Legal Terms Chapter 23 - Intellectual Property Flashcards
Copyright
The exclusive right given to an author, composer, artist, or photographer to publish and sell exclusively a creative work for the life of the author plus 70 years.
Confidentiality agreement
An agreement to refrain from disclosing trade secrets to others; also called nondisclosure agreement.
Copyright infringement
The unauthorized use of copyrighted material.
Design patent
A patent that protects the way an article looks, which includes its shape or configuration, and lasts for 14 or 15 years, depending on the date of the patent; prior to May 13, 2015, the patent lasts 14 years and after 15 years.
Enjoin
To require a person to perform, or to abstain from performing, some act; usually through an injunction.
Limited use doctrine
A rule stating that the limited use of a copyrighted work for purposes such as criticism, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, or research is not a copyright infringement.
Generic term
A term that means relating to or characteristic of a whole group.
Intellectual property
A category of intangible property that is the result of intellectual creativity.
Patent
A grant by the U.S. Government of the exclusive right to make, use, and sell an invention; patent length depends on the type of patent; granted to the first inventor to file for patent protection.
Patent infringement
The unauthorized making, using, or selling of a patented invention during the term of the patent.
Plant patent
A patent granted for the discovery or invention of an asexually reproducing plant, meaning, by other than the use of seeds; these patents last 20 years from the date the application is filed.
Public domain
Owned by the public and no one may claim ownership of it.
Reservation
The act of keeping back.
Secondary meaning
A trademark granted for a mark that isn’t inherently distinctive but which, over time, has come to be so well known as associated with a company’s products or services.
Service mark
A word used to describe trademark protection for services; the roaring lion is the service mark for MGM which distinguishes from the service of other movie studios.
Trademark
Any word, name, symbol, or device used by a business to identify goods and distinguish them from those manufactured or sold by others; in any form, is a brand name.
Trademark dilution
The unauthorized use of a trademark in a commercially similar way that reduces or is likely to reduce the public’s perception of the trademark.
Trademark infringement
When a trademark is used by a large segment of the public for a long period, making it a generic term such as Xerox or corn flakes.
Trade secret
A plan, process, or device that is used in business and is known only to employees who need to know the secret to accomplish their work.
Treble damages
Generally, three times the actual damages amount; granted by certain statutes.
Utility patent
A patent granted for the invention of a new process or item of manufacture, and which lasts for 20 years from the date of the application filing.
