BUSA 2106 - LEGAL ENVIRONMENT: Ethics & Corporate Governance Edwin K. PalmerIntellectual Property PATENTSo Protect an ideaIntellectual Property UTILITY PATENTo Valid for 20 years from the date of filing o Non-renewableo The categories are: • Mechanical• Chemical• ElectricalIntellectual Property DESIGN PATENTo Valid for 14 years from the date of filingo Non-renewableo …And they cover • the physical or ornamental appearance of an objectIntellectual Property ELEMENTS OF A PATENT:1. Useful2. New or novel3. Unobviousand you the inventor loses your right to patent your invention if you fail to file a patent application within 1 year of:• first public use of invention• first sale or offer of public sale• first printed publication of inventionIntellectual Property First to Invent vs. First to File Patent Pending means ??? International Protection ... Such as it is (problems aplenty)  Paris Union ConventionCopyrights COPYRIGHTSo Protect the expression of an ideaCopyrights Generally, copyrightable works fall into the following statutory categories:1. Literary works2. Pictures, graphics and sculptural works3. Motion pictures and other audiovisual works Must be original but  Originality, even in slightest degree, is all that is required Must be fixed in some tangible form of expressionCopyrights TIMEo A copyright exists in a work the moment it is created and fixed in a tangible mediumCopyrights FOR PUBLISHED WORKS, NEED FOLLOWING:1. The word copyright or abbreviation2. The year date of publication3. The name of the owner of the copyright 4. and I would suggest: “all rights reserved”Copyrights FAIR USE DOCTRINE DURATIONo Life of the author plus 70 yearso If rights are assigned by the author to a third party, 95 years from the first publication of the work or 120 years from the year of creation of the work, which ever comes firstTrademarks TRADEMARKSo A distinctive mark, motto, device or symbol that identifies goods as being those goods of a particular business and distinguishes those goods from the goods sold by another SERVICE MARK o Like a trademark but relates to services TRADE NAMETrademarks TYPES OF MARKSo A hierarchy of marks as to protection1. Fanciful2. Arbitrary3. Suggestive 4. Merely descriptive5. GenericTrademarks Cyber MarksDomain Names … andCybersquattingTrademarks PROTECTION: Register with U.S. patent and trademark office. Valid for 5 years and renewable for 10 year periods thereafter as long as the mark remains in actual use  ... and has not become