Copyrights, Patents, Trademarks and Trade Secrets

Patent Offices

RUSSIAN PATENT & TRADEMARK OFFICE

Laws and Guidelines:

• Copyright Extension Act (renamed the Sonny Bono Copyright Term Extension Act), 1998.
• Copyright Law of the United States of America and Related Laws Contained in Title 17 of the United States Code.

Access to the actual elements of the law is through the Cornell University Law project:

• Copyright Law
  
• Patent Law
  
• Trademark Law
  
• Intellectual property rights, copyright laws and legal issues related to digital libraries, a listing by Ed Fox.
• U.S. Copyright Office - Copyright Basics

Famous Patents:

• The Mouse by Doug Engelbart, 1970.
• "Palm Computing awarded milestone patent" by Stephanie Miles, Staff Writer, CNET News.com, December 10, 1999, 4:35 a.m. PT: Palm Computing will receive the six millionth U.S. patent in a Washington ceremony today, in recognition of the company's HotSync technology.

Other Sources

• "U.S. Cracks International Software Piracy Ring", yahoo.news, Fri Apr 19, 2002, 1:29 PM ET
• "Va. Tech faculty voice alarm over seized computer - Professors have expressed the most concern about privacy rights regarding intellectual property and personal e-mails from students", By KEVIN MILLER, THE ROANOKE TIMES, Wednesday, April 10, 2002.
• "Canadian high court rules 4-3 to limit copyright's reach", From globeandmail.com, Thursday, April 18, 2002.
• Plagiarism or Just Good Use of Resources?
• "Stallman: Software patents victimise developers", Matt Loney, ZDNet, 10:40 Thursday 28th March 2002
• "Copy Controls: Fair Use or Foul Play? - Hollywood, techies, and Congress wrangle to control what digital video you can store, swap, and see", Tom Spring, PCWorld.com, Friday, March 15, 2002.
• "The Betamax Decision: SONY CORPORATION OF AMERICA ET AL. v. UNIVERSAL CITY STUDIOS, INC., ET AL.", Argued on January 18, 1983; Reargued October 3, 1983, Decided on January 17, 1984, ON CERTIORARI TO THE UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE NINTH CIRCUIT -- Reversed 659 F.2d 963.
• The Copyright Website

  This portal provides real world, practical and relevant copyright information for anyone navigating the net.

• The intellectual property law server at www.intelproplaw.com:

  The intellectual property law server provides information about intellectual property law including patent, trademark and copyright. Resources include comprehensive links, general information, space for professionals to publish articles and forums for discussing related issues.

• Record Industry Plays Both Sides, Wired News, by Jeffrey Benner, 2:00 a.m. Mar. 16, 2001 PST
• "BT [British Telecom] Sues Prodigy over US Hyperlink Patent", by Laura Rohde, Infoworld, 15 December 2000.
• "Microsoft orders Va. Beach to prove software ownership", By KATRICE FRANKLIN, © 2000, The Virginian-Pilot, November 4, 2000.

