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BUS 311 Business Law I

Introduction to fundamental concepts in business law.

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    Napster and Microsoft 1 Patent and Copyrights Name BUS 311 Business Law I Professor Date Explain the role of patents and copyrights in protecting business products and intellectual property. Use examples from the cases of Microsoft and Napster to illustrate how these legal protections can impact businesses. How do patents and copyrights help businesses maintain their competitive edge and protect their investments in a rapidly evolving technological environment? Your response should be a minimum of 750 words and include proper citations from the provided references.

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    Napster and Microsoft 2 Patent and Copyrights With today’s business’s, the products they have available to their customers , there are many laws that help the business protect their product and their self’s. There are many important laws that will h elp protect businesses with copyrights and patents . This includes products that the business has or might be working on . In this paper I will explain what copyrights and patents are and how they can help a business protect their investments. So we ask our self what is copyrights? Copyright “is a form of protection provided by the laws of the United States (title 17, U. S. Code) to the authors of “original works of authorship,” including literary, dramatic, musical, artistic, and certain other intellectual works” (U.S Copyrights Office, 2008). In Section 106 of the 1976 Copyright Act allows the owners of the copyright material the right to do and authorize anyone else to reproduce the work in copies, distribute copies or phonorecords, perform the work in publicly or display the work in publicly. As stated by Bonnice & Liuzzo (2010) “copyright cannot prevent the copying of an idea, but only the way it is expressed. Under the current copyright law, a created work is protected for the lifetime of the creator plus 70 years.” (p.382). So we ask our self what is patents? A patent “is an intellectual property right granted by the Government of the United States of America to an inventor “to exclude others from making, using, offering for sale, or selling the invention throughout the United States” (United States Patent and Trademark Office, n.d.) . The patent rights were established over 200 years ago in the United States Constitution Article 1, Section 8. There are three types of patents that one could have and they are Utility patents, Design patents and Plant patents. With the Utility patents are for anyone that “invents or discovers any new and useful process” (United States Patent and Trademark Office, n.d.). With the Design patents they are for anyone “who invents a new,

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    Napster and Microsoft 3 original and ornamental design for an article of manufacture” (United States Patent and Trademark Office, n.d.). With the Plant patents they are for anyone “who invents or discovers and asexually reproduces any distinct and new variety of plant” (United States Patent and Trademark Office, n.d.). The patent is only good for 20 years form the date on which the patent - holder application for the patent was filed in the United States. One of the most recognized companies in the world was sued. Microsoft was sued for a music patent. Stated by Chmielewski & Meen (2007) “ Microsoft Corp. to pay $1.52 billion for infringing patents underpinning the world’s most popular digital music standard, known as MP3” (para. 1). This verdict is one of the largest patent awards on record today and could open the door for other technology companies to massive liability. This could mean virtually every portable digital music player that uses the MP3 technology could be sued for patents. Microsoft was sued by a small company called i4i. The company i4i sued Microsoft for using an editing tool patented by i4i. The i4i company stated that “the program was used in Microsoft Word 2003 and 2007” (Totenberg, 2011). The jury ruled against the industry giant and orders them to pay $290 million to i4i to stop using the patented editing tool. Microsoft appealed all the way to the Supreme Courts. The company to the courts that i4i’s patent was invalid and standard for proving invalidity should be less rigorous than the lower courts. The courts told Microsoft that the U.S. Patent Office granted patent for i4i for their editing tool. Microsoft no longer use the i4i editing tool technology for its word programs. More than ever before, goods, products and services are being provided by businesses of all variations. Today fewer and fewer people today are self - sufficient. In today’s world n o t that many people make her or his clothes and a lot of the people don ’ t even prepare their own meals on a daily bases. Business today are more technology driven which makes it possible for people

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