Intellectual Property
| Reexamination of Patents |
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| After a patent is issued by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), the discovery of prior art or publications not noticed prior to the patent's issue may raise questions as to the validity of the issued patent. In such a case, a patentee or a third party may file an application for reexamination of the patent in the USPTO. For a third party, reexamination provides a lower cost alternative to a conventional lawsuit for challenging the validity of a patent. If the third party is an unsuccessful infringement defendant, a reexamination that results in the invalidation of a patent may provide vindication of that defendant's rights despite the results of the court case. For the patentee, the reexamination process may reveal the need to narrow a patent's claims in order to be in a better position to fend off a challenge to the patent's validity. In addition, the USPTO may take it upon itself to reexamine a patent without it being requested by the patentee or a third party. More... |
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| Actual and Intended Use of Trademarks |
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| Trademark rights are gained by actual use of a mark rather than by registration. Generally the first party who uses a mark in commerce has the right to use the mark in that geographic area as well as in the natural zone of expansion for that geographic area. Any shipment of goods bearing the trademark across a state line in the normal course of business satisfies the "use in commerce" requirement. Token sales made solely to establish trademark use do not constitute legally sufficient "use." More... |
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| Copyright and the Protection of Ideas and Facts |
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| Copyright law protects the expression of ideas and facts, not the ideas and facts themselves. Copyright protects only fixed, original, and creative expression, not the ideas or facts upon which the expression is based. Works that have not been fixed to a tangible medium are just ideas. Ideas are fair game for everyone to express in their own words. Allowing authors to monopolize their ideas would defeat the underlying purpose of copyright law, which is to encourage people to create new work. One may express ideas in writing or drawings and claim copyright in the description, but that copyright will not protect the idea itself as revealed in the written or artistic work. This exclusion helps maintain the distinction between copyright protection and patent law. Ideas and inventions are the subject matter for patents, while the expression of ideas is governed by copyright law. If copyright were extended to protect ideas, principles, and devices, then it would be possible to circumvent the rigorous prerequisites of patent law and secure protection for an invention merely by describing the invention in a copyrightable work. More... |
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| Copyright Clause |
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| The founding fathers recognized that everyone would benefit if creative people were encouraged to create new intellectual and artistic works. Copyright is established in Article I, Section 8, of the United States Constitution. More... |
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| Jurisdiction and Procedure in Patent Disputes |
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| A patent gives the patent owner an exclusive right in the subject matter of the patent. If another person or company makes, uses, sells, offers for sale, or imports the subject matter of the patent, that other person or company is said to be infringing on the patent rights of the patent owner. The patent owner in such a situation may wish to have the infringing conduct stop or may be entitled to monetary compensation for the infringing conduct. Because the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) has no jurisdiction over a patent once it issues it nor has any enforcement powers with regard to patent rights, the ordinary course of action to take against an act of patent infringement is to bring a lawsuit in court. In addition, a non-patent owner who believes that a patent issued by the USPTO is not valid may bring a lawsuit to challenge the validity of that patent. More... |
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