• "MP3.com faces whopping penalty: Legal experts say the digital music site could be fined anywhere from $750 million to billions of dollars for violating copyright law", by Robert Lemos, ZDNet News, April 28, 2000 6:08 PM PT
• "Patently Absurd", by JAMES GLEICK, New York Times, March 12, 2000.
  Once the province of a nuts-and-bolts world, patents are now being applied to thoughts and ideas in cyberspace. It's a ridiculous phenomenon, and it could kill e-commerce.
• Interesting Case of using copyright as a means of congtrol of software and the contents thereof: "How to disable your blocking software", Peacefire, Open Access for the Net Generation, 16 March 2000.
  Cyber Patrol has asked for a temporary restraining order to stop two codebreakers from distributing their program to decode the list of sites blocked by Cyber Patrol. Effective immediately we are mirroring their essay and their codebreaker program on our site.
• "Long-Fought Patent Changes Arrive: Bill survives add-ons and Phyllis Schlafly in 'really political' battle", by Victoria Slind-Flor, The National Law Journal, December 15, 1999. The new law will give the Patent and Trademark Office (PTO) slightly greater independence without removing it from the Department of Commerce. Two new manager posts will be created within the office--commissioner for patents and commissioner for trademarks--and holders of those posts will be eligible for 50% performance bonuses.
• "Court Enjoins barnesandnoble.com from Using '1-Click' Technology", E-Commerce Law Weekly, 7 December 1999. A holiday gift came early this year for Amazon.com. A federal court in Washington state issued a preliminary injunction on rival barnesandnoble.com, saying the online bookseller's "Express Lane" shopping system will likely be found to infringe Amazon.com's highly vaunted "1-Click" technology. A defiant barnesandnoble.com vowed not to let its opponent stifle its cyber-selling rights.
• "Out-Licensing Brings Schools Profits, Big Legal Bills", The National Law Journal, 10 Decmeber 1999. If Carnegie Mellon University had not decided to out-license a computer-science technology developed by one of its faculty members, Lycos would not exist. Today, Lycos is a 785-employee company with a $5.7 billion market cap. A recent survey shows in 1998 alone, at least 364 new companies were started based on technology developed at U.S. universities and research institutions. Some of this cross-fertilization may be the result of one lawyer's victorious battle on behalf of the University of California.
  The movie "Pirates of Silicon Valley" portrayed the war over intellectual property rights between Bill Gates and Steve Jobs.
  William P. Alford, To Steal a Book Is an Elegant Offense: Intellectual Property Law in Chinese Civilization (Stanford, 1995).
  Ronald V. Bettig, Copyrighting Culture: The Political Economy of Intellectual Property (Westview, 1996).
  Paulina Borsook, Cyberselfish: Technolibertarians and the True Revenge of the Nerds (PublicAffairs, forthcoming).
  Rosemary Coombe, The Cultural Life of Intellectual Properties: Authorship, Appropriation, and the Law (Duke, 1998).
  David Kline, Rembrandts in the Attic: Unlocking the Hidden Value of Patents (Harvard Business School, forthcoming).
  Derek Leebaert, The Future of the Electronic Marketplace (MIT, 1998).
  Lawrence Lessig, Code and Other Laws of Cyberspace (Basic, forthcoming).
  Mark Rose, Authors and Owners: The Invention of Copyright (Harvard, 1993).
  Michael P. Ryan, Knowledge Diplomacy: Global Competition and the Politics of Intellectual Property (Brookings Institution, 1998).
  Dan Schiller, Digital Capitalism (MIT, 1999).
  Susan K. Sell, Power and Ideas: North-South Politics of Intellectual Property and Antitrust (SUNY, 1998).
  Andrew L. Shapiro, The Control Revolution: How New Technology is Putting Individuals in Charge and Changing the World We Know (PublicAffairs, 1999).
  Carl Shapiro and Hal R. Varian, Information Rules: A Strategic Guide to the Network Economy (Harvard Business School, 1999).
  Vandana Shiva, Biopiracy: The Plunder of Nature and Knowledge (South End, 1997).
  Seth Shulman, Owning the Future: Inside the Battles to Control the New Assets--Genes, Software, Databases, and Technological Know-How--That Make Up the Lifeblood of the New Economy (Houghton Mifflin, 1999).
  "How Forcefully Should Universities Enforce Copyright Law on Audio Files?" -- Carnegie Mellon's search for MP3's pleases recording industry, but irks some students, by KELLY McCOLLUM, Chronicle of Higher Education, 19 November 1999.
  "A Lesson for the Valley: Thou Shalt Not Steal" by Torri Still, The Recorder/Cal Law, October 7, 1999.
  "Swedish teen sued for Internet music piracy", San Jose Mercury News, Posted at 12:25 p.m. PDT Thursday, September 9, 1999.
  
  Uniform Computer Information Transactions Act (UCITA), July 1999. UCITA represents a movement toward licensing of information in its many forms and away from the sale of copies as traditionally understood under copyright law. UCITA would enforce the broad use of "shrink-wrap" and computer "click-on" licenses (called "mass-market licenses" in UCITA).
  "Software firms fight EU software patents", by Mary Lisbeth D'Amico, InfoWorld Electric, posted at 12:20 PM PT, Oct 22, 1999.
  "New Codes No Bar to Copyright Violation" by Michael Riccardi, New York Law Journal, October 26, 1999. A finding that with respect to the user interface for software "the copyright interest in the software product may be infringed even if the codes used in the second program are different."
  "Small Electronics Company Zaps Motorola: Power Integrations wins $32.3 million award in patent case", by John Manser, Delaware Law Weekly, October 26, 1999.
  "A Lesson for the Valley: Thou Shalt Not Steal" by Torri Still, The Recorder/Cal Law, October 7, 1999.
  A cautionary note: "License Information on GIF and Other LZW-based Technologies", UNISYS, (undated, last accessed 99/04/22).
  LeBoeuf Settles Illegal Photocopying Claims, by Anna Snider, New York Law Journal, Wednesday, March 10, 1999.
  Patents rise through U.N. treaty, by Reuters Special to CNET News.com, February 15, 1999.
  Playboy fights for trademark protection, By Courtney Macavinta, Staff Writer, CNET News.com February 11, 1999.
  February's Topic of the Month: Patent, Copyright & Trademark--When It Comes to Intellectual Property, We've Got Some Real Winners, nolo.com, Feb. 1999. Includes links to information on:

