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© 2005 West Legal Studies in Business A Division of Thomson Learning 1 Food for Thought of the Day “How easy it is to be “average.” The ranks of the mediocre.

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Presentation on theme: "© 2005 West Legal Studies in Business A Division of Thomson Learning 1 Food for Thought of the Day “How easy it is to be “average.” The ranks of the mediocre."— Presentation transcript:

1 © 2005 West Legal Studies in Business A Division of Thomson Learning 1 Food for Thought of the Day “How easy it is to be “average.” The ranks of the mediocre are crowded with status-quo thinkers and predictable workers. How rare are those who live differently!” -Author Unknown

2 © 2005 West Legal Studies in Business A Division of Thomson Learning 2 Welcome to Introduction to Business BUS 002 Agenda – March 12, 2008 TOPIC: Intellectual Property Check-Ins: Questions, Comments, Reflections, AhHa Moments FYI Article “S.F. State GOP group wins free-speech case” source: SF Gate Discuss Think & Write 2 Intellectual Property –Trademarks –Patents –Copyright –Trade Secrets Emancipate

3 © 2005 West Legal Studies in Business A Division of Thomson Learning 3 What is intellectual property? Why are trademarks and patents protected by the law? What laws protects authors’ rights in works they generate? What are trade secrets, and what laws offer protection for this form of intellectual property? What steps have been taken to protect intellectual property rights in the digital age? Learning Objectives

4 © 2005 West Legal Studies in Business A Division of Thomson Learning 4 Intellectual Property = Property resulting from intellectual, creative processes – products from an individual’s mind. Trademarks Patents Copyright Trade Secrets Vocabulary/Terms/Phrases

5 © 2005 West Legal Studies in Business A Division of Thomson Learning 5 Introduction Intellectual Property (I.P.) is any property that is the product of an individual’s mind, e.g, books, software, movies, music. U.S. Constitution protects I.P. in Article I Section 8. Congress shall: “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.”

6 © 2005 West Legal Studies in Business A Division of Thomson Learning 6 Trademarks & Related Property Trademark. –Distinctive motto, mark or emblem. –Stamped or affixed to a product. –So that it can be identified in the market. –The Coca-Cola Co. v. Koke Co. of America (1920) p. 145. Statutory Protection for Trademarks. –Federal Lanham Act of 1946 – Protects against rivals from using confusingly similar trademarks –Federal Trademark Dilution Act of 1995 – Amended (extended) Lanham Act – No use of similar trademarks that dilute (diminishes) the value (quality) or business generated by the mark.

7 © 2005 West Legal Studies in Business A Division of Thomson Learning 7 Trademarks & Related Property Trademark Registration. –U.S. Patent and Trademark Office www.uspto.gov gives notice to 3 rd parties. –A mark can be registered if already in use or will be used within 6 months. –Can not register trademarks that are immoral, scandalous (defamatory), or disparaging (discredit) Trademark Infringement. –Unintentional or intentional substantial copying of mark. –Strong (most distinctive) marks vs. generic (commonly used) terms.

8 © 2005 West Legal Studies in Business A Division of Thomson Learning 8 Service Marks, Trade Names, and Trade Dress Service Mark. –Similar to trademark but used for services. –Includes characters in TV and radio. –Register as a Service Mark. Trade Names. –Applies to a business name (not a product). –Related to the business’ reputation and goodwill. –Protected under common law (and under trademark law, if the name is the same as the business’ trademark) Trade Dress. –Image and appearance of a product or shop (Example: Starbucks coffee stores). –Subject to same protection as Trademarks)

9 © 2005 West Legal Studies in Business A Division of Thomson Learning 9 Cyber Marks Trademarks in Cyberspace. Domain Names. –Trademarks in Cyberspace (example: Nike.com). –Conflicts—ICANN. – Non-profit watchdog overseeing the distribution of domain names Cybersquatting. –Occurs when 3rd party registers a domain name that is the same or similar to another company’s own trade name. –1999 Anticybersquatting Consumer Protection Act.

10 © 2005 West Legal Studies in Business A Division of Thomson Learning 10 Cyber Marks Meta Tags –Keywords in web pages used by internet search engines. –Playboy Enterprises, Inc. v. Welles (2002). p. 120 Online Trademark Dilution. –Trademarks can be diluted on the web. –Hasbro v. IEG (over candyland.com p. 151).

