| Patent Law |
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| To meet the utility requirement, an invention must provide a specific, known use that differs from the prior art, which is the body of information from which it is determined whether an invention is new; speculative or possible future utility is not sufficient. Application requirements set out by the Patent Act provide that the patent applicant describe in detail the invention, how to make it, what it does, and how it is used, which if properly complied with should make it clear what the claimed utility of the invention is. It is not necessary that the use represent an improvement over the prior art; however, to meet the utility requirement, an invention must work as claimed. More... |
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| The Federal Trademark Dilution Act of 1995 |
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| The Federal Trademark Dilution Act of 1995 serves to broaden the rights granted to famous trademarks under the Trademark Act of 1946 (also known as the Lanham Act). It strengthens the protection that famous trademarks are given by prohibiting dilution of the famous trademarks by third parties. More... |
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| Patent Law and Collateral Estoppel |
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| In a patent case, under collateral estoppel, once a court has decided an issue of fact or law necessary to its judgment, that decision may preclude relitigation of the issue in a suit on a different cause of action involving a party to the first case. Once a patent has been declared invalid via judicial inquiry, a collateral estoppel barrier is created against further litigation involving the patent, unless the plaintiff can demonstrate that he or she did not have a full and fair chance to litigate the validity of the patent in the prior case. Defendants may be collaterally estopped from contesting issues of infringement and patent validity. More... |
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| Indirect Patent Infringement |
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| Patent rights are created by federal law and give an inventor the right to exclude others from making, using, selling, offering for sale, or importing a patented invention without the inventor's permission for a limited period of time. The making, using, selling, offering for sale, or importing of a patented invention without the inventor's permission is said to directly infringe the patent, for which the patent owner may be able to recover a remedy. Patent law also provides for indirect infringement of a patent. More... |
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| Economic Espionage Act of 1996 |
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| The Economic Espionage Act of 1996 (EEA) provided a broader definition of what constitutes a "trade secret" and what constitutes trade secret theft, effectively replacing the 1948 Trade Secrets Act, which was limited to prosecution of federal employees. The EEA also was passed so as to serve as a universal trade secret theft act, overriding various trade secret acts instituted by individual states. More... |
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