Intellectual Property - Trademarks & Patents Flashcards
What does trademark law govern?
Brands, logos, slogans, and other signifiers used in trade.
Define a trademark according to modern Trademark law.
Any ‘word, name, symbol, or device’ used to identify and distinguish goods from those sold by others.
What is the primary purpose of copyright law?
To encourage creativity, invention, and expression.
What principle does trademark law protect?
Whoever is first to use a distinctive mark in commerce (the first-in-time principle).
List the three main underlying principles of trademark law.
- Prevent consumer confusion about the origin of goods or services
- Encourage trademark owners to maintain consistent quality
- Prevent competitors from freeriding on the trademark owner’s goodwill.
What are the five types of marks?
- Trademark: Identifies goods
- Service Mark: Identifies services
- Trade Dress: Product packaging or design
- Certification Mark: Indicates standards or characteristics
- Collective Mark: Used by members of a cooperative.
What are the three requirements for trademark protection?
- Distinctiveness
- Non-functionality
- First use in trade.
What does distinctiveness mean in trademark law?
The mark must distinguish the goods or services of one person from those of another.
What does non-functionality mean in trademark law?
The mark must not be essential to the use or purpose of the goods or services.
What does first use in trade require?
An exclusive right to use a mark requires first use, not just first adoption, in a particular geographic market.
What is the significance of a stronger mark in trademark cases?
The stronger the mark, the more likely the plaintiff will win.
What are the categories of distinctiveness endorsed by the Supreme Court?
- Fanciful or Arbitrary
- Suggestive
- Descriptive
- Generic.
What is required for descriptive marks to be protectable?
They must acquire secondary meaning.
What does ‘actual confusion’ refer to in trademark infringement?
Evidence that customers are confused about the source of goods or services.
What is the significance of ‘bridging the gap’ in trademark cases?
A plaintiff may prevail if they might enter the defendant’s product or geographical market.
List the factors used in the multi-factor tests for trademark infringement.
- Strength of the mark
- Similarity of the marks
- Proximity of the goods or services
- Evidence of actual confusion
- Sophistication of consumers
- Defendant’s intent.
What is the rule established in Warhol v. Goldsmith?
Using another person’s creative work can be allowed if it is changed enough to give it a new meaning or purpose.
What is required for trademark renewal?
Periodic maintenance filings and renewed declarations of use.
What are the three types of patents?
- Utility Patents
- Design Patents
- Plant Patents.
What is the term for utility patents?
Generally 20 years from the earliest effective filing date.
What is the term for design patents?
15 years from grant for applications filed on or after May 13, 2015.
What are the requirements for patentability?
- Patentable Subject Matter
- Utility
- Novelty
- Non-Obviousness
- Disclosure/Enablement.
What does patent infringement entail?
Unauthorized making, using, selling, offering for sale, or importing the patented invention.
List the typical defenses to patent infringement.
- Invalidity
- Non-Infringement
- Patent Misuse.
