Selecting an attorney for legal cases is a very important decision. Please enter your information below to receive a Free Consultation from an attorney in your area:
Intellectual Property News
Users May Be Unaware Of Threats From Filesharing Programs
The Department of Commerce’s United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) has released a report that concludes that the distributors of five popular filesharing programs repeatedly deployed features that they knew or should have known could cause users to share files inadvertently. The report, Filesharing Programs and “Technological Features to Induce Users to Share,” identifies five features in recent versions of five popular filesharing programs that could cause users to inadvertently distribute to others downloaded files or their own proprietary or sensitive files.
“Computer programs that can cause unintended filesharing contribute to copyright infringement, and they threaten the security of personal, corporate, and governmental data,” noted Jon Dudas, under secretary of commerce for intellectual property—the Bush Administration’s point person on copyright policy.
The report shows that distributors of filesharing programs deployed features that could cause inadvertent sharing even after repeated warnings that these features could facilitate identity theft and breaches of personal and national security. For example, in 2003, two Congressional hearings were prompted by research indicating inadvertent sharing could be caused by search-wizard and share-folder features. After the hearings, many distributors adopted a Code of Conduct that prohibited use of these features. Nevertheless, in 2004 and 2005, many of these same distributors kept deploying more aggressive versions of search-wizard or share-folder features. Many distributors also deployed other features, like partial-uninstall and coerced-sharing features, that also had a known or obvious potential to cause inadvertent sharing. Read more at uspto.gov.
Trademarks and similar domain names are considered just addresses.
Because domain names often comprise celebrities' or companies' names, trademarks and the like, few people regard them as merely addresses.
Newsroom
News about Intellectual Property cases in Texas and nationwide:
Definition:
A contractual agreement from the copyright owner and another person, allowing them to exercise on or more rights is considered a license to use the work. Licenses are usually paid for in terms of royalty or fees.
Copyright
Definition:
Refers to the exclusive rights granted to an author or owner of a copyrightable work. (See FAQ Section 2.1 and 17 USC § 106.2)
License
Definition:
This is a contractual agreement from a copyright owner or the owner's authorized agent, such as a third party vendor, allowing another party to exercise one or more of the exclusive rights provided the copyright owner under the Copyright Law (See FAQ Section 2.1.5).
Legal Disclaimers
All attorney listings are a paid attorney advertisement, and do not in any way constitute a referral or endorsement by an approved or authorized lawyer referral service. The information provided on Texas Intellectual Property Lawyers.com is not intended to be legal advice, but merely conveys
general information related to legal issues commonly encountered. Your access
to and use of this website is subject to additional Terms
and Conditions.
Local Professional? Generate new business today
Call 866-227-9356 or contact a sales rep
Did You Know?