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Creating The Sound Of Our Lives
A Practical Overview of Music Licensing is presented by Buck McKinney. This article and the accompanying session address fundamental concepts involved in music licensing, several common music licensing scenarios, and practical tips for locating rights owners and administrators. This is document 1 of 6.
Intellectual Property 101
Intellectual Property Basics
A short compendium of intellectual property law, including patents, copyrights, trademarks, and trade secrets
IP 101 - Patents, Copyrights, and Trademarks
Intellectual Property (IP) generally refers to products or creations of the mind, which can include inventions,literary and artistic works, designs, and symbols, names, and images used in commerce. Inherently, these products of the mind are intangible, even if they might be symbolized, represented, or otherwise expressed through a tangible form.IP law has been developed over a long time and represents a category of legal provisions that establishes a mechanism to grant creators and inventors rights over their creations. This IP legal framework is designed to recognize and protect the intellectual labor and innovation of individuals and organizations. The core objective of IP law is to foster an environment where creativity and innovation can flourish by ensuring that creators can reap the benefits of their inventions and works.The importance of intellectual property law cannot be overstated. It serves as the backbone of the modern economy, promoting progress by encouraging the development of new technologies, arts, and cultures. By providing a mechanism for protecting their creations, IP law gives inventors and artists the confidence to invest time, resources,and effort into their creative endeavors. This legal protection is critical because, unlike physical property, intellectual creations can be easily duplicated by others who have not contributed to the original creation’s development. This protection not only helps in securing a financial reward for the creator but also contributes to the overall growth of society by making new and innovative goods and services available to the public.Moreover, IP rights play a crucial role in the global economy. They encourage healthy competition by ensuring that competitors cannot freely copy and profit from the innovations of others. This competitive environment pushes companies to continue innovating, leading to a dynamic and evolving marketplace. Additionally, IP rights can be significant assets to individuals and businesses, often forming a substantial part of a company's valuation through licensing agreements, franchising, and other commercial arrangements.In essence, intellectual property law is vital for protecting the rights of creators, promoting innovation, and driving economic growth. It balances the interests of inventors and the public, ensuring that the benefits of creative works and inventions are shared broadly while rewarding those who contribute to progress and development.IP law is typically divided into four specific types of IP protection frameworks, each with its own particular history, nomenclature, and legal framework. The four main types of IP protection include patents, copyrights,trademarks, and trade secrets. In this article, our focus will be in providing information that we are hopeful will allow a practitioner to identify what IP the client has and, even more critically, which of the IP protection frameworks can be used to protect the client’s IP. To that end, this article will emphasize practical examples that can be applied while providing a cursory look of the different IP protection frameworks without delving into an in-depth discussion of the nuances and intricacies of the legal doctrines of each IP protection frameworks.
Artificial Intelligence: What Lawyers Should Know
Generative AI has suddenly become a must-have technology for almost every company. One reason is that generative AI (GenAI) has impressive capabilities useful for various applications such as natural language chatbots, text-to-image generators and text-to-video generators capable of producing incredibly realistic outputs based on text inputs. GenAI can also create human-like recommendations, robust content, and valuable new features for digitalproducts that can improve user experiences. As generative AI enters the mainstream, each new day brings a new lawsuit. Not only is GenAI being used to create new content, but other types of AI are also used to make decisions that, in years past, were the purvey only of humans. But what happens when AI discriminates, injures, or monopolizes, it then becomes the subject of discovery and litigation.
Intellectual Property 101 for Business Lawyers
Simply put, everything that ensues from the human mind is intellectual property (“IP”) and can be among the most valuable assets of a business if properly protected. As described later in this article, if IP is not protected, its value will be impacted negatively. The way to protect IP is to make sure intellectual property rights (“IPRs”) are timely secured. IPRs are government-provided rights granted when the owner of the IP takes the IP protection measures required under federal and state statutes and/or the common law. The laws exist for owners of IP to protect their investment in research and development, to be enabled to pursue legal remedies when their IPRs are violated by others, and thus to promote the continued progress of science and art for the benefit of the whole of society. This article will focus primarily on the fundamentals of IP and IPRs to impart a basic understanding to business lawyers. In addition to providing an overview of IP, IPRs, and the related statutes and case law, under the “Strategy Tip” headings, the article the business lawyer will find practical strategies and techniques that can be used to benefit clients.
Issue Spotting for the Non-IP Attorney
When intellectual property (IP) issues arise, there may be individuals and/or businesses that go directly to an attorney who specializes in IP; however, whether because of a prior relationship with a non-IP attorney or not understanding that there is an IP issue, those individuals and/or businesses may start with a non-IP attorney. While there may be some IP issues, such as with trademarks, that a non-IP attorney may believe that he/she can handle, it is important to understand certain IP basics to decide whether that attorney can handle the IP issue. If the attorney cannot (or does not want) to handle, the attorney should be able to engage in IP issue spotting to properly direct the individual and/or business to an IP attorney
Intellectual Property Basics for Business Lawyers
Intellectual property (“IP”) arises in numerous forms and can be among the most valuable assets of a business. It is intangible property and includes patents, inventions, copyrights, trademarks, trade secrets, and mask works. Copyright includes a broad range of works of authorship, such as software, software manuals, movies, books, paintings, or practical items such as a company website or operating manual. Because of the intangible nature of intellectual property, it must usually be protected or it can be lost. Federal and state statutes and the common law provide for the protection of intellectual property. They create legal rights for owners to use intellectual property and to pursue legal remedies for violation of such rights.
