Intellectual Property. Exercise 3.

A. A patent is a contract between the federal government and an inventor whereby, in consideration of the disclosure of a new and useful device to the public, the inventor and, in certain instances, his heirs and assigns, is granted the exclusive right to manufacture, use, and sell the device for a fixed period (usually seventeen years).

B. In order to be patentable an idea must (1) relate to new arts, machines, manufactures, compositions of matter, plants or designs; (2) be useful and novel; and (3) result in an actual invention.

C. A copyright is the registration of the owner’s exclusive right to print, to publish, and to sell literary, dramatic, musical, artistic, and similar works. The holder of the copyright is protected (by copyright) only in his form of expression; that is, his ideas, themes, emotions must be embodied in a form of expression (for example, a book, painting, composition) in order to be protected by a copyright.

D. The copyright law provides that the author may secure a copyright by publication of the work containing a notice of the copyright. The notice, which is specifically prescribed by statute, shall be affixed to each copy published and offered for sale in the United States.

E. The courts have said that “fair use” may be made of every copyrighted production. Sometimes it is difficult to draw the line between fair and unlawful use of copyrighted works. For example, teachers may copy portions of a textbook, copyrighted by another, for use in their own lectures. And a book or dramatic review may actually quote portions of the copyrighted work. What is “fair use” is a continual source of interest and litigation in both the literary and legal worlds. In a 1992 case, a Federal District Judge said there are four factors to be considered in deciding fair use: the purpose and character of the use, including whether it is commercial; the nature of the work; the size of the portion used; and the effect of the use on the potential market. The court ruled that the publication by a magazine of some 52 percent of the writer’s 2,300-word otherwise unpublished letter to his students went beyond “fair use” and was copyright infringement.

F. The copyright law, enacted in 1976, supersedes the copyright act of 1909. The provisions of the new copyright law became effective on January 1, 1978. Traditionally, books and works of art that enjoyed copyright protection within the United States did not have the same protection in foreign countries. However, in 1988, the United States signed the Berne Copyright Convention. This gives protection to works of US authors in those foreign countries which are signatories to the convention, and it also gives protection to the works of foreign origin within the United States.

G. A trademark is a distinctive mark or symbol or device that a manufacturer affixes to the goods he produces so that they may be identified in the market. It should not be confused with a trade name used in the trade to designate as an entity the particular business of certain individuals or sometimes to designate a class of goods. The registered trade name identifies both the goods and the persons selling or making them, whereas a registered trademark designates only the product.

H. A service mark is a device used in the sale or advertizing of services to distinguish the services of one from the services of others; service marks include without limitation the marks, names, symbols, titles, designations, slogans, character names, etc.