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Patent It Yourself - PDF Archive

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ChaPter 1 | INTRODUCTION to PATENTS and Other INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY | 31<br />

Legal Remedies for Misappropriation of Various Types of Intellectual Property<br />

Underlying Mental Creation<br />

Legal Remedy for Misappropriation<br />

Invention (machine, article, process, composition, new use)—<br />

covered by federal utility patent law.<br />

Industrial or aesthetic design—covered by federal design<br />

patent law.<br />

Brand name for a good or service; certification or collective<br />

mark or seal—covered by common law, or state or federal<br />

trademark law.<br />

Writings, music, recordings, art, software, sculpture, photos,<br />

etc.—covered by federal copyright law.<br />

Confidential technical or business information, not known by<br />

competitors—covered by state and federal trade secret law.<br />

Distinctive trade dress, informative slogans, novel business<br />

layout, etc.—covered by common law, state and federal<br />

trademark and unfair competition laws.<br />

<strong>Patent</strong> infringement litigation in federal court.<br />

<strong>Patent</strong> infringement litigation in federal court.<br />

Trademark infringement litigation either before or after<br />

registration in state or federal court. Also, trademarks can be<br />

recorded with U.S. Customs and Border Protection to prevent<br />

the importation of goods with infringing marks.<br />

Copyright infringement litigation, after registration, in federal<br />

court.<br />

Trade secret litigation in state or federal court.<br />

Unfair competition or trademark litigation in state or federal<br />

court.<br />

The enforcement of an intellectual property right requires<br />

considerable knowledge and experience. For back ground<br />

on intellectual property disputes (and to save money when<br />

consulting an attorney), consult the Nolo texts, below.<br />

• Copyright. The Copyright Handbook: What Every<br />

Writer Needs to Know, by Stephen Fishman<br />

• Trademark. Trademark: Legal Care for Your Business &<br />

Product Name, by Stephen Elias and Richard Stim.<br />

• Trade Secrets. <strong>Patent</strong>, Copyright & Trademark: An<br />

Intellectual Property Desk Reference, by Richard Stim.<br />

U. Invention Exploitation Flowchart<br />

To make it easier to use this book, I recommend you<br />

follow a five-step procedure after you invent something.<br />

The procedure can be conveniently summarized by the<br />

initials RESAM (Record it, Evaluate commercial potential,<br />

Search it, Apply for a patent, and Market it). Fig. 1E shows<br />

these steps and the other overall steps for exploiting your<br />

invention and where the chapter’s instructions for these<br />

steps are found.<br />

V. Summary<br />

The law recognizes seven ways in which intellectual property<br />

can be monopolized or clothed with offensive rights:<br />

utility patents, design patents, plant patents, trademarks,<br />

copyright, trade secrets, and unfair competition.<br />

Utility <strong>Patent</strong>s provide a government-sanctioned monopoly<br />

on utilitarian inventions. The monopoly lasts 20 years<br />

from filing, provided three maintenance fees are paid.<br />

The U.S. <strong>Patent</strong> and Trademark Office (PTO) will grant<br />

patents only on inventions that are (a) in a statutory class<br />

(machines, articles, processes, compositions, and new uses),<br />

(b) useful, (c) novel, and (d) unobvious. The PTO charges<br />

filing and issue fees and requires a formal description of the<br />

invention with drawings, forms, and claims (legal definitions<br />

of the invention). <strong>Patent</strong>s provide offensive rights but are<br />

not needed to practice one’s own invention and do not<br />

protect an inventor who infringes the patents of others.<br />

After a patent expires, its monopoly no longer exists and it<br />

becomes part of the vast body of prior art.<br />

Design <strong>Patent</strong>s provide a government-sanctioned<br />

monopoly on aesthetic or ornamental inventions; the<br />

monopoly lasts 14 years from issuance. No maintenance<br />

fees are required. The PTO will grant patents only on<br />

designs that are ornamental, involve more than mere surface<br />

ornamentation, not a natural object, novel, and unobvious.<br />

The PTO charges filing and issue fees and requires a brief<br />

description of the design with drawings and forms.<br />

Plant <strong>Patent</strong>s provide a government-sanctioned monopoly<br />

on asexually reproduced plants; the monopoly lasts 20 years<br />

from issuance. No maintenance fees are required. The

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