| Foreign and International Copyright |
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| There is no such thing as an "international copyright" that automatically protects an author's works throughout the world. Protection against unauthorized use in a particular country depends on the national laws of that country. However, most countries offer protection to foreign works under certain conditions that have been greatly simplified by international copyright treaties and conventions. There are two principal international copyright conventions, the Berne Union for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Property (Berne Convention) and the Universal Copyright Convention (UCC). Generally, the works of an author who is a national or domiciliary of a country that is a member of these treaties or works first published in a member country or published within 30 days of first publication in a Berne Union country may claim protection under them. More... |
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| Patents |
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| A patent is a right granted by the federal government to exclude others from making, using, selling, offering for sale, or importing the subject of the patent for a limited period of time, whether it be an invention, process, composition of material, or other patentable article, without the permission of the patent owner. Conduct that interferes with the right of exclusion is called infringement.
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| Patent Law |
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| To meet the utility requirement, an invention must provide a specific, known use that differs from the prior art, which is the body of information from which it is determined whether an invention is new; speculative or possible future utility is not sufficient. Application requirements set out by the Patent Act provide that the patent applicant describe in detail the invention, how to make it, what it does, and how it is used, which if properly complied with should make it clear what the claimed utility of the invention is. It is not necessary that the use represent an improvement over the prior art; however, to meet the utility requirement, an invention must work as claimed. More... |
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| Trademark Law |
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| Trademark Symbols More... |
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| Works of Authorship under the Copyright Act |
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| The Copyright Act uses the phrase "works of authorship" to describe the types of works that are protected by copyright law. This phrase is purposefully broad to avoid the need to rewrite the Copyright Act every time a new "medium" was discovered. Congress included a list of eight works of authorship in the Copyright Act as follows: More... |
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