Intellectual Property

Question 1

what do patent cover?

Answer 1

products, compositions, machine, process, or any improvement on any of these

Question 2

what is a license when talking about patent?

Answer 2

it is when one party allows another party to use or sell the product

Question 3

what does patent do?

Answer 3

it grants the right of exclusion for a given period

Question 4

when can you sue for patent breaching?

Answer 4

when and if the patent was made available to the public

Question 5

are patents national? or multinational?

Answer 5

national

Question 6

what are the 4 criteria of patents?

Answer 6

patentable subject matter, novelty, usefulness or utility, non-obviousness or inventiveness

Question 7

what are industrial designs?

Answer 7

visual features of shape, configuration, patterns or ornaments to a finished article

Question 8

what is industrial designs protection?

Answer 8

protects how something looks, not the function of the product

Question 9

what are copyrights?

Answer 9

the exclusive rights to produce, reproduce, publish or perform an original work

Question 10

how long do copyrights last?

Answer 10

They last 50 years after the death of the author.

Question 11

what are moral rights?

Answer 11

the author will have moral rights (preserving the integrity of the work and intent behind the work.), allows the author to maintain a certain level of power about how their work is used

Question 12

what do moral rights entrench?

Answer 12

right to be credited, right of integrity and the right of association

Question 13

can moral rights be transfer?

Answer 13

moral rights cannot be transferred to the new owner of a copyright (moral rights remained to the original author) but they can be waived and once waived cannot be reacquired by the author

Question 14

what is the scope of protection for copyrights?

Answer 14

you have the protection to exclude others to use your production or work (you cannot sell it) and protection is granted automatically, when the work is done, you have protection.

Question 15

what is a trademark?

Answer 15

can be a sign or combination of signs used to distinguish the goods or services of one person or organization from those of others
examples are: scent, hologram, scent, texture, colour…

Question 16

what is the objective of a trademark?

Answer 16

is for one commercial entities to distinguish itself from those of their competitors,

Question 17

what is the rational behind trademarks?

Answer 17

is to grant the holder a monopoly for their goods and services, to avoid confusion among the competition.

Question 18

can someone enters the market with the same trademark as an organization?

Answer 18

yes, they can if they are in a completely opposite industry since it won’t confused consumers

Question 19

what is the best trademark?

Answer 19

a logo that is far from representing the product (because of monopoly)

Question 20

what is the scope of protection of trademark? and the term

Answer 20

the term is 10 years and it is renewable, but there is a « use it, or lose it » rule

Question 21

what is the difference between Wordmark and design mark? and which one is the best?

Answer 21

wordmark: is to grant the holder a monopoly for their goods and services, to avoid confusion among the competition.
design mark: distinctive logo with particular graphics and stylized wording

the best is the Wordmark since it offers better protection because even if the design-mark are different, if the trademark are alike, there can be trademark infringement

Question 22

what is the difference between unregistered trade mark and registered trademark?

Answer 22

for unregistered trademark, your scope of protection is limited (it is not nationwide)

Question 23

how to prove trademark infringement?

Answer 23

need to establish that the trademark is well-established, known and has a reputation and if there is a likelihood of confusion between the two

Question 24

how to measure the likelihood of confusion?

Answer 24

strength of the mark
proximity of the goods
similarity of the marks
evidence of actual confusion
marketing channels used
type of goods and the degree of care likely to be exercised by the purchaser
defendant’s intent in selecting the mark
likelihood of expansion of the product lines

Question 25

what are trade secrets?

Answer 25

any valuable information that derives its value from secrecy

Question 26

how a business make an information a trade secret?

Answer 26

if they obtain value from the secret, if they keep the information a secret, they take all possible measure to ensure that the business information remains a secret

Question 27

why are trade secrets used?

Answer 27

to ensure an invention is not disclosed to public before it is patent, protect an invention, and as IP information can not be patented, it is a trade secret

Question 28

what is the scope of protection of trade secret?

Answer 28

The scope of protection on trade secrets includes methods of production, technologies, inventions, processing methods, sales methods, supplier lists, know-how, data, formulae, or other such information.

Question 29

what are the differences between trade secrets and patents?

Answer 29

patents last 20 years and trade secret forever, patent cost money and trade secret can be free, trade secret are limited to the information that will be kept a secret and patents will be available to the public 18 months after the application is filed