| Business-Method Patents |
|
| The federal patent statute allows an inventor to obtain a patent for a "new and useful process, machine, manufacture, or composition of matter, or any new and useful improvement thereof." There is no provision in the patent statute for business methods, and the United States Patent and Trademark Office for decades explicitly rejected business-method patent applications based on a turn-of-the century judicial rejection of a patent for a method of cash-register accounting to prevent fraud by waiters. Much of the rejection of business-method patents was based on the conclusion that the methods and systems sought to be patented were abstract ideas without tangible manifestation; however, that analysis evolved into a doctrine that business methods were inherently unpatentable. More... |
|
|
| Sonny Bono Copyright Term Extension Act of 1998 |
|
| Part of the Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works of 1886 provided that copyrighted works be protected for the duration of the author's life plus no less than 50 years. The European Union extended the 50 year protection to 70 years in 1993, and the United States did the same on October 28, 1998, with the signing of the Sonny Bono Copyright Term Extension Act (CTEA). CTEA allows works still under copyright in the United States to be granted copyright protection for the duration of the author's life plus 70 years for individual works and corporate works. Works published before January 1, 1978, are protected for up to 95 years. Works-for-hire, anonymous, or pseudonymous works are protected for 95 years after publication or 120 years after creation under CTEA. The Act is named after the now-deceased songwriter and singer Sonny Bono, who had lobbied for copyright extension. CTEA is also known as the "Mickey Mouse Act" because one of the biggest proponents of the bill was the Disney company. CTEA does not retroactively apply to works for which copyright protection had expired as of October 28, 1998. More... |
|
|
| Design Patents |
|
| Under United States patent law, the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) issues three different types of patents. Utility patents apply to functional inventions, processes, or compositions of matter, and correspond to the common understanding of patentable subject matter. Patents may also be issued on new varieties of asexually produced cultivated plants and on designs. More... |
|
|
| Patents |
|
| A patent allows an inventor to exclude others from making, using, selling, offering for sale, or importing the patented invention without the inventor's permission for a limited period of time. Patent rights are granted by federal law, which also provides that an inventor whose patent is infringed may seek a remedy in court as one might for other wrongs. There are several defenses to patent infringement that may be asserted by one who is sued for patent infringement. One defense that not only will negate infringement liability but will also destroy the validity of a patent is inequitable conduct on the part of the inventor in procuring the patent. More... |
|
|
| Creativity Requirement of Copyright |
|
| One of the basic requirements for copyright protection is creativity. A work must include something that is above and beyond the original. Verbatim use is not considered original. Reference to the original work that is used to discuss a new concept would, however, be considered original. The creativity need only be extremely slight for the work to be eligible for protection. More... |
|
|