Chapter 9 Flashcards
Intellectual Property
Intangible Property created by mental effort rather than physical labor. (Include trademarks, copyrights, and patents, which are generally governed by federal laws.
Trademarks
A word, name, symbol, or combination of these that identifies the manufacturer of a product. Which is protected under the federal Lanham Act.
Registration of Trademark
1) Register with patent and trademark office
2) Pay a fee, submit copy of mark , description and declaration of no conflict
3) Good for 10 years, which is renewable
4) and allows nationwide claim on the mark from the moment it is registered, so long there is intent to use the TM in commerce.
If the trademark is registered but the company goes out of business
Then the trademark is fair game in the open market.
Four Types of Trademarks
1) Arbitrary and Fanciful
2) Suggestive
3) Descriptive
4) Generic
Arbitrary and Fanciful Trademark
Very creative, something you wouldn’t know otherwise. Apple , Captain Morgan, Exxon
Suggestive Trademark
It hints at what the product is but requires a little thought. (Chicken of the sea -tuna, and greyhound buses) (most favored)
Descriptive Trademark
Describes a characteristic or quality of a good or service. (Vision Center, Electronic Land) (highly favored)
Generic Trademark
These trademarks are not favored because the words are common and do not refer to products from a specific producer. (Aspirin, vacuum cleaner, escalator)
Secondary meaning of trademarks
Descriptive terms are not protectable , however if they develop a secondary meaning known by the public then it may be long use “Sports Illustrated”
Trademark Law applies to
Movies titles, advertising slogans, titles of comic books, and fictional characters.
Trademark Infringement
When a seller causes confusion about the origins of a product by improper use of a trademark.
Louis Vuitton vs MOB
LV lost because the courts decided that MOB was trying to make light of the design of LV.
Christian Louboutin vs Yves Saint Laurent
Red Sole vs Red shoes
Dilution
Similar use of a famous mark by a 3rd party can cause dilution (watering down in the market place) of the distinctive quality of the actual famous ark.
Example of Dilution
APL vs Adidas (3 stripe mark conflict)
Cybersquatting
Registering selling or using an internet domain name with the intent of profiting from the goodwill of someone else’s trademark.
Mattel inc, vs adventure apparel
adventure apparel created a domain name with Barbieclothing.com which would redirect to adventure apparel .. the court deemed this unlawful because of cybersquatting
Counterfeiting
Fraudulent copying of a trademark without authority to do so. It uses a company’s intent to deceive the consumer by presenting itself as the trademark holder bu way of the fake logo.
Copyrights
An exclusive right to use an original expression that is preserved in a tangible form. Applies to books, art, musical works and computer programs. Protected under the copyright act of 1976.
Term of protection of copyrights
are the authors life plus 70 years.
5 rights given by the copyright act.
1) The right to reproduce
2) The right to publish/distribute
3) The right to display in public
4) The right to perform in public
5) The right to prepare derivative works (Ex, a series of books)
DC Comics vs Towle
Towle makes car kits to turn your car into the batmobile, DC Comics sued because of copyright infringement. Batmobile received this copyright because it is a distinctive part of the movie. (Read case briefing on this )
S. Victor Whitmill v Warner Bros
The tattoo artist who did mike Tyson’s tribal tattoo was on Stu’s face in the hangover and the court found the tattoo artist in favor .
