Intellectual Property Flashcards
What is Intellectual Property?
Legal rights that result from intellectual activities in the industrial, scientific, literary, and artistic fields.
Intellectual property rights are the rights given to persons over the creations of their own minds. They usually give the creator an exclusive right over the use of his/her creation for a certain period of time.
What is a Patent?
A patent is a legal right to an invention given to a person or entity without interference from others who wish to replicate, use or sell it.
Patents last 20 years from filing date.
Inventors have a 1 year grace period to file a patent application.
Patents - Subject Matter
Patentable subject matter:
- machine
- manufacture
- composition of matter
- process
NOT patentable subject matter:
- laws of nature
- mental processes
- physical phenomena
Patent Application Types
Provisional Application - Lacks formality but the information to be claimed in the nonprovisional application has to be disclosed
Nonprovisional Application -
- Specification, including claims
- Drawing
- Oath or declaration of the inventor
Patent Application Process
- File provisional app
- File nonprovisional app (before expiration of provisional)
- Nonprovisional app is reviewed by USPTO (can take ~1 year to start)
- Applicants respond to USPTO exam report
- Repeat steps 3 & 4 until issuance
What are trademarks?
A trademark…
- Identifies source of the product or service
- Protects company’s goodwill
- protection of recognizable sign, design or expression
- protects distinct names, slogans, designs, devices used to identify certain goods/services
- never expires but must have registration renewed
- Protects consumers from confusion in the marketplace
What is a trade secret?
A trade secret is confidential or classified information kept secret from competitors by the company
- No protection available if independently disclosed
Copyrights - Rights Conferred
The exclusive right to…
- reproduce,
- prepare derivative works,
- distribute copies,
- publicly perform,
- display
Copyrights - Registration
- Procedural; no examination
- Registration required to sue to enforce copyrights
- Timely registration allows you to seek statutory damages
Copyrights - Ownership
- Copyrights vests with the author
- Exception - work for hire
IP and Federal Grants
- U.S. Govt retains rights to use IP developed
- Uniform Guidance 2 CFR 200 sets forth the govt’s rights to intangible property
- Bayh-Dole
> universities can elect and retain title
> requirements; reporting and fed’l licensing
Bayh-Dole Requirements
- Disclosure of invention - 2 months
- Election of title
- License to gov’t: “perpetual, nonexclusive, nontransferable, irrevocable, and royalty-free.”
- Govt’ rights clause in patent application
- March-in rights: allows gov’t to grant rights to other parties
3 types of intellectual property
1) patents
2) trademarks and trade secrets
3) copyright
What is copyright?
- protection of original works/art
- exist at moment person creates the work
- rests w the author/creator
- lasts duration of artists life + 70 years
- exception = work for hire
How long do patents, trademarks and copyrights last?
Patent - 20 years from date of filing
Trademarks - never expire but must be renewed and remain in use
Copyrights - artists life + 70 years
