| Distribution Rights |
| The distribution right grants to the copyright holder the exclusive right to make a work available to the public by sale or other transfer of ownership or by rental, lease, or lending. The owner of a copyright has the right to give away, sell, or withhold any material embodiment of his or her work. In essence, this is the right to control publication of a work because publication without distribution of copies is meaningless. This right allows the copyright holder to prevent the distribution of unauthorized copies of a work. In addition, the right allows the copyright holder to control the first distribution of a particular authorized copy. However, the distribution right is limited by the "first sale doctrine," which states that after the first sale or distribution of a copy, the copyright holder can no longer control what happens to that copy. More... |
| Patent Law |
| One of the basic requirements for obtaining a patent is that the invention must be new. If the same invention has been patented before, or even written about or used for a certain amount of time before a patent is applied for, it will not be eligible for a patentMore... |
| Regional Patent Offices |
| The issuance of a patent by the United States Patent and Trademark Office provides patent protection to an inventor only within the United States. Because each country has its own patent laws, other countries do not provide patent protection to a U.S. patentee, nor does the United States provide patent protection to a foreign patentee. Originally, if a U.S. inventor wished to obtain patent protection in other countries, he or she was required to obtain patents from each country in which patent protection was desired, which obviously entailed substantial time and expense. Eventually, however, international cooperation helped streamline the process of obtaining patents in other countries in many cases.More... |
| Provisional Patent Applications |
| For many years, there was only one type of patent application, which required the submission of a specification, which is a detailed description of the invention; a claim or claims, which delineate the specific aspects of the invention for which patent protection is sought; any necessary drawings; an oath or declaration that the inventor believes him or herself to be the original and first inventor of the invention; and the filing fee. In 1994, the Uruguay round of negotiations on the General Agreements on Tariffs and Trade, commonly known as "GATT," resulted in the formation of the World Trade Organization (WTO) and the Agreement on Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS), to which the United States became a member and signatory, respectively. TRIPS requires that WTO members provide strong intellectual property rights and, in the context of patents, provide foreign inventors with access to their patent systems and the full protection of their patent laws. One important aspect of TRIPS was that a foreign inventor could establish a priority date in other TRIPS-member countries upon the filing of a patent application in his or her own country as long as a regular patent application was filed within the TRIPS-member country within a certain amount of time. More... |
| Patent Claims and the Definiteness Requirement |
| An applicant for a patent must include in the specification accompanying the application for the patent one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his or her invention. Patent claims serve two functions. First, they define the invention for the purpose of applying the conditions of patentability, the statutory bars, and the disclosure requirements. Second, they define the invention for the purpose of determining infringement.More... |
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