Intellectual Property
| Patent Law |
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| To meet the utility requirement, an invention must provide a specific, known use that differs from the prior art, which is the body of information from which it is determined whether an invention is new; speculative or possible future utility is not sufficient. Application requirements set out by the Patent Act provide that the patent applicant describe in detail the invention, how to make it, what it does, and how it is used, which if properly complied with should make it clear what the claimed utility of the invention is. It is not necessary that the use represent an improvement over the prior art; however, to meet the utility requirement, an invention must work as claimed. More... |
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| The Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property |
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| In 1883, 11 countries set out to make it easier for its citizens to obtain patent and trademark protection in other countries and became signatories to the Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property. Under the Convention, the patent and trademark protection mechanisms of the member countries were opened up to citizens of other member countries, allowing such citizens to be able to obtain intellectual property protection in each of the member countries. In addition, the Convention established a right of priority, which means that the initial filing date seeking protection for intellectual property serves as the filing date in other countries as long as the intellectual property owner files for protection within other member countries within a specified time period. The Convention has been revised several times since its inception, and is currently administered by the World Intellectual Property Organization, a specialized agency of the United Nations. There are now 164 signatories to the Convention. More... |
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| Display Rights |
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| The Copyright Act confers upon copyright owners the right to publicly display certain types of works. This right may be claimed in literary, musical, dramatic, and choreographic works and in pantomimes, pictorial, graphic, and sculptural works as well as in the individual images of motion pictures and other audiovisual works. More... |
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| Business-Method Patents |
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| The federal patent statute allows an inventor to obtain a patent for a "new and useful process, machine, manufacture, or composition of matter, or any new and useful improvement thereof." There is no provision in the patent statute for business methods, and the United States Patent and Trademark Office for decades explicitly rejected business-method patent applications based on a turn-of-the century judicial rejection of a patent for a method of cash-register accounting to prevent fraud by waiters. Much of the rejection of business-method patents was based on the conclusion that the methods and systems sought to be patented were abstract ideas without tangible manifestation; however, that analysis evolved into a doctrine that business methods were inherently unpatentable. More... |
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| The First Sale Doctrine |
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| A copyright owner's right of distribution is limited by the first sale doctrine, which is an exception to the Copyright Act. The first sale doctrine is a legal principle that limits the rights to control content after a work has been sold for the first time. The first sale doctrine states that once a copyright owner sells a copy of his or her work to another, the copyright owner relinquishes all further rights to sell or otherwise dispose of that copy. More... |
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