  • Qualifying for a Patent
  • Copyright Basics
  • How the Law Protects Trademarks
  • When Copying Is OK: The 'Fair Use' Rule
  • Naming Your Business in the Information Age
  "Wizards to Thwart Pirates" by John G. Spooner, PC Week Online, December 14, 1998 9:00 AM ET
  For the Second Circuit Nos. 652, 653, 654 - August Term 1995, Vermont Microsystems vs. Autodesk, http://www.law.pace.edu/lawlib/legal/us-legal/judiciary/second-circuit/test3/95-7279.html, accessed on Aug. 5, 1998, (11 pages).
  Reasonable royalty award appropriate, but amount was error, 2nd Cir. rules," Mealey's Litigation Reports: Intellectual Property, Section on Trade Secrets, vol. 6, no. 13, April 1, 1998. (Can be accessed via LEXIS/NEXIS) [See also earlier reports "Hiring Competitors' Empoyees: A Trade Secrets Perspective; Simple Rules of Thumb Can Be Misleading" and "Calculation of Damage Award Ruled Improper in Software Misappropriation Case"]
  "Learning from litigation: Trade secret misappropriation," R. D. Rachlin, Communications of the ACM, vol. 38, no. 11, pp. 15-17, Nov. 1995.
  Letters to the editor, The Institute, IEEE-USA Publication, Aug. 1998. (This contains opinions about a new federal law in the US that would make theft of trade secrets a federal crime.)
  Trade Secrets, a book by James Pooley.
  An interesting TRADEMARK case in Cleveland OH by Daniel Buchholz, CS 3604, Fall 1996.
  The Copyright Law as applied to Multimedia outlined by Project Succeed.
  The Copyright Website is very useful.
  A page from Stanford University on Intellectual Property.
  The page from the University of Michigan Law Library contains useful links.
  There is only one textbook on this topic, that I know of, specifically related to our field:
  Jeffrey R. Kuester provides a page of legal links.
  
  A set of links to pages regarding Intellectual Property from the Galaxy network collection.
  Galler, Bernard A., Software and Intellectual Property Protection: Copyright and Patent Issues for Computer and Legal Professionals, Quorum Books, 1995, x +205 pp.
  Secretary of Commerce Ronald H. Brown, Chairman of the White House Information Infrastructure Task Force (IITF), has released a report on Intellectual Property and the National Information Infrastructure. The Report, written by the IITF Working Group on Intellectual Property Rights chaired by Assistant Secretary of Commerce and Commissioner of Patents and Trademarks Bruce A. Lehman, explains how intellectual property law applies to Cyberspace and makes legislative recommendations to Congress to fine tune the law for the digital age. Beware, you need an Acrobat reader to access this information!
  One commentary on the NII report is by William S. Galkin. A second report entitled "The Extinction of the Digital Lock Picker?" is also of interest.
  The Software Publishers Association provides information, advice, and tools for monitoring your copyright compliance.
  The U.S. House of Representatives Internet Law Library -- Intellectual property.
  A guide to the ethical and legal use of software for members of the academic community by the Educational Uses of Information Technology Program (EUIT) of EDUCOM, and the Information Technology Association of America (ITAA)
  The page from MIT 6.805/STS085: Readings on Information and Intellectual Property
  A Stanford University page on Copyright and Fair Use has a number of useful links.
  From the In 1993, Ronald E. Anderson, Deborah G. Johnson, Donald Gotterbarn and Judith Perrolle published an article "Using the new ACM code of ethics in decision making" (Commmunications of the ACM, February, 1993) that contained a useful set of references.
  For those interested in conducting a search of US patents, the IBM Corporation provides a very usefule Patent Search page. The patents included are since 1971 and the page contains a link to a "gallery of obscure patents".
  Two collections of articles at Washington University at St. Louis[1] and [2].