What is Intellectual Property?
Property owned as a product of the mind, no different from personal property. Cannot change hands without a signed contract.
What are the main types of Intellectual Property?
Copyright, Patent, Trademark, Right of Publicity.
What is the Right of Publicity?
Your name and likeness are your Right of Publicity; you can do whatever you want with them.
What is a license in the context of Intellectual Property?
Written permission to exploit someone else’s intellectual property for a period of time for commercial purposes.
What does Article I, Section 8, Clause 8 of the U.S. Constitution state?
Congress shall have the power 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.
What is the Berne Convention?
The oldest IP treaty on Earth, determining minimum protections required for and reciprocity of IP trade agreements.
What does the TRIPS Agreement entail?
The rules of the WTO regarding IP; must honor the IP laws of the nation selling the IP.
What is the significance of the 1996 WIPO/Copyright Treaty?
Enables innovators to create and trade intellectual property internationally.
What was the outcome of the Apple vs. Samsung case?
Apple won a $1.05 billion verdict in 2012 against Samsung for infringement.
What landmark case established the term ‘public domain’?
Donaldson vs. Becket.
What was the first U.S. Copyright Act? For how many years did it grant ownership?
1790 - 1st U.S. Copyright Act (14+14 yrs).
What is the Lanham Act and when was it enacted?
Federal Statute enacted in 1946, governing trademark law.
What are the benefits of Federal Trademark Registration?
- Prima Facie Evidence of the validity of the registration
- Constructive Notice to 3rd Parties of Ownership
- Right to request customs officials to bar importation of infringing goods.
What is the requirement for Federal Registration of a trademark?
Interstate Commerce - Commerce that crosses state lines.
What happens if a Statement of Use Affidavit is not filed?
The status becomes ‘Abandoned’.
True or False: Trademark Law is only governed by Federal Statute.
False.
What is the duration of copyright protection under the 1976 U.S. Copyright Act?
Life of the Author + 50 years.
What is meant by ‘Use It or Lose It’ in trademark law?
Failure to use a trademark can result in the loss of rights.
What is the significance of the 1988 U.S. Implementation Act of the Berne Convention?
It removed barriers of notice formalities for copyright. It created copyright upon fixation. It put the U.S. in the Berne Convention.
What does ‘constructive notice’ mean in trademark law?
You are expected to know something, even if you didn’t necessarily see it.
What are the areas of State Intellectual Property law?
- Common Law Trademark and State Statutes
- Common Law Copyright Pre-1976 Works
- Trade Secrets
- Unfair Competition
- Misappropriation
- Right of Publicity.
USCA Section 102(a) (1976)
Protection exists if material is:
“an original work of authorship
fixed in any tangible medium of expression now known or later developed,
which can be perceived, reproduced, or communicated
either directly or with the aid of a machine or device.”
What are the two fundamental requirements for copyright protection?
- Originality
- Fixation
What is contained in Article 1, Section 8, Clause 8 of the US Constitution?
Authority for ALL Congressional action re the US Copyright Act
