Chapter 42 Flashcards
Patent
A grant by the government permitting the inventor exclusive use of an invention for a specified period.
Utility patent
Pertains to mechanical inventions, electrical, chemical, process, machine, and composition of matter
A patent is not available solely for an idea, but only for its tangible application
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Design Patent
Protects the appearance, not the function of an item. It is granted to anyone who invents a new, original, and ornamental design for an article.
Plant patent
Anyone who creates a new type of plant can get a patent, provided that the inventor is able to reproduce it asexually.
Requirements for a patent
- Novel An invention is not patentable if it is (1). known or has already been used in this country, (2). has been described in a publication here or overseas. (3). is otherwise available to the public.
- Nonobvious- if it is obvious to a person with ordinary skills in that particular area.
- Useful- No necessarily need to be commercially valuable, but it must have some current use.
Patent application and issuance
Inventor must file a complex application with the PTO.
Prior sale
An inventor must apply for a patent within one year of selling the product commercially.
Provisional patent application
Application provides a provable date of filing. Lasts only one year. Once this is filed the application sits dormant for a year, allowing the inventor to show their ideas to potential investors without incurring a full expense of a patent.
Duration of a patent
Patents are valid for 20 years from the date of filing the application. (design patents last 14 years). Approval of a patent can last up to 3-6 years from date of filing.
Infringement
A patent holder can prohibit others from using any product that is substantially the same, license the product to others for a fee, and recover damages from anyone who uses the product without permission.
Patent troll
Someone who buys a portfolio of patents for the purpose of making patent infringement claims
International patent treaties
The Paris Convention for the protection of industrial property requires each member country to grant to citizens of other member countries the same rights under patent law as its own citizens enjoy.
The patent law treaty
requires that countries use the same standards for the form and content of patent applications (whether submitted on paper or electronically)
Patent cooperation treaty
A step toward providing more coordinated patent review across many countries.
Patent prosecution highway
Under this system, once a patent is approved by one country, it goes to the head of the line for patent examination in the other country
Copyrights
The holder of a copyright owns the particular tangible expression of an idea, but not the underlying idea or methog of operation.
Infringement copyright
To prove a violation, the plaintiff must present evidence that the work was original and that the infringer actually copied the work or the infringed had access to the original and the two works are substantially similar
First Sale Doctrine
Permits a person who owns a lawfully copy of a copyrighted work to sell or otherwise dispose of the copy
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
Parody
is a fair use of a copyrighted material so long as the use of the original is not excessive.
No electronic theft act
Is intended to deter the downloading of copyrighted material.
The family entertainment and copyright act
is a criminal offense to use a camcorder to film a movie in the theater
Digital millennium copyright act provides that:
It is illegal to delete copyright information, such as the name of the author or the title of this article.
It is illegal to circumvent encryption or scrambling devices that protect copyrighted works
It is illegeal to distribute tools and technologies used to circumvent encryption devices.
