Intellectual+Property+(Group+2)

Intellectual Property
toc Contributors: Christine Jappaya, Lawrence Technological University Rami Berner, Lawrence Technological University Jalyn Brown, Lawrence Technological University

Introduction
"Intellectual property (IP) refers to creations of the mind: inventions, literary and artistic works, and symbols, names, images, and designs used in commerce."

 Intellectual Property is an area of law that protects the products of ideas and creative processes. Intellectual Property includes trademarks and related property, patents, copyrights and trade secrets. Each of the following subtopics will give a general overview of the topic and its guidelines within the United States as well as internationally.

__ I. Trademarks and Related Property __
by Christine Jappaya

Definition
“A trademark is a distinctive mark, motto, device, or implement that a manufacturer stamps, prints, or otherwise affixes to the goods it produces so that they can be identified on the market and their origins made known”

 A trademark is a brand name, that includes any word, name, symbol, device, or any combination, used or intended to be used to identify and distinguish the goods/services of one seller or provider from those of others, and to indicate the source of the goods/services (uspto.gov).

 The source of trademark law comes from the US Constitution Article 1 Section 8 and the [|Patent Act (35 U.S.C. et seq)]

 What is Subject to Trademark?  The following case discusses whether or not the design on toilet paper can be trademarked. [|Toilet Paper Case]

 Statutory Protection of Trademarks  Statutory protection is provided at the federal level by the Lanham Act of 1946 to protect manufacturers from losing business to rival companies that used confusingly similar trademarks.

 Distinctiveness of Mark  The trademark must be strongly distinct in order for consumers to identify the manufacturer of goods easily.

Trademark Infringement
When a trademark has been infringed, the owner has a cause of action against the infringer. To succeed in a trademark infringement action, the owner must show that the defendant’s use of the mark created a likelihood of confusion about the origin of the defendants goods or services.  Infringement Case: Here is an interesting dispute concerning Christian Loubutin’s red soled shoes and Zaras version. [|Red Soled Shoe Case]

Remedy for Infringement
1. Injunction prohibiting the future use of the mark.  2. Actual damages plus profits received by the party who infringed (can be increased under the Lanham Act). <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; font-family: Arial,Geneva,Verdana,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12px;"> 3. Destruction of articles that infringed. <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; font-family: Arial,Geneva,Verdana,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12px;"> 4. Plus costs and attorneys' fees. <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; font-family: Arial,Geneva,Verdana,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">

Counterfeit Goods
<span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; font-family: Arial,Geneva,Verdana,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">The Stop Counterfeiting in Manufactured Goods Act (SCMGA) was enacted to combat counterfeit goods. It is now a crime to knowingly traffic in counterfeit labels, stickers, packaging, and the like. A person found guilty can be fined up to $2 million or imprisonment for up to ten years. <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; font-family: Arial,Geneva,Verdana,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12px;"> Counterfeit Trademark Case: A flea market landlord is found liable for contributory infringement of Louis Vuitton’s Trademark. [|Louis Vuitton Knock-Offs] <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #ff3700; font-family: Arial,Geneva,Verdana,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 130%; line-height: 0px; overflow: hidden;">

Registration
<span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; font-family: Arial,Geneva,Verdana,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">Trademarks may be registered with the state or with the federal government. (from the US Patent and Trademark Office - USPTO.gov) <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; font-family: Arial,Geneva,Verdana,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12px;"> Federal registration of a mark is not mandatory, but there are three advantages: (1) Notice to the public of the registrant's claim of ownership of the mark, (2) legal presumption of ownership nationwide, and (3) exclusive right to use the mark on or in connection with the goods/services listed in the registration. Once registered, the registrant can use the symbol ® to indicate that the mark has been registered.

When to Renew
<span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; font-family: Arial,Geneva,Verdana,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">Registration is renewable between the fifth and sixth years after the initial registration and every ten years thereafer (every twenty years for those trademarks registered before 1990).

