Intellectual Property & Internet, Social Media, and Privacy

Question 1

What is a trademark?

Answer 1

A trademark can be any word, phrase, symbol, design, or a combination of these things that identifies your goods or services.

It’s how customers recognize you in the marketplace and distinguish you from your competitors.

Question 2

What is a copyright?

Answer 2

a type of intellectual property that gives its owner the exclusive right to copy, distribute, adapt, display, and perform a creative work, usually for a limited time.

The creative work may be in a literary, artistic, educational, or musical form. Copyright is intended to protect the original expression of an idea in the form of a creative work, but not the idea itself.

Question 3

What is a patent?

Answer 3

a government authority or license conferring a right or title for a set period, especially the sole right to exclude others from making, using, or selling an invention

Question 4

What is a license?

Answer 4

contract permitting the use of a trademark for specific purposes

Licensee pays fees, or royalties, for the privilege of using the intellectual property

Question 5

What is infringement?

Answer 5

when a trademark is copied to a substantial degree, intentionally or unintentionally, without authorization

Question 6

What is a public domain?

Answer 6

a work may be used without permission (no one owns copyright to the work)

Question 7

How can you obtain a trademark?

Answer 7

-Federal registration with U.S.P.T.O. (rules on later slide)
-State registration
-Common law

Question 8

How long can you use a trademark?

Answer 8

Can be renewed indefinitely

Question 9

To have a mark registered, it must either be:

Answer 9

1. inherently distinctive or
2. have acquired a secondary meaning

Question 10

What makes a common law trademark unique?

Answer 10

A prior (unregistered) user may receive common law protection; be allowed to continue using name even when challenged by owner of subsequently federal trademark.

Question 11

Why is the Lanham Act and Federal Trademark Dilution Act important?

Answer 11

they protect trademark owners from infringement and dilution

Question 12

How can someone obtain a copyright?

Answer 12

-Registration with the U.S. Copyright Office.
-Common law (use of the circle c or the word “copyright” no longer required).
-BUT, must register prior to filing suit for infringement.

Question 13

How long does a copyright last under a single author?

Answer 13

Copyright lasts for life of creator plus 70 years

Question 14

What is the Fair Use Doctrine?

Answer 14

a legal doctrine that allows the use of limited portions of copyrighted material under certain circumstances without getting permission from the copyright owner or paying any license fees. Fair use applies to all types of works, including text, images, video, and music.

Question 15

What is the First Sale Doctrine?

Answer 15

Once a copyright owner sells or gives away a particular copy of work, the copyright owner no longer has the right to control the distribution of that copy.
e.g. selling used dvd or used extbook (no royalty owed to copyright owner)

Question 16

How can you obtain a patent?

Answer 16

• Registration with the U.S. Patent Office
  
  • Once an application is filed it is considered “patent pending”
• Judicial review (can be challenged in court even if issued by the patent office):

Question 17

How long does a patent last?

Answer 17

20 years

Question 18

What are the four non-exclusive factors for the fair use doctrine?

Answer 18

1. Purpose (example: educational or profit).
2. Nature of the copyright material (“creative works” are more likely to be protected than “fact based” works)
3. Amount and substantiality of the copyright material in relation to work as a whole.
4. Impact of use on the market.

Question 19

Cybersquatting

Answer 19

the practice of registering, trafficking in, or using an Internet domain name, with bad faith intent to profit from the goodwill of a trademark belonging to someone else

Question 20

What is the Anticybersquatting Consumer Protection Act of 1999?

Answer 20

A person proved to be a “cybersquatter” is liable to a trademark owner if the person:
with a bad faith intent to profit
registers a domain name that is either identical or confusingly similar to a distinctive or famous mark.

The act also makes it illegal to register the domain name of a living person (even if name isn’t trademarked) without the person’s consent with specific intent to profit by selling the name for financial gain.

Question 21

Is there much liability for Internet Service Providers (ISPs)?

Answer 21

Generally, no. A variety of laws shield internet service providers from responsibility for actions of users

Question 22

What is dilution?

Answer 22

Lessening power of a “famous” mark

Question 23

What does SLD mean?

Answer 23

Second Level Domain

Question 24

What does TLD mean?

Answer 24

Top Level Domain

Question 25

What does ICANN mean?

Answer 25

The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers

an American multistakeholder group and nonprofit organization responsible for coordinating the maintenance and procedures of several databases related to the namespaces and numerical spaces of the Internet, ensuring the network’s stable and secure operation.