Intellectual Property Law
Intellectual Property Workshop
Fall Semester 2008
What is intellectual
property?
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Copyrights
Trademarks
Patents
Trade Secrets
Copyrights
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Written works
Musical compositions
Photographs
Films
Sound recordings
Videos
Paintings and sculptures
What is a copyright?
• Copyright is a form of protection
provided by the laws of the United
States (title 17, U. S. Code) to the
authors of “original works of authorship,”
including literary, dramatic, musical,
artistic, and certain other intellectual
works.Copyright Basics
What is a trademark?
• A trademark or trade mark[1] is a distinctive sign or
indicator of some kind which is used by an individual,
business organization or other legal entity to uniquely
identify the source of its products and/or services to
consumers, and to distinguish its products or services
from those of other entities. A trademark is a type of
intellectual property, and typically comprises a name,
word, phrase, logo, symbol, design, image, or a
combination of these elements. There is also a range
of non-conventional trademarks comprising marks
which do not fall into these standard categories.
Examples:
Mead Data Central, Inc. v. Toyota Motor Sales
USA, Inc.
• 875 F.2d 1026 (2d Cir. 1989)
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The only finding that supports a likelihood of dilution is the district court's conclusion that LEXUS eventually
may become so famous that members of the general [**43] public who now associate LEXIS or LEXUS with
nothing at all may associate the terms with Toyota's automobiles and that Mead's customers may think first
of Toyota's car when they hear LEXIS. See Dist. Ct. Op. at 30-31. This analysis is problematic. First,
section 368-d protects a mark's selling power among the consuming public. Allied Maintenance Corp. v.
Allied Mechanical Trades, Inc., 42 N.Y.2d 538, 369 N.E.2d 1162, 399 N.Y.S.2d 628, 630 (1977); Sally Gee,
Inc. v. Myra Hogan, Inc., 699 F.2d 621, 624-25 (2d Cir. 1983). Because the LEXIS mark possesses selling
power only among lawyers and accountants, it is irrelevant for dilution analysis that the general public may
come to associate LEXIS or LEXUS with Toyota's automobile rather than nothing at all. Second, the district
court offered no evidence for its speculation that LEXUS's fame may cause Mead customers to associate
"lexis" [*1040] with Toyota's cars. It seems equally plausible that no blurring will occur -- because many
lawyers and accountants use Mead's services regularly, their frequent association of LEXIS with those
services will enable LEXIS's mark to withstand Toyota's advertising campaign.
What is a patent?
• A patent is a set of exclusive rights granted by a state to a
patentee for a fixed period of time in exchange for a disclosure
of an invention.
• The procedure for granting patents, the requirements placed on
the patentee and the extent of the exclusive rights vary widely
between countries according to national laws and international
agreements. Typically, however, a patent application must
include one or more claims defining the invention which must be
new, inventive, and useful or industrially applicable. The
exclusive right granted to a patentee in most countries is the
right to prevent or exclude others from making, using, selling,
offering to sell or importing the invention.
Example:
• Patenting DNA
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Welcome to the DNA Patent Database
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This database serves as a resource for policy makers and members of the general public
interested in fields like genomics, genetics and biotechnology. The DNA Patent Database
(DPD) contains a collection of DNA-based patents and patent applications issued by the
United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) and makes the full-text of such patents
and applications available to users at no cost.
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The production of this database is supported by grants from the ELSI programs of the
National Human Genome Research Institute, NIH, and the Office of Science, U.S.
Department of Energy. The DPD is a core of Duke University's Center for Excellence in ELSI
Research (CEER) project.
Trade Secrets
• A trade secret is a formula, practice,
process, design, instrument, pattern, or
compilation of information used by a
business to obtain an advantage over
competitors or customers. In some
jurisdictions, such secrets are referred
to as "confidential information".
Example
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Published accounts say it contains
or once contained sugar crystals,
caramel, caffeine, phosphoric acid,
coca leaf and kola nut extract, lime
extract, flavoring mixture, vanilla
and glycerin. Merchandise 7X is the
"secret ingredient" in Coca-Cola and
has apparently remained a secret
since its formulation in 1886.
Alleged syrup recipes vary greatly,
and Coca-Cola reluctantly admits
the formula has changed over the
decades. For example, the formula
was changed in 1935 with the help
of Rabbi Tobias Geffen of Atlanta to
allow it to be certified kosher.
Plagiarism
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Ghostwriting
Word for Word
Patchwork Plagiarism
Unacknowledged Paraphrases
The Da Vinci Code