Class 14 - 15 - Intellectual Property Flashcards
Any product or result of mental processes that is given legal protection against unauthorized use.
Intellectual Property
4 main types of Intellectual Property
Patents
Copyrights
Trademarks, Service Marks and Trade Dress
Trade Secrets
In the modern economy, these IP rights can form the majority of firm value.
Which type of IP?
Grant of a monopoly right from the federal government that gives an inventor the right to exclude others from making, using or selling her invention without permission, such as a license, for a limited period of time.
Patents
Patents may be issued for (3 things)
- Utility Patents: Products (inventions) & certain Processes (including software and some business processes)
- Design Patents: (appearance of an item; e.g., typeface)
- Certain Plants/Animals
Patents may NOT be issued for
NOT IDEAS (e.g., E=MC2)
How to get a Patent
- Inventor must file a patent application with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office
-Description of how the invention works (Specification)
Drawings and Declarations of Inventor
Claims of patentability, explaining why it is:
1) Novel (New) in relation to “prior art;”
2) Useful;
3) Non-obvious; and
4) Patentable subject matter (i.e., not just idea or laws of nature, etc.).
Use ___’s to protect your invention while the application for patent is being processed!
NDAs
Utility Patents last __ years from the date of filing application.
20
Design Patents last __ years from the date of filing application.
14
Once the term expires, the invention/design enters the “public domain” meaning….
anyone else has the right to make, use or sell the invention/design, without a license.
_______ - The thing to be patented must be truly “new” – not known, used, patented or described in print anywhere in the world. Can’t be an obvious development either.
Novelty
______ - product/process must provide some identifiable practical real-world benefit
Utility (Usefulness)
________ - Can’t patent if “the subject matter as a whole would have been obvious at the time the invention was made to a person having ordinary skill in the art.”
Non-Obviousness
To determine obviousness, must analyze:
- Scope and content of prior art
- Difference between prior art and the claims at issue
- Level of ordinary skill in the art
- Objective evidence of non-obviousness, such as commercial success
_______ is a tort that occurs when someone makes, uses or sells another’s patented design, product or process without patent owner’s permission.
Patent Infringement
For inventions, infringement occurs even if not all of the features or product are copied (e.g., part of a software code).
True or False: Someone can NOT get sued if patent infringement was unintentional
FALSE
May be sued whether intentional or unintentional.
_______ Infringement - Making, using or selling any patented invention within US during term of patent, whether innocently or intentionally.
Direct Infringement
_______ Infringement - Inducing another to infringe (e.g., encouraging customers to play DVDs on infringing player)
Indirect infringement
_______ Infringement - One party knowingly sells an item with one specific use that will result in the infringement of another’s patent
Contributory
Defenses to Patent Infringement (4 things)
1) Noninfringement: Not within scope of patent; file-wrapper estoppel.
2) Invalidity of Plaintiff’s Patent: Doesn’t fulfill pre-requisites of novelty, usefulness and nonobviousness.
3) Plaintiffs Patent Misuse: Illegal licensing restrictions (e.g., royalties for use beyond patent term)
4) Innocent Infringement: Inadequate notice of patent status (e.g., no patent # on product) bars plaintiff from recovering damages during pre-notice period.
Remedies for Infringement (4Things)
1) Injunction (if irreparable injury will occur, money is insufficient, and its in the public interest)
2) Damages for licensing royalties or lost profits, or the infringers profits.
3) Attorneys’ fees and costs
4) Willful infringement can subject the infringer to “treble damages” (i.e., three times the damages)
______ is the legal right to prevent others from copying an original expression embodied in any original work of authorship fixed in a tangible media.
Copyright
Copyright is granted by federal statute (Copyright Act of 1976) to authors of certain _1__ works and __2__ works
literary works
artistic works
Term of copyright is the life of the author plus ____ years
70
In the case of a corporate work, Term of copyright is _____ years
95
Exclusive Rights of Copyright granted to the owner include: (5 things)
Reproduction (e.g., broadcasting of Pay-Per-View in a bar)
Preparation of derivative works (i.e., film rights based on book)
Distribution of copies (xeroxing and scanning)
Public performance the work
Public display the work
Legal requirements of copyright
2 things
1) Fixation
A work must be fixed in a tangible medium of expression (i.e., book, recording, film)
2) Originality
A work must be the result of independent creation
A work must exhibit at least a minimal amount of creativity.