| Fragrances as Trademark Subject Matter |
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| Distinctive fragrances are eligible for federal trademark registration. The Trademark Trial and Appeal Board, in a landmark decision, reversed the Examining Attorney and held that there was no reason why a fragrance was not capable of identifying and distinguishing certain types of products. Thus, the Board allowed registration of an arbitrary, nonfunctional scent for sewing thread and embroidery yarn. More... |
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| WTO Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property |
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| The first successful attempt to establish international rights to intellectual property was the Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works, which was first adopted in 1886 and was modified several times. The Convention is presently administered by the World Intellectual Property Organization. Although U.S. copyright law was significantly different from that established by the Berne Convention, resulting in the United States' refusal to accept the Convention for several years, the United States changed its copyright laws quite significantly in the 1970s and subsequently signed the Convention. A major criticism of the Berne Convention was its lack of enforcement mechanisms. More... |
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| Patent Law |
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| It has been held by the United States Supreme Court that laws of nature, natural phenomena, and abstract ideas may not be the subject of a patent. The reasoning behind this rule is that laws of nature and abstract ideas are not created; rather, they exist independent of any person and are merely described by the person that discovers them. Included in the types of abstract ideas for which patents may not be obtained are mathematical formulae and algorithms, which are sets of steps or procedures designed to solve a problem.
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| Creativity Requirement of Copyright |
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| One of the basic requirements for copyright protection is creativity. A work must include something that is above and beyond the original. Verbatim use is not considered original. Reference to the original work that is used to discuss a new concept would, however, be considered original. The creativity need only be extremely slight for the work to be eligible for protection. More... |
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| Internet Domain Names |
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| Copyright law does not protect domain names. Generally, the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) has tried to apply traditional trademark law to the examination of domain name service mark applications. A domain name qualifies as a mark when it is used in connection with the sale or advertising of goods or services. This includes all sites conducting e-commerce and also sites that provide web-related services. Unlike a trademark, which is restricted by country and class of goods, domain names can be global and not limited by goods or service. More... |
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