COMM 4024 Lecture Notes - Lecture 29: Patentable Subject Matter, United States Patent And Trademark Office, Trade Secret
Patents, Trademarks, and Trade Secrets
• Patent Law
o Licensing
▪ Patents are limited licenses given by the US federal
goveret’s Patet ad Tradeark Offie USPTO
▪ The application must be presented to the USPTO with
drawings and fees
▪ The application process is usually a back and forth process in
which amendments must be made
▪ Patents typically are exclusive for 20 years
▪ There is a rule caveat through
• All patents prior to June 8, 1995 were given protection
17 years after the issuance of a patent
• Requirements for Patents
o 1. Patentable subject matter
▪ Patents are given to a wide array of products
▪ Business method or printed material cannot be patented
▪ Printed material would be protected longer under copyright
than a 20-year patent
o 2. Utility
▪ This goes to the usefulness of the patent itself
▪ A patent must be credible, specific, and substantial
• Credibility means there is support for a patent that
used for a specific purpose
• Specifically means there is a particular use for a patent
that used for a specific purpose
• Substantiality means the use of the patent is concrete
and not speculative
• I cannot be something that future users would need to
do research on to create potential uses
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Document Summary
17 years after the issuance of a patent: requirements for patents, 1. Patentable subject matter: patents are given to a wide array of products, business method or printed material cannot be patented, printed material would be protected longer under copyright than a 20-year patent, 2. It"s (cid:374)ot pate(cid:374)ta(cid:271)le to just add so(cid:373)ethi(cid:374)g pre- existing to a pre-existing item, such as attach a pencil to a notebook: 5. Arbitrary or fanciful mark: a trademark that has no logical relationship to the product, ex. Suggestive: trademark that evokes the characteristic of the product, ex. Descriptive: trademark that describes a characteristic of the product, ex. Generic: this is not capable of being trademarked because it is too general, ex. Computer cannot be a trademark because it is a generic term: parody accounts as trademark infringement, 1. Plaintiff has a protectable ownership interest in the mark: 2.