Design Patents: The Comeback Kid
Intellectual property includes a number of distinct doctrines, some created by legislative action and some by the courts. Patents, copyrights, trademarks, trade dress, and trade secrets all fall under the umbrella of intellectual property rights. Within the patent category, there are three different types of patents—the utility patent, the plant patent, and the design patent. The utility patent is the more commonly known of the three. Utility patents are used to protect “new and useful machines, processes, articles of manufacture, and compositions of 1matter.” The utility patent is generally the strongest form of patent protection in that it can be used to prevent others from making, using, and selling any variations of the invention that are covered by the claims of the patent. Design patent protection was first introduced by Congress in 1842. Prior to that time, the United States did not afford protection to the ornamental features of a new product. Although copyright and trademark protection may also be used now to protect the ornamental features of a product, such protection was not available at the time.
Trade Secrets: An Overview for the Practitioner Representing Small Businesses
Generally, a trade secret is a formula, practice, process, design, instrument, pattern, or compilation of information which is not generally known by the public that gives a business an economic or operational advantage. . Trade secrets are in the nature of property rights that the law protects through both tort and contract principles. Hyde Corp. v. Huffines, 314 S.W.2d 763, 769-770, 158 Tex. 566 (1958). Generally, such principles provide that one who either discloses or uses another’s trade secret, without a privilege to do so, is liable for such disclosure or use if the disclosure or use constitutes a breach of confidence reposed in the party disclosing or using the trade secret by the owner of the trade secret. BP, Inc. v. Klumpe, 101 S.W.3d 461, 472 (Tex. App. - Amarillo 2001, pet. denied); Atlantic Richfield Co. v. Misty Prods., Inc., 820 S.W.2d 414, 422 (Tex.App. - Houston [14th Dist.] 1991, writ denied).
Intellectual Property 101
Intellectual property, which refers to any creation of the mind, can be the most valuable asset of a company, especially in this information age in which assets are generally of an intangible nature. Intellectual property, however, is only valuable if protected, using government-granted legal rights that grant limited monopolies to its creators. This article will focus on the concept of intellectual property, the identification of primary intellectual property types, the basics about protecting those types of intellectual property, and the legal remedies for violation of such rights.
The "Basics" of Patents, Trademarks and Copyrights for Non-IP Attorneys (Knowing Just Enough to Be Safe and to Help Clients Avoid the Most Common Myths and Traps of IP Law)
This article covers all aspects of intellectual property, including: patents, trademarks, copyrights, and trade secrets.
IP Issues for the Business Generalist - Have you Dotted the "I" in "IP"?
Intellectual property is what ensues from the mind’s intellectual endeavors. It can be an idea, a conception, a discovery, or invention. It can be a work of authorship such as a poem, a story, a book or something as practical as a refinery operations manual. Whatever form it takes, in a business context, intellectual property can be the most valuable asset of a business. This is most true in the information age we live in – an age in which many assets are intangible. It is because of its intangible nature that intellectual property can be evanescent; it can easily slip through one’s fingers, if nothing is done to protect it. For example, an idea shared with everyone benefits all and not just the idea generator. It is clear there is a relationship between the value of something and its exclusive enjoyment, i.e., having the ability to keep others from enjoying it, or, at least enjoying it on the terms its owner dictates. Not unlike real property, which is protected by tangible fences, gates, and locks, which limit its access, intellectual property maintains its value when it is protected. We live in a system in which the protection of intellectual property, i.e., the fences, are government-granted legal rights to use and enjoy intellectual property with a limited exclusivity and there exist legal remedies for violation of such rights. These are called intellectual property rights, and the owners are the creators, authors, and thinkers of the intellectual property or their assignees. We should recognize that intellectual property is different from intellectual property rights; the two terms are not interchangeable. To mix the two in discussion, confuses the basic concepts of intellectual property law and perpetuates the belief that intellectual property law is somehow esoteric and incomprehensible; too difficult to understand. The author hopes that at a minimum, this article can make the distinction between intellectual property and intellectual property rights memorable for the reader. This article will focus on certain aspects of intellectual property law that the legal generalist should be aware of. In addition to providing a survey of the basics of intellectual property law, this article will consider relevant aspects of the America Invents Act and best practices for dealing with non-producing entity (also known as patent assertion entity) lawsuits. We will also consider what about copyright law is most impactful to businesses. Recognizing that branding is an important function of corporate marketing, we will consider the relevant trademark Chapter 11 concerns. Finally, we will discuss the one-year-old Texas Uniform Trade Secrets Act and what the generalist needs to know about it.
Patent Law Primer
This article identifies the features of several types of intellectual property protection under the law, focusing primarily on patents and patent protection.