<span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #008080; font-family: Arial,Geneva,Verdana,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12px;"> Process <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; font-family: Arial,Geneva,Verdana,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12px;"> The complete step by step process for registering a trademark is available at the US Patent and Trademark Ofice - USPTC.GOV. <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; font-family: Arial,Geneva,Verdana,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12px;"> [|Trademark Process]

__ II. Patents __
<span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #404040; font-family: Arial,Geneva,Verdana,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">by Rami Berner

Definition
<span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; font-family: Arial,Geneva,Verdana,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">"A Patent is a grant from the government that gives an inventor the right to exclude others from making, using, or selling his or her invention."

Patent Source
<span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; font-family: Arial,Geneva,Verdana,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">The source of patent law comes from the US Constitution Article 1 Section 8 <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; font-family: Arial,Geneva,Verdana,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12px;"> "To promote the Progress of Science and useful Arts, by securing for limited Times to Authors and Inventors the exclusive Right to their respective Writings and Discoveries" <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; font-family: Arial,Geneva,Verdana,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12px;"> and the[| Patent Act (35 U.S.C. section 1-376)]

Rights & Protection
<span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; font-family: Arial,Geneva,Verdana,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">The purpose of patent protection is to encourage development and innovation particularly by encouraging inventors to disclose their inventions. A patent will protect an inventor's products and processes for the period of the patent. Without this protection, inventors would be reluctant to spread their ideas and knowledge in order to protect it. With a patent, an inventor can sell licences to use or produce the invention. This can recoup the financial investment made in the development phase - this is an additional incentive that can spur development and innovation. Additionally, the publishing of the invention through the patent system may help spread the knowledge of the the invention more so than if the invention was not published or published privately at all.

<span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; font-family: Arial,Geneva,Verdana,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12px;"> Although a patent will provide protection to an inventor, the rights belong to the first person to invent the product or process, not the first person to file a patent. Because determining who was the first to invent a product or process can be difficult, if no other evidence is produced, the first person to file a patent will often be assumed to be the first to invent the product or process. Independently developing a patented invention is not a protection against patent infringement.

<span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; font-family: Arial,Geneva,Verdana,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12px;"> Today patent law has been expanded to include many software processes in computer programs. This has led to the opposite effect of the intended sharing of knowledge and innovation with the prevalence of the 'Patent Troll.' A 'Patent Troll' holds or buys the rights to many patents (sometimes hundreds) for the sole purpose of suing for infringement. These 'Trolls' have no intention of using the patented product or process and stifles innovation by others. The radio program "This American Life" featured an episode on the issue of 'Patent Trolls" in July 2011 (Episode 441) . Drew Curtis, the founder of a news site called Fark.com, speaks about the challenges of dealing with 'Patent Trolls' and how to combat them in a TED lecture in February 2012 ([|How I beat a patent troll]).

Patent Infringement
<span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; font-family: Arial,Geneva,Verdana,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">Infringement occurs when a product or process that is being patented is made, used or sold without permission from the patent holder. Infringement can occur in products that only partially replicate the patent. For infringement on a process, the entire process must be infringed. Infringement can occur on products that are not on the market (patent trolls commonly buy patent to hold on to and not to use on the market just so they can sue for infringement as mentioned above). <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; font-family: Arial,Geneva,Verdana,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12px;"> To avoid infringement, patent databases can be searched to see if the process of invention has already been patented. If it has, it may be possible to obtain a licence from the patent holder.

Remedies for Infringement
<span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; font-family: Arial,Geneva,Verdana,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">Remedies for infringement is the ability to bring a civil suit at the federal level. <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; font-family: Arial,Geneva,Verdana,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12px;"> A patent holder can:
 * Seek an injunction that would prevent further infringement. Today, an injunction for future infringement is weighed against the public interest before it is granted.
 * Seek damages for lost profit, royalties and even attorney's fees. When infringement is willful the courts can award treble damages (triple damages).

What can be Patented
<span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; font-family: Arial,Geneva,Verdana,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">Anything not obvious, novel and useful can be patented with the following exceptions: <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #333333; font-family: Arial,Geneva,Verdana,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">The extent of what can be patented is far reaching. Currently the Dr.<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> Steven Price, associate vice president for technology development of the Technology Development Center at Oklahoma State University is seeking a patent for a cut of meat they are calling [|The Vegas Strip Steak]. A recent article on NPR explores the issues involved with patenting a cut of meat ([|Can you patent a steak?]).
 * 1) The laws of nature
 * 2) Natural phenomenon
 * 3) Abstract ideas - this includes algorithms which is significant because algorithms are highly used in computing and software. In 1981 however, in //Diamond v.Diehr //  the Supreme Court expanded patent law to allow patents on software products. In 1998 in //State Street Bank & Trust Co. v. Signature Financial Group Inc. //  a federal appellate court ruled that business processes were patentable. Ultimately in 2008, the court reversed it's 1998 decision and made it harder to get a patent on business processes.

