The goal of intellectual property law is to encourage innovation. Individuals and companies will be far less likely to create new or improved products, services, and works such as movies and albums if others can readily copy and profit from their efforts.
Choose one of the scenarios below and determine which type of intellectual property law applies and whether it would, in fact, provide any remedy. Remember to identify and explain the elements necessary to claim protection as intellectual property, why you think those elements are or are not present, and what other information you would need to make this determination.
- William Writer has developed a great idea for a novel. It will feature a young magician named Henry Pryor who attends a special high school for magicians. Henry has many interesting friends and even searches for the Philosopher’s Rock.
- Karen Kitchens is a fantastic cook. Her best dish is fried chicken. Her fried chicken is so good that her friends suggest she start a restaurant. After some thought, Karen agrees. She plans to open Kitchen’’ Fried Chicken, but because the name is a bit long she decided to shorten it to KFC. Her sign will be red and white and feature an image of Karen’s father, a white-haired old man with a goatee.
- Sandy Secretary works for a huge cola company. The company is famous for its secret formula that it has used for more than 100 years. One day while looking for something in the boss’s office, Sandy finds a piece of paper that lists the secret formula. Sandy secretly makes a copy of the formula and offers to sell it to a competitor.