2017 Texas Trade Secrets Update
The first step in protecting a trade-secret is to identify the type of information that qualifies as a trade secret. Under TUTSA, information must meet two requirements in order for it to qualify as a trade secret: (1) it must be the subject of efforts that are reasonable under the circumstances to maintain its secrecy; and (2) it must derive independent economic value, actual or potential, from not being generally known to, and not being readily ascertainable by proper means by, other persons who can obtain economic value from its disclosure or use.
Drafting Effective Intellectual Property Indemnity Provisions
A well-drafted intellectual property indemnity provision is an excellent tool to allocate the risk of litigation arising out of the alleged infringement of intellectual property rights. By addressing issues unique to intellectual property law during contract negotiations, both parties can minimize uncertainty and avoid the potential for conflicts should litigation arise.
Intellectual Property 101
To compete in the global marketplace, it is imperative that new and existing businesses review their tangible and intangible assets to determine which intellectual property protections may exist or be available to protect such assets under the law. Identifying and initiating the protection of tangible and intangible business assets should be a first priority for business owners so as to optimize the chances of thriving in the constantly evolving marketplace. With a basic understanding of the fundamental concepts underlying patent, trademark, copyright and trade secret laws, business legal advisors will be equipped to identify those properties which may be protectable under existing intellectual property laws, while at the same time advising their clients to take appropriate measures to prevent or mitigate the loss of valuable intellectual property rights.
Protecting Your Client's Information And Customer Relationships: The Intersection Of Non-Competes, Trade Secrets, And Employee Confidentiality Agreements
Although a variety of steps can be taken to protect trade secrets, the primary objectives of a trade secret program is to (1) identify the company’s valuable trade secrets and (2) prevent their public disclosure by making reasonable efforts under the circumstances to maintain their secrecy. Each company has its own unique needs and requirements. Thus, whatever trade secret program is adopted and implemented must be tailored and should complement the company’s existing methods of operation, employment structure, and third party relationships.
Trade Secrets
Broadly speaking, a trade secret is any information that provides a company a competitive edge and is not publicly known. But to be entitled to these protections, a company must undertake some effort to maintain the secrecy of its trade secrets. In other words, it must keep its trade secrets “secret.” Unlike a patent or a copyright, trade secret protection can last forever. But it is a very unforgiving form of protection. It can be easily lost by disclosing the secret publically. Therefore, from the moment a trade secret is created, the owner must guard the secrecy of that secret 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. So how does a company maintain the secrecy of its trade secrets without simply locking the secret up and throwing away the key? Here are some reasonable and relatively simple steps that a company can take to protect its trade secrets under the new Texas Uniform Trade Secrets Act (“TUTSA”), Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code §134A.002 et seq. (2013).
What Business Lawyers Need to Know About Intellectual Property
This paper will outline briefly what intellectual property is, and is not. It will cover some of the rights and privileges of intellectual property, as well as some of the myths that can mislead business attorneys and clients alike. While not a comprehensive guide to intellectual property, this paper can be considered a quick primer, with references to more resources. Intellectual property comes in four types: patents, trademarks, copyrights and trade secrets. All four types will be addressed in this paper. After a brief definition, an explanation of the particular right will be provided, as well as an explanation of the elements of infringement (or misappropriation) and related remedies. There are some related antitrust issues associated with intellectual property rights that are outside the scope of this paper. Intellectual property laws tend to be stacked in favor of businesses with plenty of capital available for litigation. Large corporations often have specialized IP lawyers within their legal departments. Medium-sized businesses generally have an IP lawyer on retainer who can address intellectual property-related issues. Small businesses, however, often lack adequate knowledge of intellectual property rights and usually find themselves as defendants in disputes involving intellectual property. Even small businesses, however, can avail themselves of intellectual property rights and may wish to do so in order to pursue their goals with less risk and at lower cost. This paper is directed toward business lawyers who represent small businesses and individuals.
Intellectual Property for your Entrepreneurial Client: Top Gotchas for Entrepreneurs
I have had the pleasure of working with entrepreneurs throughout my career and enjoy the energy with which they attack the problems they solve. In the effort; however, to move the ball forward as quickly as possible entrepreneurs consistently make the same missteps as their follow company founders. If these minor missteps could be avoided, then the foundation for success could be better laid and the future less complex for sure! Those missteps are as follows:
Trade Secrets 101: What Texas Business Owners and Their Lawyers Need to Know
If a business wants to preserve the ability to sue for misappropriation of trade secrets, it needs to take “reasonable measures” to maintain the confidentiality of the information that constitutes the alleged trade secrets. This is only what businesses need to do from a legal perspective. There are many other practical things businesses can do, but that’s more a topic for security experts than legal experts.
Sixth edition of free textbook: Copyright Law: Cases and Materials v6.0
Chris Sprigman and Jeanne Fromer are pleased to announce the release of Copyright Law: Cases and Materials v6.0, their freely-licensed copyright textbook, which has been adopted at over 80 law schools (that we know of) so far. You can download the book for free, or purchase a dead-tree version of the book at Amazon.com (https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0D7Q29GL4).
Unfair Competition, Theft of Trade Secrets, Etc.
This paper is an outline of the various topics involving unfair competition.