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Describe the business tort of misappropriating a trade secret.

Describe how an invention can be patented under patent laws and the penalties forpatent infringement.

List the writings and other works that can be copyrighted, and describe the penaltiesfor copyright infringement. Describe the legal rights that computer and software designers have in their works.

Define trademarks andservice marks, and describe the penalties for trademarkinfringement. Explain the process for obtaining Internet domain names.

Describe the protections provided by the federal Anticybersquatting Act.

Combine all the points with cyber law

A trade secretis a product formula, pattern, design, compilation of data, customer list, orother business secret that makes a business successful. The owner of a trade secret musttake reasonable precautions to prevent its trade secret from being discovered by others.

Misappropriation

Misappropriation is a tort in which anothers trade secret is obtained through unlawfulmeans such as theft, bribery, or espionage. A successful plaintiff can recover profits,damages, and an injunction against the offender.

Economic Espionage Act

The Federal Economic Espionage Act makes it a crime for any person to convert a tradesecret for his or anothers benefit, knowing or intending to cause injury to the owners ofthe trade secret.

Patents

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Federal Patent Statute

Patent law is exclusively federal law; there are no state patent laws.

Scope

Patentable subject matter includes inventions such as machines; processes; compositions

of matter; improvements to existing machines, processes, or compositions of matter;designs for articles of manufacture; asexually reproduced plants; and living matterinvented by humans.

Criteria

To be patented an invention must be:

1. Novel2. Useful3. Nonobvious

Patent ApplicationAn application containing a written description of the invention must be filed with theUnited States Patent and Trademark Office in Washington, D.C.

Term

Patents are valid for 20 years.

Public-use Doctrine

A patent may not be granted if the invention was used by the public for more than oneyear prior to filing the patent application.

Patent InfringementThe patent holder may recover damages and other remedies against a person who makesunauthorized use of anothers patent.

American Inventors Protection Act

The American Inventors Protection Act:

1. permits an inventor to file aprovisional application with the U.S. Patent andTrademark Office three months pending the filing of a final patent application togain provisional rights.

2. requires the PTO to issue a patent within three years after the filing of a patent

application.

Patent Appeal

The United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit in Washington, D.C., hearspatent appeals.

Copyrights

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Scope

Copyright law is exclusively federal law; there are no state copyright laws. Only tangiblewritings can be copyrighted. These include books, newspapers, addresses, musicalcompositions, motion pictures, works of art, architectural plans, greeting cards,photographs, sound recordings, computer programs, and mask works fixed in

semiconductor chips.

Copyright Revision Act

Copyright Laws

Judicial Improvement ActSemiconductor Chip Protection ActComputer Software Copyright ActCopyright Term Extension Act

Requirements for Copyright

The writing must be the original work of the author.

Copyright Registration

Copyright registration is permissive and voluntary. Published and unpublished worksmay be registered with the United States Copyright Office in Washington, D.C.Registration itself does not create the copyright.

Term

Copyrights are for the following terms:

1. Individual holder: Life of the author plus 70 years

2. Corporate holder: Either (1) 120 years from the date of creation, or (2) 95 yearsfrom the date of publication, whichever is shorter.

Copyright Infringement

The copyright holder may recover damages and other remedies against a person whocopies a substantial and material part of a copyrighted work without the holderspermission.

Fair-use Doctrine

The fair-use doctrine permits use of copyrighted material without the consent of thecopyright holder for limited uses (e.g., scholarly work, parody or satire, and brief

quotation in news reports).

Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA)

The federal DMCA, enacted in 1998, provides civil and criminal penalties that

1. prohibit the manufacture and distribution of technologies, products, or servicesprimarily designed for the purpose of circumventing wrappers or encryptionprotection.

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2. prohibit unauthorized access to copyrighted digital works by circumventing thewrapper or encryption technology that protects the intellectual property.

No Electronic Theft Act (NET Act)

The federal Net Act makes it a crime for a person to willfully infringe a copyright work

exceeding $1,000 in retail value, even without commercial advantages or financial gain.

Trademarks

Mark

Referred to collectively as trademarks, a mark consists of the trade name, symbol, word,logo, design, or device that distinguishes the owners good or services.

Trademark Registration

Marks are registered with the United States Patent and Trademark Office in Washington,D.C.

Types of Marks

1. Trademark: identifies goods of a particular business2. Service mark: identifies services of a particular business3. Certification mark: certifies that goods or services are of a certain quality or

origin4. Collective mark: used by cooperatives, associations, and fraternal organizations

Requirements for a Trademark

The mark must either

1. be distinctive, or2. have acquired a secondary meaning.

The mark must have been used in commerce or the holder must intend to use the mark incommerce and actually do so within six months after registering the mark.

Term

The original registration of a mark is valid for 10 years and can be renewed for anunlimited number of 10-year periods.

Trademark InfringementThe mark holder may recover damages and other remedies from a person who makesunauthorized use of anothers registered mark.

Generic Name

A generic name is a mark that becomes a common term for a product line or type ofservice loses its protection under federal trademark law.

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The Internet and Domain Names

Internet

The Internet is a collection of millions of computers that provide a network of electronicconnections between computers.

World Wide Web

The www is an electronic connection of computers that support a standard set of rules forthe exchange of information called hypertext transfer protocol (HTTP).

Electronic Mail (email)

Email is electronic written communication between individuals using computersconnected to the Internet.

Domain Name

The domain name is a unique name that identifies an individuals or companys website.

Electronic Communications Privacy Act

The Electronic Communications Privacy Act is a federal statute that makes it a federalcrime to intercept an electronic communication at the point of transmission, while intransit, when stored by a router or server, or after receipt by the intended recipient.

Anticybersquatting Consumer Protection Act

The Anticybersquatting Consumer Protection Act is a federal statute that permits a courtto issue cease-and-desist orders and injunctions and to award monetary damages againstanyone who has registered a domain name (1) of a famous name (2) in bad faith.