Module 6: Intellectual Property

Question 1

An agreement of the World Trade Organization that requires member governments to ensure that intellectual property rights can be enforced under their laws and that penalties for infringement are tough enough to deter further violations.

Answer 1

Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS)

Question 2

The exclusive right to distribute, display, perform, or reproduce an original work in copies or to prepare derivative works based on the work; granted to creators of original works of authorship.

Answer 2

copyright

Question 3

A violation of the rights secured by the owner of a copyright; occurs when someone copies a substantial and material part of another’s copyrighted work without permission

Answer 3

copyright infringement

Question 4

A person or company that registers domain names for famous trademarks or company names to which they have no connection, with the hope that the trademark’s owner will buy the domain name for a large sum of money.

Answer 4

cybersquatter

Question 5

An act passed in 2016 that amended the Economic Espionage Act to create a federal civil remedy for trade secret misappropriation.

Answer 5

Defend Trade Secrets Act of 2016

Question 6

A type of patent that permits its owner to exclude others from making, using, or selling the design in question.

Answer 6

design patent

Question 7

An act passed in 1996 to help law enforcement agencies pursue economic espionage. It imposes penalties of up to $10 million and 15 years in prison for the theft of trade secrets.

Answer 7

Economic Espionage Act (EEA) of 1996

Question 8

A legal doctrine that allows portions of copyrighted materials to be used without permission under certain circumstances. Title 17, section 107, of the U.S. Code established the following four factors that courts should consider when deciding whether a particular use of copyrighted property is fair and can be allowed without penalty: (1) the purpose and character of the use (such as commercial use or nonprofit, educational purposes), (2) the nature of the copyrighted work, (3) the portion of the copyrighted work used in relation to the work as a whole, and (4) the effect of the use on the value of the copyrighted work.

Answer 8

fair use doctrine

Question 9

The use of illegal means to obtain business information not available to the general public

Answer 9

industrial espionage

Question 10

Works of the mind—such as art, books, films, formulas, inventions, music, and processes—that are distinct and owned or created by a single person or group. Intellectual property is protected through copyright, patent, trade secret, and trademark laws.

Answer 10

intellectual property

Question 11

Terms of an employment contract that prohibit an employee from working for any competitors for a specified period of time, often one to two years.

Answer 11

noncompete agreement

Question 12

An act that changed the U.S. patent system so that the first person to file with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office will receive the patent, not necessarily the person who actually invented the item first.

Answer 12

Leahy-Smith America Invents Act

Question 13

Terms of an employment contract that prohibit an employee from revealing secrets.

Answer 13

nondisclosure clauses

Question 14

Any program whose source code is made available for use or modification, as users or other developers see fit.

Answer 14

open source code

Question 15

A grant of a property right issued by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office to an inventor; permits its owner to exclude the public from making, using, or selling a protected invention, and allows for legal action against violators.

Answer 15

patent

Question 16

A violation of the rights secured by the owner of a patent; occurs when someone makes unauthorized use of another’s patent.

Answer 16

patent infringement

Question 17

The act of stealing someone’s ideas or words and passing them off as one’s own.

Answer 17

plagiarism

Question 18

The existing body of knowledge that is available to a person of ordinary skill in the art.

Answer 18

prior art

Question 19

An act that created the position of Intellectual Property Enforcement Coordinator within the Executive Office of the President. It also increased trademark and copyright enforcement and substantially increased penalties for infringement.

Answer 19

Prioritizing Resources and Organization for Intellectual Property (PRO-IP) Act of 2008

Question 20

The process of taking something apart in order to understand it, build a copy of it, or improve it.

Answer 20

reverse engineering

Question 21

A logo, package design, phrase, sound, or word that enables a consumer to differentiate one company’s products from another’s

Answer 21

trademark

Question 22

An act drafted in the 1970s to bring uniformity to all the United States in the area of trade secret law.

Answer 22

Uniform Trade Secrets Act (UTSA)

Question 23

A type of patent “issued for the invention of a new and useful process, machine, manufacture, or composition of matter, or a new and useful improvement thereof, it generally permits its owner to exclude others from making, using, or selling the invention for a period of up to 20 years from the date of patent application filing, subject to the payment of maintenance fees.”

Answer 23

utility patent

Question 24

Patent law protects inventions, and _____ law protects authored works.

Answer 24

copyright

Question 25

Software can be protected under patent law, but it can also be copyright-protected. True or False?

Answer 25

True

Question 26

The courts may award up to triple damages for?

Answer 26

Patent infringement

Question 27

Two software manufacturers develop separate but nearly identical programs for playing an online game. Even though the second manufacturer can establish that it developed the program on its own, without knowledge of the existing program, that manufacturer could be found guilty of patent infringement. True or False?

Answer 27

True

Question 28

Title II of the ________ amends the Copyright Act by adding a new section that enables a website operator that allows users to post content on its website to avoid copyright infringement if certain “safe harbor” provisions are followed.

Answer 28

Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA)

Question 29

A(n) ________ is a logo, package design, phrase, sound, or word that enables a consumer to differentiate one company’s products from another’s.

Answer 29

trademark

Question 30

Many large software companies have ______ agreements with each other in which each agrees not to sue the other over patent infringement.

Answer 30

cross-licensing

Question 31

The ____________ doctrine established four factors for courts to consider when deciding whether a particular use of copyrighted property is fair and can be allowed without penalty.

Answer 31

fair use

Question 32

A ____________ is a form of protection for intellectual property that does not require any disclosures or the filing of an application.

Answer 32

trade secret

Question 33

The Defend Trade Secrets Act amended the EEA to create a federal civil remedy for _________

Answer 33

trade secret misappropriation

Question 34

Musicians, journalists, and even software developers have been accused of plagiarism. True or False?

Answer 34

True

Question 35

The process of taking something apart in order to understand it, build a copy of it, or improve it is called?

Answer 35

reverse engineering

Question 36

As part of the patent application, the USPTO searches the existing body of knowledge that is available to a person of ordinary skill in the art. This existing body of knowledge is also called?

Answer 36

prior art

Question 37

_______ refers to any program whose source code is made available for use or modification, as users or other developers see fit.

Answer 37

Open source code

Question 38

The main tactic used to circumvent ________ is to register numerous domain name variations as soon as an organization thinks it might want to develop a web presence.

Answer 38

cybersquatting