Transcript Slide 1
June 9, 2011 Grant County Inventors and Entrepreneurs Club What is it? Intellectual Property describes various intangible assets that provide valuable competitive advantages for owners of the assets. Intellectual Property Includes: Trademarks (® or TM) Trade Secrets (Confidential) Copyrights (© Murphy Desmond 2008 All Rights Reserved) Patents (from Patent Pending to U.S. Pat. No. 5,197,891) In 2000, intangible assets accounted for 70% of US corporate value, of which 40% was not recognized on the books as assets. That year, IBM made $1.7 Billion solely from Patent Licensing. World Intellectual Property Organization Publication No. 888.1 Information Kept secret that is: Not generally known to the industry Treated as and kept secret Only disclosed to those legally obligated to keep secret Has economic value because it is secret Provides economic value or advantage over competition Protects the time and money invested in obtaining information Perpetual protection as long as secret May be lost Independent discovery including reverse engineering Unrestricted Disclosure Control access to information Controls use of information Controls disclosure of information May sue for misappropriation Improper or unauthorized use or disclosure of information Does not mean any disclosure, only improper Technically, a trademark is: A word, phrase, symbol or design, or a combination of words, phrases, symbols or designs, that identifies and distinguishes the source of the goods of one party from those of others. Commonly though of as brand names Advertising Product identification Service identification Domain names Anything that a potential customer can use to pick out your product amid the sea of choices Word = company name or brand Dial soap, Pepsi, Gymfinity Phrase = a slogan Have it your way, Maybe she’s born with it Symbol or design = a logo Sounds NBC chimes, “Hello and welcome to Moviefone” Color Owens Corning Pink, UPS Brown Indicates source or origin of good or service Provides association of quality level for good or service With proper branding creates and maintains demand for good or service of owner Provides stream of revenue when licensed to others Common law You are using it, but nothing filed No evaluation, no presumptions Common law TM State You filed with the State in which it is being used No evaluation, no presumptions State TM Federal You filed with the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) Evaluated, presumptions of ownership and validity Federal ® First come, first serve for right to use First to use mark, gets priority Tangible goods Mark used directly on goods or packaging Services Mark used on brochures or ads promoting service Makes Gives favorable presumptions May sue in federal court May obtain attorneys fees, treble damages, and destruction of infringing goods Must enforcement easier be used in commerce On goods or promotions of services Sold or transferred in commerce Infringement Must show that mark is: Same or similar to trademark Used in connection with sale or advertisement of goods or services Used in a way likely to be confusingly similar Creative expression of ideas or facts Independently created Possesses minimal degree of creativity Perceived, reproduced, and communicated Not just thoughts, ideas, facts or data In order to get full benefits of protection Give Notice © symbol or “Copyright” Year of first publication Name of owner Register with Copyright Office File registration with Copyright Office Required to file suit Helps prove ownership Allows recovery of certain damages and attorney’s fees Gives protection for life of author plus 70 years or 120 years from date of creation Rights of Owners Reproduction: Make copies of Adaptation: Prepare derivative works Distribution: Distribute copies Public performance Public display Once a copy is distributed, the copyright owner no longer has control over that copy A patent is a contract between an inventor and the Federal Government The inventor tells the world about an invention that is: useful, new and not obvious A limited time to prevent unauthorized making, using, selling, importing or offering for sale of the invention. 25 A patent is NOT a license to do anything Having a patent will not keep other factors from blocking your ability to commercialize the invention (FDA approval, someone else’s patent) A patent is not needed to commercialize the invention A patent application is not a patent and is not a fillin-the-blank form. Years will pass before an application becomes a patent ... if ever. 26 Provisional (A Date) Utility (Useful, working ...) Design (Appearance not Function) Plant (Asexual Plant, not Tuber) PCT (International Rights) 27 A patent Utility patent a process machine manufacture composition of matter any useful improvement thereof Design patent can be a: an ornamental design Plant patent certain asexually reproduced plants Not ideas or wishful thinking. 28 Please Contact: Erin R. Ogden [email protected] 268-5595 Thank you for your time.