Question 1

Farrah took a photograph of a parade that passed by the window of the office where she worked, and submitted it to the local newspaper along with a short report on the celebrations. If another newspaper copies the picture that was published by the newspaper to which Farrah gave the picture, the second newspaper would be liable for infringement.

Accepted Answer

Farrah holds the copyright to the photograph she took, and any unauthorized use of it by another newspaper would constitute copyright infringement.

Question 2

Ida has just invented a machine that diffuses radar but looks like a pair of fluffy dice. It causes police radar traps to greatly underestimate the speed at which a car is travelling. Ida can protect her new invention using the law of patent.

Accepted Answer

The answer of Ida has just invented a machine that...

Question 3

Artistic Goods Ltd. has registered the design of a new wooden coat rack under the Industrial Design Act. Artistic Goods must have intended that the coat racks would not be made entirely by hand by craftsmen.

Accepted Answer

Artistic Goods registered the design of a new wooden coat rack under the Industrial Design Act, which suggests that they intended for the coat racks to be mass-produced rather than made entirely by hand by craftsmen.

Question 4

Anne has created a computer program that will help conserve energy in the home. Since computer programs cannot be copyrighted, she must go through the long and difficult process of patenting the program.

Accepted Answer

Computer programs can be copyrighted, offering protection for the original expression in the program's code, without the need to patent the software for intellectual property protection.

Question 5

Artistic Goods Ltd. has registered the design of a new wooden coat rack under the Industrial Design Act. The design would not be protected if it was not registered.

Accepted Answer

Under the Industrial Design Act, a design must be registered to be protected against unauthorized use or copying. Without registration, the design would not have legal protection.

Question 6

Artistic Goods Ltd. has registered the design of a new wooden coat rack under the Industrial Design Act. If Artistic Goods had intended to make only 20 of the coat racks as a limited edition, there would be no way the company could protect the design.

Accepted Answer

Registering the design under the Industrial Design Act provides protection for the appearance of the product, regardless of the quantity produced, including limited editions.

Question 7

Gianna first marketed her automatic backscratcher to the public 30 months ago and has been tinkering with its design ever since. Deciding that the original design was as good as it was going to get, she took it to a patent lawyer last week. He told her that, under the Patent Act, she will not be able to patent it because she has left it too late. He is right.

Accepted Answer

Under the U.S. Patent Act, an inventor must file a patent application within one year of publicly disclosing or offering the invention for sale. Since Gianna marketed her invention 30 months ago, she has exceeded this time frame, making her invention ineligible for a patent.

Question 8

The words "Patent Pending" on a product have no particular significance at law and serve as no protection at law for a manufacturer of goods that uses such a mark.

Accepted Answer

"Patent Pending" does not confer any legal protection or exclusive rights to the manufacturer. It merely indicates that a patent application has been filed and is pending approval.

Question 9

Speedy Stationery Ltd. registered the design of its line of desk accessories in 2015. Its exclusive rights to reproduce these designs will expire, at the latest, in 2025.

Accepted Answer

In most jurisdictions, design rights or design patents typically last for a period of 10 to 15 years from the date of registration, meaning that Speedy Stationery Ltd.'s exclusive rights expiring in 2025 for a design registered in 2015 aligns with common legal standards.

Question 10

Gianna first marketed her automatic backscratcher to the public 30 months ago and has been tinkering with its design ever since. Deciding that the original design was as good as it was going to get, she took it to a patent lawyer last week. He told her that, under the Patent Act, she will not be able to patent it because she has left it too late. He would not have said that if Penny had approached him two months after she first started marketing it.

Accepted Answer

Under the U.S. Patent Act, an inventor has a 12-month grace period from the first public disclosure, offer for sale, or public use of an invention to file a patent application. Since Gianna waited 30 months after first marketing her automatic backscratcher, she has exceeded this period, making her invention ineligible for patent protection.

