Intellectual Property and Contract Law Flashcards

Practice vocabulary flashcards generated from lecture notes covering Intellectual Property law (Trade Secrets, Patents, Copyrights, Trademarks) and basic Contract Law principles.

Article I, Section 8, Clause 8

The constitutional clause empowering Congress to promote the progress of science and useful arts by securing for limited times to authors and inventors the exclusive right to their respective writings and discoveries.

Trade Secret

Product formulas, patterns, designs, compilations of data, and other business secrets protected under state law (Uniform Trade Secret Act) and federal law.

Economic Espionage Act of 1996

Federal legislation created to address computer espionage and trade secret theft over the Internet, imposing penalties of up to $15\,\text{years}$ in prison and fines up to $\\text{\$10\,million}$ per violation.

Patent

Federal property right governed by the Federal Patent statute of 1962 to provide incentives to invent and make inventions public; appeals are heard by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit.

Provisional Application

A filing permitted under the American Inventors Protection Act of 1999 that grants provisional patent rights for $3\,\text{months}$ prior to filing an official patent application with the PTO.

Patent Requirements

The statutory criteria requiring an invention to be novel (new and never before invented), useful (having a practical purpose), and non-obvious.

First to Invent Rule

The rule governing priority for granting patent protection in the U.S. based on who invented the item first, rather than who filed the application first.

One-Year "On Sale" Doctrine

Doctrine stipulating that a patent may not be granted if the public used the invention for more than $1\,\text{year}$ prior to filing a patent application.

Patent Period

The duration of patent protection running from the date of PTO application filing, lasting $20\,\text{years}$ for inventions and $4\,\text{years}$ for design patents.

Copyright

Federal protection under the Copyright Revision Act 1976 for original, tangible writings physically seen, created by an author.

Berne Convention of 1989

An international agreement following which copyright protection no longer required the use of the symbol © or other specific designations.

Sonny Bono Copyright Term Extension Act of 1998

Federal law setting copyright length to an author's life plus $70\,\text{years}$, or for business-owned works, the shorter of $95\,\text{years}$ from first publication or $120\,\text{years}$ from creation.

Fair Use Doctrine

A rule permitting limited reproduction of copyrighted material for quotations, parody/satire, news reports, teacher/student use, incidental broadcasts, or legal proceedings.

Lanham Act

Federal statute governing trademarks, establishing protection for $10\,\text{years}$ with unlimited $10\text{-year}$ renewal periods.

Trademark

A distinctive mark, symbol, name, word, motto, or device that identifies goods and is either inherently distinctive or has acquired a secondary meaning.

Service Mark

A mark used specifically to distinguish services rather than tangible goods (e.g., FedEx, The Friendly Skies).

Certification Mark

A mark used to certify that goods or services satisfy specific quality standards (e.g., USDA).

Collective Mark

A mark owned by an organization used to identify members with that particular organization (e.g., Washington Apple, Grown in Idaho).

Generic Name

A product name that loses federal trademark protection because it becomes the standard common term for a product line or service (e.g., Frisbee, Trampoline, Yo-yo).

Federal Trademark Dilution Act of 1995 and 1996

Statute protecting valuable, famous trademark rights from commercial erosion, blurring, tarnishment, or dilution by third parties.

Contract

A promise or set of promises for the breach of which the law gives a remedy or the performance of which the law recognizes a duty.

Offeror

The party who makes a contract offer by promising to do or refrain from doing something.

Offeree

The party who receives a contract offer and holds the power to form a contract through acceptance.

Four Elements of a Contract

The essential legal requirements to form a contract: Agreement (Offer, Acceptance, Mutual Assent), Consideration, Contractual Capacity, and Lawful Object.

Common Law Contracts

Contract law developed over time through court precedents, evaluated using the Objective Theory standard (reasonable person standard).

Article 2 of the UCC

Statutory law governing contracts for the sale of goods, defined as all things movable (excluding real estate, services, and intangibles).

Express Contract

A contract formed explicitly by spoken or written language.

Implied Contract

A contract formed by manifestations of assent through conduct rather than explicit oral or written statements.

Quasi Contract (Implied in Law)

An equitable remedy constructed by courts to prevent unjust enrichment, awarding monetary damages based on the reasonable value of services received.

Bilateral Contract

A contract formed by an exchange of mutual promises ("promise for a promise") where no immediate performance is necessary at formation.

Unilateral Contract

A contract formed only upon the completion of a requested act ("promise for an act").

Valid Contract

A contract that meets all required formation elements (Agreement, Consideration, Capacity, Lawful Object) and is fully enforceable.

Void Contract

An agreement totally without legal effect from its inception that cannot be enforced by either party (e.g., an agreement to commit a crime).

Voidable Contract

A contract where at least one party has the option to avoid or ratify legal obligations (e.g., contracts involving infancy, intoxication, duress, or fraud).

Unenforceable Contract

An otherwise valid contract rendered legally unenforceable due to an extraneous defense, such as the Statute of Limitations or Statute of Frauds.

Offer

The manifestation of willingness to enter into a bargain, made to justify another person understanding that their assent will conclude the agreement.