BUSA 2106 LEGAL ENVIRONMENT Ethics Corporate Governance Edwin K Palmer Intellectual Property PATENTS o Protect an idea Intellectual Property UTILITY PATENT Valid for 20 years from the date of filing o Non renewable o The categories are o Mechanical Chemical Electrical Intellectual Property DESIGN PATENT Valid for 14 years from the date of filing o Non renewable o And they cover o the physical or ornamental appearance of an object Intellectual Property ELEMENTS OF A PATENT 1 Useful 2 New or novel 3 Unobvious and 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 invention Intellectual Property First to Invent vs First to File Patent Pending means International Protection Such as it is problems aplenty Paris Union Convention Copyrights COPYRIGHTS o Protect the expression of an idea Copyrights Generally copyrightable works fall into the following statutory categories 1 Literary works 2 Pictures graphics and sculptural works 3 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 expression Copyrights TIME o A copyright exists in a work the moment it is created and fixed in a tangible medium Copyrights FOR PUBLISHED WORKS NEED FOLLOWING 1 2 3 4 The word copyright or abbreviation The year date of publication The name of the owner of the copyright and I would suggest all rights reserved Copyrights FAIR USE DOCTRINE DURATION Life of the author plus 70 years o 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 first o Trademarks TRADEMARKS o 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 NAME Trademarks TYPES OF MARKS o A hierarchy of marks as to protection 1 2 3 4 5 Fanciful Arbitrary Suggestive Merely descriptive Generic Trademarks Cyber Marks Domain Names and Cybersquatting Trademarks 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 generic