Chapter 6 Questions

1. Clearly, a paradox exists because stronger patent laws with longer durations allow greater profit
to the inventor, but strong and long patent protection discourages related innovation.
2. There are certain business activities and processes that are not patented, copyrighted or
trademarked. Many businesses regard these as trade secrets. It could be special ways of
working, price costings or business strategies.
3. Copyrights are a 20 year monopoly
4. Registered designs provide exclusive rights to creative individuals for the protection of literary
artistic work
5. Registered trademark is a distinctive mark or symbol that is identified with a company
6. Patent as protected by registration for outward appearance of an article
7. The word patent comes from the practice of monarchs in the Middle Ages (500–1500)
conferring rights and privileges by means of ‘open letters
8. Patents are granted to individuals and organizations that can lay claim to a new product or
manufacturing process or to an improvement of an existing product or process that was not
previously known
9. Patents are monopoly for 2 years
10. Patents require monthly fees
11. The role of a patent agent combines scientific or engineering knowledge with legal knowledge
and expertise and it is a specialized field of work.
12. The granting of a patent gives the ‘patentee’ a monopoly to make, use or sell the invention
13. Many large companies have outsourced patent agents who prepare patents for the company’s
scientists
14. Novelty: ‘an invention shall be taken to be new if it does NOT form part of the state of the art
15. State of the art is defined as industry applications
16. A patent should have industry application it can be a machine product or a process
17. A patent should be general knowledge at the time
18. A patent should not have differences which make it an invention
19. A patient benefits from legal protection if we can identify the concept embodied in the patent
20. Discoveries (as opposed to inventions), scientific theory and mathematical processes are
patentable.
21. literary artistic works and designs are covered by other forms of intellectual property, such as
trademarks, copyright and registered designs
22. The two most important sources of information relating to a patent are the patent specification
and the patent abstract
23. The patent abstract is a detailed description of the invention and must disclose enough
information to enable someone else to repeat the invention
24. The patent spacification is is a short statement printed on the front page of the patent
specification, which identifies the technical subject of the invention and the advance that it
represents.
25. Abstracts usually are accompanied by a drawing.
26. The remainder of the specification will contain claims. These are to define the breadth and
scope of the invention.
27. In Europe applications remain secret until granted
28. In USA, patent applications are published while pending
29. In Europe, a patent is invalid if the inventor has published the novel information
30. In the United States there are some provisions which allow inventors to talk first and file later
31. On expiry of a patent competitors are unable to use the technology;
32. The principal forms of defense are brand development and further research.
33. Pharmaceutical drugs are difficult to copy.
34. The launch of generics on a product which has just come off-patent can be considerable
35. In Big Tech such products are referred to as generic drugs;
36. Patent troll: is a person or company that attempts to enforce patent rights against accused
infringers far beyond the patent’s actual value or contribution to the prior art
37. Patent trolls often manufacture products or supply services based upon the patents in question.
38. patents registries can be checked to find out what customers are doing
39. Very often, patents registries can provide a valuable source of inspiration
40. Patent extensions are known in USA as Supplementary Protection Certificates, usually
abbreviated to ‘SPC
41. In Europe the approach is to extend the lifetime of patents where the applicant can show
regulatory delay
42. The approvals sometimes took so long the inventor had reduced time to commercialize it.
43. They were introduced to compensate patent owners for regulatory delays in approving their
pharmaceuticals
44. Annual Fees are not required for patents
45. Patents provide international protection’
46. Patents are effective in all industries
47. Patents have significant legal cost
48. Patents need harmonization European Patent Convention (EPC) Paris Convention – 114
countries First-to-file (EU) vs first-to-invent (US)
49. A trademark should be deceptive
50. A trademark should cause confusion
51. A trademark should not be distinctive
52. A trademark should satisfy conditions of section 1(1)
53. A trademark have not become synonymous with a particular product
54. Trademarks are closely associated with business image, goodwill, and reputation
55. A trademark: is any sign capable of being represented graphically which is capable of
distinguishing goods or services of one undertaking from those of other undertakings.
56. A trademark: is any sign capable of being represented graphically which is capable of
distinguishing goods or services of one undertaking from those of other undertakings.
57. Trademark cannot be renewed for further 10-year periods
58. An injunction enables access to the profits made from the infringement of copyright
59. Accounts represent an order of the court which prohibits a person making infringing copies of a
work of copyright
60. Some infringements carry criminal penalties
61. The owner of the copyright and ask the court for damages, on the basis of compensation for the
actual loss suffered.
62. Registered designs are Intended for designs with aesthetic appeal
63. Registered designs are for a maximum of 50 years
64. Registered designs are for inward designs
65. New designs are Not published (in the UK) and Materially different appeal to the eye
66. Registered design system is Similar in operation to the patent system
67. Computer software manufacturers and the music industry have battled with illegal copying for
many years.
68. Copyright is a very easy law to enforce
69. Concepts, principles, processes or discoveries are valid for copyright protection before they are
put in a tangible form, such as written or drawn.
70. For the author of creative material to obtain copyright protection, it must: be in a tangible form
so that it can be communicated or reproduced
71. For the author of creative material to obtain copyright protection, it must also be the author’s
own work and thus the product of his or her skill or judgement.
72. Copyright protection is not automatic and there is needs to be registration and other
formality.
73. Copyright is recognized by the symbol ™
74. Copyright gives legal rights to creators of certain kinds of material, so that they can control the
various ways in which their work may be exploited.
75. Branding is highly effective but risky way of getting large returns on an investment in R&D
76. Winners can take the whole market and losers get nothing.
77. Standards is an important way to appropriate returns from inventions it can create customer
loyalty
78. Product complexity helps avoid imitation by increasing product complexity the semiconductor
industry is a good example of this because expensive devices are needed to reengineer
semiconductor products
79. After-Sales service refers to market share acquired by the lead time advantages which can be
sustained through after sales service . If a better and cheaper product is introduced especially in
businesses to business customer loyalty may disappear very quickly
80. Secrecy is acquired through experience , it is an asset difficult to imitate
81. Accumulated tacit knowledge is relatively easy , no legal protection
82. Lead time refers to the fact that market share and profits need to be secured quickly
83. Learning curve is prior knowledge that has made the process more efficient
84. Complimentary assets are additional useful extra products that are offered to make the product
more desirable
85. There are 9 alternatives to patents which are secrecy, accumulated tacit knowledge, after sales
service, learning curve, complementary assets , product complexity , standards and branding
 Answer Key:

1. T
2. T
3. F
4. F
5. T
6. F
7. T
8. T
9. F
10. F
11. T
12. T
13. F
14. T
15. F
16. T
17. F
18. F
19. T
20. F
21. T
22. T
23. F
24. F
25. T
26. T
27. F
28. F
29. T
30. T
31. F
32. T
33. F
34. T
35. F
36. T
37. F
38. F
39. T
40. F
41. F
42. T
43. T
44. F
45. F
46. F
47. T
48. T
49. F
50. F
51. F
52. T
53. F
54. T
55. T
56. T
57. F
58. F
59. F
60. T
61. T
62. T
63. F
64. F
65. T
66. T
67. T
68. F
69. F
70. T
71. T
72. F
73. F
74. T
75. F
76. T
77. F
78. T
79. T
80. F
81. F
82. T
83. T
84. T
85. T