BUSA2106 Lecture 15 Outline of Last Lecture I Contract Performance II Contract breach III Remedies Outline of Current Lecture I II Trademarks Patents Current Lecture What is intellectual property Any product or result of a mental process that is given legal protection against unauthorized use 1 2 3 4 Trademarks Patents Copyrights Trade secrets o Why protect intellectual property o What is a trademark TRADEMARK A distinctive mark motto device or emblem that a manufacturer stamps prints or otherwise affixes to the goods it produces so that they may be identified on the market and their origins made known Once a trademark is established under the common law or through registration the owner is entitled to its exclusive use Protected by federal statute Protect investment and goodwill in a mark branding Ex Coca Cola v Koke Company of America 1920 Koke and other competitors enjoined from calling their products Koke Prevent consumers from being confused as to the origin of goods and services Obtaining a trademark Owner must use mark in commerce Place mark on goods that are sold Marks don t need to be registered but registration increases protection Register with the U S Patent and Trademark Office Registration can be renewed for an unlimited number of 10 year periods 20 years for marks registered before 1990 Types of Protected Marks Trademarks Distinctive mark or symbol etc to identify goods of a particular business e g Xerox Service marks and Trade names Distinguish the services of the holder from those of its competitors e g Delta Airlines Certification marks Certify that goods and services are of a certain quality e g Good Housekeeping Seal of Approval wines from Napa Valley Collective marks Identify members of organizations e g Girl Scouts What can be trademarked Owners can trademark Distinctive marks or those that have acquired secondary meaning London Fog Domain names www gsu edu Color UPS color of brown university colors Slogans What can Brown do for you Trade Dress restaurant design Goldfish crackers Can geographic names be trademarked Generic terms and geographical names are generally not protected unless associated with a product e g Vidalia onions or Champagne Other limitations on trademarks Names that may disparage Blackhorse et al v Pro Football Inc Five American Indians attempting to cancel the Washington Redskins trademark Loss of trademark rights Actual abandonment Presumption of abandonment if owner has not used the mark for 2 years Constructive abandonment Owner fails to protect distinctiveness of mark Mark becomes generic e g aspirin escalator Trademark infringement Distinctive quality of mark is diluted File a lawsuit elements Trademark is valid and registered Holder made prior use of mark Use by infringer creates confusion in the minds of purchasers Imitation of the mark is likely to deceive or mislead a person of ordinary caution Remedies for trademark infringement Injunction Against manufacture use display or sale of counterfeit marks Court can order destruction of goods Damages Profits derived from the wrongful manufacture and sale of the goods Other damages the holder suffered Patents Protected by federal statute Protect inventions and business processes but not abstract ideas Give patent owner an exclusive right to make use or sell an invention Can be assigned or transferred U S law protects first to file not first to invent Obtaining a patent Must file with U S PTO Search for prior art to verify that invention is novel File patent application with U S PTO Specifications description of the invention Claims elements of the invention that will be protected by the patent Drawings Declaration that invention is new with disclosure of known prior art Novel New Useful Non obvious Types of patents duration Utility patents 20 yrs Inventions machines business processes Design patents 14 yrs Novel original and ornamental designs Plant patents 20 yrs New varieties of asexually reproduced plants Patents cannot be renewed Patent infringement Patent infringement is the unauthorized use of another s patent Lawsuit for patent infringement plaintiff may obtain Injunctive relief Monetary damages Destruction of goods Triple damages if intentional infringement Example of patent infringement is the lawsuit against Samsung for producing phones with rounder edges that are similar to the iphones Apple v Samsung