Question 11

Amanda and Cynthia wrote a calculus textbook, which was published in 1970. Amanda died in 1975 and Cynthia in 1990. The copyright will expire in 2025.

Accepted Answer

The copyright for a work created by two or more authors who did not work for hire expires 70 years after the death of the last surviving author. Since Cynthia died in 1990, the copyright would expire in 2060, not 2025.

Question 12

When Lee, a patent agent, draws up the petition for a patent for a particular invention, she must submit detailed specifications of the invention, usually along with drawings of it, and a statement as to what is new in this invention and what uses it can be put to. Lee can leave out an essential feature of the invention until the patent is granted, so that no one browsing through the patents pending descriptions could steal the idea.

Accepted Answer

The patent application process requires full disclosure of the invention to ensure that the patent office can assess its novelty and non-obviousness. Leaving out essential features with the intention of keeping them secret until the patent is granted would result in an incomplete application, potentially leading to the rejection of the patent.

Question 13

If Kleenex had registered its trade name when it first started making paper handkerchiefs, it might well have lost its exclusive right to that name by now in North America.

Accepted Answer

Kleenex could have become a generic term due to its widespread use as a generic term for paper handkerchiefs, leading to the loss of its trademark protection.

Question 14

A registered design is normally a design that would be subject to copyright if it was not for the fact that it is reproduced by an industrial process.

Accepted Answer

A registered design protects the visual appearance of a product, which might otherwise be protected by copyright if not mass-produced.

Question 15

Charlie designed a piece of furniture that had a novel appearance. He registered the design, then later discovered that another manufacturer was producing exactly the same piece of furniture. The design of a piece of furniture would not be subject to registered design legislation.

Accepted Answer

The design of a piece of furniture can be subject to registered design legislation, which protects the visual design of objects that are not purely utilitarian. If Charlie registered his design, he has legal grounds to take action against the manufacturer for infringement.

Question 16

Artistic Goods Ltd. has registered the design of a new wooden coat rack under the Industrial Design Act. Artistic Goods must have intended to produce more than 50 of these coat racks.

Accepted Answer

Artistic Goods must have intended to produce more than 50 of these coat racks because the Industrial Design Act only protects designs that are intended to be mass-produced.

Question 17

When Lee, a patent agent, draws up the petition for a patent for a particular invention, she must submit detailed specifications of the invention, usually along with drawings of it, and a statement as to what is new in this invention and what uses it can be put to.

Accepted Answer

The process of filing a patent application involves submitting detailed specifications of the invention, which typically include drawings and a statement highlighting what is novel about the invention and its potential applications. This is a fundamental requirement to help the patent office assess the patentability of the invention.

Question 18

Charlie designed a piece of furniture that had a novel appearance. He registered the design, then later discovered that another manufacturer was producing exactly the same piece of furniture. The only defence available to the other manufacturer would be that he had developed the design before Charlie registered his own design.

Accepted Answer

The other manufacturer can claim prior use as a defense if they can prove they developed the design independently before Charlie registered it.

Question 19

Charlie designed a piece of furniture that had a novel appearance. He registered the design, then later discovered that another manufacturer was producing exactly the same piece of furniture. Charlie may take action against the other manufacturer for infringement of his registered design.

Accepted Answer

By registering his design, Charlie has protected the visual appearance of his piece of furniture, giving him the legal right to take action against anyone who produces an item with the same or a substantially similar design without his permission.

Question 20

While preparing an essay for her MBA class on the increased need for employers to take steps to protect confidential information in the age of computers, Margaret photocopied several journal articles, parts of which she later quoted in her paper. She did not get the permission of the authors to do so. She has not breached the Copyright Act.

Accepted Answer

Margaret has not breached the Copyright Act because she has only photocopied and quoted parts of journal articles, which is considered fair use under the Copyright Act.

Quiz 26: Intellectual Property, Patents, Trademarks, Copyright and Franchising