The Intellectual Property Strategist

As the copyright terms of many iconic, character-based works of the 20th century near closure, owners of these works face the question as to what extent they can enjoy exclusive rights in the characters they have created. Included is Disney's Mickey Mouse, first introduced in the short animated film 'Steamboat Willie' in 1928. Enterprising third parties raise the related question: Does the expiration of copyright mean these works and characters can be freely exploited? Once a copyright term lapses, an original work is said to pass into the public domain, available for all to freely copy and exploit. However, continued trademark protection for a character may delay or complicate the character's passage into the public domain. A careful analysis of fundamental principles of trademark and copyright law and relevant case law illuminate certain legal guideposts for navigating through the complexities of character protection.

Highlights of the latest intellectual property news from around the country.

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Features

As many patent practitioners are well aware, prosecution of patent applications has become a slow, tedious process. The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office ('PTO') acknowledges a large backlog of cases in many of its art units, with some art units having a pendency of at least 3 or 4 years. For many fields of technology, including computer and telecommunications, it is imperative to obtain a patent as soon as possible; otherwise, the patented technology will become stale by the time the patent issues, thereby making the patent practically worthless. This article discusses several ways by which a patent practitioner can speed up the patent prosecution treadmill.

Features

In recent years, the International Trade Commission ('ITC') has become an increasingly popular venue for parties seeking to enforce patent rights. There are several reasons for this trend. First, the ITC is a high-speed venue. The ITC's investigation of a patentee's allegations of infringement is typically completed within 12 to 15 months, far more quickly than cases in most U.S. district courts. Second, the ITC offers a powerful remedy: exclusion of infringing products from the United States. The U.S. Customs Service enforces the exclusion order. Of course, this remedy is available only when the infringing products are being imported. However, there are many industries in which most, if not all, manufacturing takes place overseas. As a result, resort to the ITC is often available even with respect to domestic competitors. Third, although the ITC does not award damages, the patentee has the option of seeking damages in a parallel case in federal district court. Thus, the patentee can obtain both damages and an exclusion order by pursuing relief before the ITC and a district court.

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Features

Software developers invest a great deal of time and effort developing complex code that performs unique functionality for which there is a viable market. These software developers typically offer software licenses that only license object code, <i>ie</i>, the code that can be read by a machine, rather than the source code, <i>ie</i>, code that can be deciphered and read by a person.