Part 2c - IP Law

Question 1

Intellectual Property can be: (5)

Answer 1

• Inventions
• Literary and artistic works
• Symbols
• Names
• Images used in commerce
  Intellectual Property law is only effective with a creation, not an idea.

Question 2

What are the objectives of Intellectual property law? (2)

Answer 2

• Objectives:
  ○ IP gives the creators the right to control the use of their work/mark/invention/design and use it to gain financial reward
  ○ IP stimulates innovation by giving incentives and protection to IP creators.

Question 3

From a business perspective, IP: (4)

Answer 3

• Is the basis for sustainable competitive advantage
• Makes it possible to transfer, license, and burden with a safety right
  ○ Allows companies to capitalize on these ideas and innovations.
  The more, the better
  The more rights you have on the product, the harder it is for competition to imitate you.

Question 4

How can you monetize IP Rights?

Answer 4

• Transfer it
• License it
  ○ Licensor (the one giving the license)
  ○ Licensee (the one receiving the license)
• Cross-licensing
  ○ License-in and license-out
  Think of the example with a university using zoom. RUG may request a license for Zoom and they may ask for a license back, this would be cross-licensing- as RUG is exchanging their license for Zooms license, it is a license-out to acquire a license-in.

Question 5

Different IP rights:(6)

Answer 5

• Patent right –> protects inventions
• Copyright–> protects creative work
• Trademark right–> distinguishes a product
• Design right–> protects exterior of products
• Geographical indication–> to distinguish, evidence origin
• Trade Secret –> protects the confidential know-how

Question 6

Copyright (3)

Answer 6

• An artistic right, all others are industrial.
• “A copyright belongs to the creator or authors of any type of work that can be fixed in a tangible medium.”
  This right is automatic, a copyright does not have to be registered

Question 7

Requirements for copyright law:(4)

Answer 7

• Originality (not been copied from another course)
• Work/idea that is expressed not the idea itself.
• Put some effort and skill into the work
• Bringing a certain artistic work into existence
  That’s all –> Automatic (no legal process needed beforehand)

Question 8

Acquiring Copyright:

Answer 8

• It must be in permanent form by being recorded in some way

Question 9

Duration of copyright being enforceable

Answer 9

• Life of the author + 70 years

Question 10

What are the rights of the owner with copyrighted work?

Answer 10

• Copy
• Rent
• Lend
• Perform, play, or show

Question 11

Primary infringement:

Answer 11

People who are directly involved with copying material (using a special theme song, copying a book chapter)

Question 11

Secondary infringement + Remedy:

Answer 11

People in a commercial setting who deal with infringing copies or facilitating the copying of materials
- Not the actual copying but the commercial exploitation of it
○ Selling a fake CD for example
Remedy: Civil Action –> Court for an injunction or claiming any profits.

Question 12

Patent

Answer 12

“An exclusive right given to an owner of an invention to make use and exploit their invention for up to 20 years.”

Question 13

Requirements of a patent

Answer 13

1. The invention is new
2. It involves an inventive step
3. It is capable of industrial application

Question 14

An owner can exploit his patent by: (3)

Answer 14

• Owners may use it for financial gain
  
  1. Selling it
  2. Licensing it (royalties)
  3. Franchising it

Question 15

There are 2 ways that can breach of a patent:

Answer 15

1. IF it is a product: infringement by a person making the product, disposing or offering to dispose of it, using, importing, or keeping it.
2. IF it is a process: infringement occurs where a person uses it or offers it for use knowing, or where he reasonably ought to have known that he is infringing a patent.

Question 16

Remedies from a breach of a patent: (4)

Answer 16

• Injunction
• Damages
• Hand over the products
• Hand over the profits made from exploiting the patent

Question 17

Trademark

Answer 17

“A distinctive name, symbol, motto, or design that legally identifies a company or its products and services. Sometimes it prevents others from using identical or similar marks.”

Question 18

Requirements for a trademark: (2)

Answer 18

• Distinctiveness: It must be distinctive
  It cannot merely describe the type of good “Best fries in town” vs “M” (McDonalds)

Question 19

What are the refusal grounds for a trademark?

Answer 19

1. The mark lacks a distinctive character (“RUG”)
   
   2. It is considered to be immoral and deceptive (“FU*K”)
   3. May falsely suggest a connection with a person (King Henry Shoes)
   4. Flags of states and countries

Question 20

Duration of a trademark

Answer 20

= 10 years but renewable indefinitely (+10)

Question 21

Design rights

Answer 21

• Protects the apparel of a product, or a part of it. It can be 2D or 3D.
  ○ This is the design of an item, not the functionality of it.
• Do not confuse 2D with copyright!

Question 22

Requirements for design rights: (3)

Answer 22

• New
• Individuality
• Non-functional

Question 23

Duration of a design rights:

Answer 23

• Registered: 25 years
• Unregistered: 15 years

Question 24

Other IP Rights (9)

Answer 24

• Database law
  
  • Geographical indication
  • Trade name law
  • Chip law
  • Plant breeder’s rights
  • Trade secret
  • Domain Name Law
  • Portrait Right
  • Moral law

Question 25

Moral law (IP Law): (4)

Answer 25

• Right to prohibit others from tampering
  
  • Right to be acknowledged as the author of the work
  • Right not to have work falsely attributed to another person
  • Right to control of public access