11 © 2005 West Legal Studies in Business A Division of Thomson Learning 11 What do you think? View the Video “Intellectual Property” Ralley’s Auto v. Ralley’s Pizza In groups of 3-4, answer the following questions? Does it matter whether Rally is associated with pizza? How important is the fact that Herman started to use the name Rally first in that particular geographic area? What rights do you have in your trade name? If you do have a right to your trade name, what remedies do you have if someone else infringes upon it?

12 © 2005 West Legal Studies in Business A Division of Thomson Learning 12 Patents Patent. –A Government monopoly that gives inventor the exclusive right to make, use or sell an invention for 20 years. Patents for: –Invention. –Design. –Process (software patent).

13 © 2005 West Legal Studies in Business A Division of Thomson Learning 13 Patents Infringement. –Manufacture, use or sale of another’s product or design without permission (license). Business Process Patents. –1998 State Street Bank v. Signature Financial ruled that a method of doing business could be patented. –Amazon.com’s “one-click” patent. –Eolas Technologies, Inc. v. Microsoft Corp. (2004) p.153.

14 © 2005 West Legal Studies in Business A Division of Thomson Learning 14 What do you think? Video “Intellectual Property”– “Stop-stem” glasses Device – The Jerk In groups of 3-4, answer the following questions? In the video, Navin (Steve Martin) creates a special handle for Mr. Fox’s (Bill Macy’s) glasses. Can Navin obtain a patent or a copyright protecting his invention? Explain your answer. Suppose that after Navin legally protects his idea, Fox steals it and decides to develop it for himself, without Navin’s permission. Has Fox committed infringement? If so, what kind: trademark, patent, or copyright? Suppose that after Navin legally protects his idea, he realizes he doesn’t have the funds to mass produce the special glasses handle. Navin therefore agrees to allow Fox to manufacture the product. Has Navin granted Fox a license? Explain. Assume that Navin is able to manufacture his invention. What might Navin do to ensure that his product is identifiable and can be distinguished from other products on the market?

15 © 2005 West Legal Studies in Business A Division of Thomson Learning 15 Copyrights Copyright: The exclusive right of an author to publish, print, or sell a product of her intellect for a certain period of time. –literary, musical, or dramatic work; pantomime or choreographic work; pictorial, graphic, or sculptural work; film or other audiovisual work; sound recording. –Intangible property right granted by federal statute to the author for life plus 70 years. –What is Protected Expression? Work must be original and “fixed in a durable medium.” Ideas are not protected, but the expression of an idea is. Must be in a format Must be original

16 © 2005 West Legal Studies in Business A Division of Thomson Learning 16 Copyrights Infringement. –Form or expression is copied (does not have to be in its entirety). –Penalties, damages and criminal action are possible. Exception: “Fair Use”. –Certain persons or organization can copy materials without penalty (e.g., education, news, research). Copyright Protections for Software. –1980-Computer Software Copyright Act. –Classifies software as literary works.

17 © 2005 West Legal Studies in Business A Division of Thomson Learning 17 Copyrights in Digital Information Digital media can easily be copied. Copyright Act of 1976: –Copy of a program into RAM is infringement. –Revision or re-sale of freelance authors works can be infringement. –New York Times Co. v. Tasini (2001) p. 158. MP3 and File-Sharing. –Napster case. (contributing to copyright infringement) –New sharing: Morpheus, Kazaa.

18 © 2005 West Legal Studies in Business A Division of Thomson Learning 18 Trade Secrets Trade Secrets = Information or processes that give a business an advantage over competitors that do not know the information or processes. –Trade secrets are confidential, not filed with the government. –Can be customer lists, formulas, pricing, etc. –Theft of trade secrets is now a federal crime under the Economic Espionage Act of 1996. –Cyberspace: employees can easily email information to competitors.

19 © 2005 West Legal Studies in Business A Division of Thomson Learning 19 International Protection Berne Convention (1886). –International Copyright Agreement. Countries sign an agreement to recognize the copyright. TRIPS Agreement (1994). –Countries sign an agreement to recognize all Intellectual Property. World Intellectual Property Organization. (WIPO) (1996). –Provides for Dispute resolution.

20 © 2005 West Legal Studies in Business A Division of Thomson Learning 20 Reflection How might today’s content impact my practice in business? What implications might today’s content have on the local, state, national, and global communities? What have I learned about law and business that will influence my practice?


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