The device is publicly used or sold in the US, or is patented or described in a printed publication anywhere in the world, before the date the patent applicant files the patent application.

D

Local Wines is a small producer of wine selling wines locally in WA State for the last 10 years under the unregistered trademark "Veritas." Local has discovered that Mega Wines, a nationwide company, adopted the same mark six months ago with no prior knowledge of the mark or of Local Wines. Consumers have come to believe that Mega produces all Veritas wines. Mega has written a C&D to local. What is the outcome if Mega sues Local? a) Mega wins because consumers are confusing Local's wine with its wine. b) Mega wins because it did not intent to cause confusion. c) Local wins because it lost no sales. d) Local wins because it is the senior user of the Veritas mark on wine.

D

Tools, Inc. makes a variety of small tools. It has just developed a new hammer with a specially designed head. It wants to protect the hammerhead design as a trademark for the hammer product. Which of the following BEST identifies the barrier Tools faces in claiming the design of the hammerhead as a trademark? A) Only words can serve as trademarks. B) Product design marks are not inherently distinctive. C) Product designs can never serve as a trademark. D) It may adversely affect competition

D

Which of the following is precluded from federal registration on the Principal Register? A) Immoral marks B) Disparaging marks C) Scandalous marks D) None of the above

D

Which of the following most accurately describes the term of protection under the Lanham Act? A. Limited to 50 years B. Perpetual once they are used in commerce C. Perpetual once used in commerce and not abandoned D. Perpetual once used in commerce, not abandoned or become generic

D

Writer signs an agreement with Publisher that P will publish W's novel but W will retain copyright in the work. P decides that the book will sell more copies if it has the name of a famous Author attached to it. So the published version of the novel lists A rather than W on the front cover of the book as the author. W sues for infringement, will he succeed? A) Yes, because P created a derivative by placing A's name on the cover. B) Yes, because P failed to attribute the book's origin to W, robbing him of due recognition. C) No, W will fail because this is a moral right claim and federal law does not recognize those claims. D) No, because copyright law does not recognize a cause of action for infringement based solely on failure to attribute authorship.

D

In 1876, Caroline Shaw Brooks of Helena, Arkansas presented Dreaming Iolanthe, a bas-relief bust of a woman modeled in butter, at the Centennial International Exhibition in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Brooks preserved the sculpture by keeping it cold with a system of layered bowls and frequent ice changes. Was Dreaming Iolanthe fixed in a tangible medium? YES NO

YES