Lesson 8 Flashcards
What are the four tests an invention must pass to be eligible for a patent?
- Must fall into one of five statutory classes
- Must be useful
- Must be novel
- Must not be obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the field
The five statutory classes include processes, machines, manufactures, compositions of matter, and new uses of the previous classes.
What constitutes patent infringement?
Unauthorized use of another’s patent
Unlike copyright infringement, there is no specified limit to the monetary penalty for patent infringement.
What can a court award if patent infringement is found to be intentional?
Up to three times the amount of the damages claimed by the patent holder
This is in contrast to the penalties for copyright infringement.
Define ‘software patent’.
Claims as all or substantially all of an invention some function or embodied instructions executed on a computer
Includes applications software, business software, expert systems, and system software.
What is a ‘submarine patent’?
A patent that is hidden within a standard and does not surface until the standard is broadly adopted
This can lead to unexpected royalty demands from patent holders.
What is ‘patent farming’?
Influencing a standards organization to use a patented item without revealing its existence and later demanding royalties
This practice raises ethical concerns in intellectual property rights.
What is a ‘trade secret’?
Business information that derives independent economic value from not being generally known and is kept confidential
Includes formulas, patterns, compilations, programs, devices, methods, techniques, or processes.
What are the steps for protecting trade secrets?
- Identify all information to protect
- Develop a strategy for keeping the information secure
- Label information as confidential
- Limit access to authorized individuals
Organizations often use nondisclosure clauses and exit interviews to protect trade secrets.
What is ‘plagiarism’?
The theft and passing off of someone’s ideas or words as one’s own
Common in both academic and non-academic settings such as literature and software development.
Define ‘reverse engineering’.
The process of taking something apart to understand, copy, or improve it
Originally applied to hardware, but now commonly used for software as well.
What is ‘open source code’?
Any program whose source code is made available for use or modification by users or developers
Advocates argue that it leads to better software by allowing for rapid identification and fixing of bugs.
What is ‘competitive intelligence’?
The gathering of legally obtainable information to help a company gain an advantage over its rivals
Different from industrial espionage, which uses illegal methods.
What is ‘cybersquatting’?
Registering domain names for famous trademarks to profit from their sale
It exploits the trademark owner’s need to acquire their domain.
What does copyright law protect?
Authored works such as art, books, films, and music
Copyright laws create a complex body of law regarding the ownership of intellectual property.
What is the term of protection for copyright?
- Life of the author plus 50 years
- Joint authorship: life of the last surviving author plus 50 years
- Anonymous works: 50 years from publication
- Works of applied art: 25 years from creation
- Photographic works: 50 years from publication
- Audio-visual works: 50 years from publication
The rules change based on the type of work and authorship.
What is a ‘patent’?
A grant of a property right to inventors allowing them to exclude others from making, using, or selling their invention
Unlike copyright, a patent prevents independent creation of the same invention.
What is ‘prior art’?
The existing body of knowledge available to a person of ordinary skill in the art
It is crucial in determining the novelty of a patent.
