San Diego Intellectual Property Lawyers
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The following contains information on select
sections found within intellectual property law:
Copyright
Law | Patent Law | Trademark Law | Unfair
Competition
Copyright Law
The U.S. Copyright Act, 17 U.S.C. §§ 101 - 810,
is Federal legislation enacted by Congress under its Constitutional
grant of authority to protect the writings of authors. See
U.S. Constitution, Article I, Section 8. Changing technology
has led to an ever expanding understanding of the word "writings".
The Copyright Act now reaches architectural design, software,
the graphic arts, motion pictures, and sound recordings. Given
the scope of the Federal legislation and its provision precluding
inconsistent state law, the field is almost exclusively a
Federal one.
A copyright gives the owner the exclusive right to reproduce,
distribute, perform, display, or license his work. The owner
also receives the exclusive right to produce or license derivatives
of his or her work. Limited exceptions to this exclusivity
exist for types of "fair use", such as book reviews.
To be covered by copyright a work must be original and in
a concrete "medium of expression." Under current
law, works are covered whether or not a copyright notice is
attached and whether or not the work is registered.
Copyrights cover the following: literary,
musical and dramatic works, periodicals, maps, works of art
(including models), art reproductions, sculptural works, technical
drawings, photographs, prints (including labels), movies and
other audiovisual works, computer programs, compilations of
works and derivative works, and architectural drawings.
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Patent Law
Patents grant an inventor the right to exclude
others from producing or using the inventor's discovery or
invention for a limited period of time. A patent is an exclusive
right to the benefits of an invention or improvement granted
by the U.S. Patent Office, for a specific period of time,
on the basis that it is novel (not previously known or described
in a publication), "non-obvious" (a form which anyone
in the field of expertise could identify), and useful. There
are three types of patents: a) "utility patent"
which includes a process, a machine (mechanism with moving
parts), manufactured products, and compounds or mixtures (such
as chemical formulas); b) "design patent" which
is a new, original and ornamental design for a manufactured
article; and c) "plant patent" which is a new variety
of a cultivated asexually reproduced plant.
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Trademark Law
Trademarks are generally distinctive symbols,
pictures, or words that sellers affix to distinguish and identify
the origin of their products. Trademark status may also be
granted to distinctive and unique packaging, color combinations,
building designs, product styles, and overall presentations.
It is also possible to receive trademark status for identification
that is not on its face distinct or unique but which has developed
a secondary meaning over time that identifies it with the
product or seller. The owner of a trademark has exclusive
right to use it on the product it was intended to identify
and often on related products. Service-marks receive the same
legal protection as trademarks but are meant to distinguish
services rather than products.
Unfair Competition
This involves wrongful and/or fraudulent business methods
to gain an unfair advantage over competitors; for example:
untrue or misleading advertising, misleading customers by
imitative trademark, name or package, or falsely disparaging
another's product.
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