Intellectual Property
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| A patent is a right granted under federal law that allows the patent owner to exclude others from making, using, selling, offering for sale, or importing the subject matter of the patent without the inventor's permission for a period of 20 years from the time of the patent application. An activity involving the patented invention that violates that right is said to infringe the patent, for which the patent owner may bring a lawsuit to collect monetary damages and to stop the infringing activity. There are several defenses to patent infringement. One defense that will completely insulate an alleged infringer from liability is patent misuse. More... |
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| Patents |
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| After a patent is issued by the United States Patent and Trademark Office, the patent owner may mark the patented articles with the word "Patent" or the abbreviation "Pat." along with the patent number assigned by the USPTO. This marking of the patent number on the product constitutes notification of the patent, which is essential to a monetary recovery in a patent action. Although that patent statute states that a patent owner "may give notice" of the patent by marking the patented article, monetary damages for the infringement of an unmarked item can only be recovered from the time that the alleged infringer has been notified of the infringement by a cease and desist letter, by service of a summons and a copy of the complaint, or by other means. In such a case, if the alleged infringer ceases the infringing activity immediately upon notification, a monetary recovery could not be had at all in an infringement suit. More... |
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| Copyright and Best Edition |
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| The copyright law requires that copies or phonorecords deposited in the Copyright Office be of the "best edition" of the work. The best edition of the work is the edition, which was published in the United States at any time before the date of deposit, that the Library of Congress determines is the most suitable for its purposes. More... |
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| The Intellectual Property Omnibus Reform Act of 1999 |
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| On November 19, 1999, Congress passed the Intellectual Property and Communications Omnibus Reform Act of 1999 as part of the consolidated appropriations bill. Chief among its provisions is the extension of the satellite carrier compulsory license, which permits the retransmission of distant television station signals. In addition, the bill creates a new royalty-free compulsory license for retransmission of local television stations by satellite carriers. It allows satellite carriers, for the first time, to legally offer local stations to their viewers, a right cable operators have always had. Congress also reduced the royalty fees that satellite carriers must pay for superstation and network rebroadcasts. More... |
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| The Small Webcaster Settlement Act of 2002 |
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| The Small Webcaster Settlement Act of 2002 (SWSA) allows the recording industry and small webcasters to negotiate lower webcasting royalty fees. The SWSA empowers SoundExchange, which is the recording industry's royalty collection clearinghouse, to enter into royalty rate agreements with small commercial and all noncommercial webcasters. More... |
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