M221 Business Law - Trademark Protection

Intellectual Property Homework Assignment

You are an entrepreneur and just started a new business. Pease state the type of business that you have created. The business must be hypothetical (made-up) for this assignment.

Please propose a plan for protecting your hypothetical intellectual property (IP). Your plan should consist of the following information.

• Trademark Protection: Start by demonstrating your understanding of what subject matter trademark protects. Survey the subject matter that would receive trademark protection in your hypothetical business. 

Patent Protection: Explain what types of inventions are patent eligible.  In your hypothetical business, explain whether you would have any items that would have patent protection.  You may also comment on whether you need to apply for a patent. Feel free to use your imagination in thinking about potential inventions for the business.  

• Copyright Protection: Generally, list the types of works that may receive copyright protection. Survey the types of items in your hypothetical business that may receive this protection, if any. 

• Trade Secret Protection: Demonstrate your understanding of trade secret protection. Would this type of protection be applicable to your hypothetical business? Why or why not? If applicable, describe what steps your business might take to keep this protection. 

• Distinguish between the types of protections: Give a brief overview of your understanding of how the above protections are different. Then discuss which type of protection is most applicable to your hypothetical business. 

• Infringement Concerns: Identify any concerns that you have about infringing on a competitor’s intellectual property rights.  Describe what steps you might take to avoid this problem. 

• Relevance and Significance of Intellectual Property: Is it important to understand these different types of intellectual property protections before starting a business? Why or why not? Please explain any benefits that students receive from studying this information.

Before writing the essay, you should find it helpful to review the following videos in the Canvas shell: Criteria for Patenting; Copyright Introduction and Basics; Works Eligible for Copyright; Four Types of Trademarks; Trademark Subject Matter; Benefits of Establishing Trademark Registration; Trade Secrets and Protection; and The Secrecy Requirement.

The essay should be a minimum of 1 page and a maximum of 2 pages in length, single spaced. It must be typed in 12 pt. Times New Roman.   

Please note that the assignments will be reviewed using Turnitin, a software program which checks the originality of an assignment. 

The assignment is due by 11:59 p.m. on Thursday, May 31.  Please submit your assignment online in Canvas.  You will see the drop box under the “Written Assignments” module.

Answer:

Introduction

I am an entrepreneur and as I had interests in drawing and paintings since childhood, I recently started a shop to sell my drawings and paintings. As it is my original work, it will be protected under copyright protection.

Trademark Protection

Any distinguishable word, name, phrase, symbol, design or devices can be protected under Trademark Protection. In order to be qualified for trademark, the word, name or phrase must be characteristic and should specify the source of a product or services. As paintings are originally my work, it will not be covered under trademark protection.

Patent Protection

Under Title 35 of the U.S.C., products and processes such as machines, manufacture or composition of matter can be patented if they exhibit following three characteristics i.e. Novelty, Utility and Non-obviousness. As products and processes are covered under patent, paintings do not exhibit the characteristics essential for patent.   

Copyright Protection

There are eight categories of original work that can be patented which are literary work, music, drama, dance, paintings, audio and video recordings and property. In addition, software can also be patented. As paintings are my original creations, I will be provided with the intellectual property right by the government in the form of an exclusive right to control the publishing, reproduction and display of my paintings.   

Trade Secret Protection

Trade Secret is an alternative to patent or trademark law that enables for intellectual property to remain unrevealed. Any valuable virtual information because it is not commonly recognized can be the subject matter of a trade secret. The decision related to utilization of trade secret law in place of other types of protection is based on the nature of the intellectual property that is to be protected. Paintings cannot be coved under trade secret protection because it includes any kind of virtually valuable information which is not generally known.     

Distinguish between types of protections

Patents and copyrights undertake almost similar objectives; they vary from each other in several aspects. The determination of merit can be more subjective for creative work instead of inventions eligible for patent. There is no examination system for the purpose of determining whether creative work evidences copyright protection. However, both recognize the importance of protection of property rights of creators. Both the systems are designed to connect individual creativity for the welfare of public (UpCounsel, 2018). On one hand, trademark protection assists for legal presumption of ownership and exclusive right and enhances ability to bring action in federal court. While on other hand, trade secret is considered as an alternative to the patent or trademark law and enables for intellectual property to remain unrevealed. Taking into consideration, all the types of intellectual property protection, copyright is the suitable protection for the purpose of my artistic work.   

Infringement Concerns

The concerns regarding infringement on intellectual rights of the competitor is that courts usually involve in highly accurate analysis regarding security measures taken by the owner of the property. In order to avoid infringement of my intellectual property right, I will get copyright from the government for paintings. It does not require registration for achieving copyright as it will be granted as soon as the paintings will be expressed in a physical manner but in the situation of filing infringement suit in federal court, being a copyright holder I will have to register.

Plan for protecting intellectual property

The analysis of competitors and risks will be required from the point of view of long term objectives. A clear distinction should be made between economic and moral rights of the copyright holder (PRV, 2018). All the terms and conditions for using the property should be clearly mentioned. Even if, infringement occurs, the copyright holder can file suit in federal court.  

Relevance and Significance of Intellectual Property

It is important to understand various types of intellectual property protections before starting a new business because in case a property is overbroad, illegal and abandoned, individuals and business try to intrude it. Therefore, the students will get benefitted by studying this information because they will be able to understand different types of intellectual property rights and what is included within them.  

References

PRV. (2018). Copyright. Retrieved from Prv.se: https://www.prv.se/en/prv-for-entrepreneurs/glossary/copyright/

UpCounsel. (2018). Intellectual Property Protection. Retrieved from upcounsel.com: https://www.upcounsel.com/intellectual-property-protection