Intellectual Property and Trade Secrets

Intellectual Property

• Four main types: Copyright, Trademark, Patent, Trade Secret
• Justification: Based on deservedness and hard work, encourages innovation, protects creators, and creates jobs
• Competition: More competition leads to more innovation
• Capturing: Involves identifying and documenting intellectual property

Trade Secrets

• Knowledge or information kept secret (reasonable measures taken)
• Has economic value
• Uniform Trade Secrets Act: Violated when illegal measures are taken to obtain trade secrets, Obama signed federal law allowing individuals to sue for trade secret misappropriation
• Establishing existence of trade secret: Conduct an audit to identify confidential resources, preserve secrecy (lock written material, secure computer knowledge with firewalls, enforce restrictions on visitors, make agreements with employees, customers and business partners)

Al Minor & Associates v. Martin

• Ohio case (881 N.E.2d 850)
• Martin prepared to leave company, start own firm, memorized client list, solicited 15 clients. Case went to court
• Court ruled in favor of the company (AMA) as Martin violated Uniform Trade Secrets Act
• Client list held confidential knowledge-based resources

Demonstrating Misappropriation

• Improper acquisition or disclosure of confidential information
• Independent creation and reverse engineering are exempted
• Employee mobility: Confidentiality contracts prohibit sharing workplace knowledge

Patent Law

• Legal right to prevent others from producing an invention during a specific time
• Utility, design, and plant patents are available
• Utility: New, non-obvious, useful process, machines, compositions
• Design: New, original and aesthetically pleasing designs
• Plant: New varieties of plants that reproduce asexually

Obtaining Patents

• File application and pay filing fee
• Explain the invention; show difference from prior similar inventions; describe important aspects
• Evaluation by the patent examiner

Patents Characteristics

• Novelty: Invention different from previous inventions
• Non-obviousness: Difficult to achieve
• Utility: Ability to achieve a desired result

Association for Molecular Pathology v. Myriad Genetics

• The Supreme Court case ruled that naturally occurring DNA cannot be patented, but cDNA can
• 133 S.Ct. 2107 (2013) decision

Alice Corporation Pty. Ltd v. CLS Bank Int'l

• Abstract ideas cannot be patented just because they are on a computer
• 134 S.Ct. 2347 (2014) decision

Patent Enforcement

• Patent owner can sue for injunction and damages
• Overlapping rights can provide opportunities for firms to purchase patent rights to sue others
• Patent trolls: Companies that purchase patent rights

Trademarks

• Marks on products or services that represent their origin.
• Distinctiveness critical. Marks can be protected from confusion with others.
• Lanham Act of 1946. Protects: trademarks, service marks, certification marks, collective marks, and trade dress.

Trademark Registration

• Interstate commerce usage required.
• Restrictions on prohibited or reserved names/designs, names or likenesses without permission, descriptive terms, generic terms, disparaging terms, immoral or scandalous terms

Matal v. Tam and Iancu v. Brunetti

• First Amendment issues and the validity of the Lanham Act restrictions on "immoral" or "scandalous" trademarks.
• Matal v. Tam (2017): Disparagement Clause (1744) invalidated.
• Iancu v. Brunetti (2019): The "immoral" or "scandalous" restrictions on patenting (2294) invalidated.

Trademark Infringement

• Unauthorized use of the mark is a violation that can lead to damages or injunction to stop behavior.

Trademark Dilution: Federal Trademark Dilution Act of 1995

• Stops use of similar marks that devalue famous brands
• Blurring: Uses a mark causing confusion, unclear connection to original brand
• Tarnishment: Negative perception due to usage by another

Copyright Law

• Monopoly on copying and marketing of original works for a limited time.
• Ownership critical
• Original expression required.
• Must be fixed in some tangible medium.

Copyright Infringement

• Violation of ownership rights relating to copying, creating derivative works, and distributing existing works.

Copyright Fair Use

• Includes copying for criticism, news reporting, teaching, scholarship.

Financial & Securities Regulation

• Secuirites Act of 1933. Discloses financial information.
• Securities Exchange Act of 1934. Regulates trading after initial sale.

Limited Liability Partnerships (LLPs) and Limited Liability Companies (LLCs)

• Limited liability organizations combine aspects of partnerships and corporations, offering limited liability to members.

Administrative Agencies

• Rule-making, investigating, and providing services.
• Legislative, executive, and judicial powers for agencies.
• Appointments by senate, with other rules relating to appointment.

Business Organizations

• Sole proprietorships, partnerships, corporations, limited liability partnerships, and limited liability companies.
• Factors to consider when choosing a form.

Explore the essentials of intellectual property, focusing on copyright, trademark, patent, and trade secrets. This quiz covers the legal frameworks, examples, and key cases like Al Minor & Associates v. Martin. Test your knowledge on the importance of protecting creative work and the implications of trade secret laws.