Types of patents
<span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #008080; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">(from the US Patent and Trademark Office - USPTO.gov)
 * 1) Utility Patent - must be a novel and useful process, machine, article of manufacture, or composition of matter.
 * 2) Design Patent - design consists of the visual ornamental characteristics embodied in, or applied to, an article of manufacture.
 * 3) Plant Patent -<span style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> must be invented or discovered and have asexually reproduced a distinct and new variety of plant, other than a tuber propagated plant or a plant found in an uncultivated state.

<span style="color: #008080; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Patent Duration
<span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #000000; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">Patent protection begins from the date of filing of the application, not the date of issue.
 * 1) Utility Patent - 20 years from date of filed patent
 * 2) Plant Patent - 20 years from date of filed patent
 * 3) Design Patent - 14 years from date of filed patent

<span style="color: #008080; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">The Patent Database
Today there are a number of searchable patent databases that businesses can use. This is significant, because it essentially furthers the initial goals of the Patent law - that is to spread knowledge and innovation. The U.S. database includes full text of patents issued since 1976 and images of patents since 1790. [|The European Patent Office] searchable database has patents from over 70 nations.

Process
Patents can be obtained by filing the proper papers through the US Patent and Trademark Office. The patent can be applied for either by the inventor themselves or through an attorney on behalf of the inventor. Only the inventor themselves can apply for the patent, as opposed to the company they may work for.

The following graphic describes the patent process: <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #008080; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12px;"> ===

International Considerations
<span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #000000; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">According to US law, infringement does not occur outside of the US.

The Paris Convention of 1883 allows its members to file for patents in other member countries. The TRIPS Agreement (1994) between member countries of the World Trade Organization provides that each country includes intellectual property rights in its domestic laws, while giving the same treatment to members of other countries.

__ III. Copyrights __
<span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #404040; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">by Jayln Brown

__ IV. Trade Secrets __
<span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #404040; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">by Christine Jappaya

Definition
“Information or a process that gives a business an advantage over competitors who do not know the information or process.”

Trade secrets may include customers lists, plans, research and development, pricing information, marketing methods, production techniques, and generally anything that makes an individual company unique and that would have value to a competitor. Unlike copyright and trademark protection, protection of trade secrets extends both to ideas and to their expression. Businesses generally attempt to protect their trade secrets by having all employees who use a process or informtaion agree in their contracts, or in confidentiality agreements, never to make the secret known.

How is it Acquired?
<span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #000000; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">A trade secret is acquired through the originality and development of the information and processes that constitute the business secret and are unknown to others. (Cross & Miller 326)

<span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #008080; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12px;"> Duration <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #000000; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12px;"> The duration is unlimited, unless it is revealed to others making it no longer a trade secret.

<span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #008080; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">State and Federal Law Under Section 757 of the Restaurant of Torts, those who disclose or use another's trade secret, without authorization, are liable to that other part if: 1. Their disclosure or use constitutes a breach of a duty owed ot the other party. 2. They discovered the secret by improper means.

Trade Secrets in Cyberspace
<span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #000000; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">Computer technology makes trade secret confidentiality easier for employees to breach.

Remedy For Infringement
<span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #000000; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">Monetary damages for misappropriation, punitive damages by the Uniform Trade Secrets Act, plus costs and attorneys' fees. <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #008080; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12px;"> What Qualifies as a Trade Secret? <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #000000; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12px;"> So what really qualifies as a trade secret? This article gives guidance as to what qualifies as a trade secret. [|Trade Secret?] <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #008080; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">

Maintaining Trade Secret Status
<span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #000000; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">Here, the article talks about the requirements of maintaining trade secret status on your company jewels. See what kind of dance steps you need to employ to avail yourself of such protection. [|Trade Secret Status] <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #008080; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 12px;">