Business Law Notes With Complete Solution

Why do we care about intellectual property? - Answer - Meisterstuck: difference in quality - A lot of value of associations you make - Buying brands and association - Companies sell brands not products - Consumers got quality they expected - Get value of brand without paying for it - Protecting brands become important Sophia Agostino has dedicated her life to the mastery of business law. Her notes and commentary have achieved cult status as a work of art. She has always wanted to visit Nogales, Arizona, in July for the annual Gila Monster Festival and has decided that her business law notes may be her ticket to fame, fortune and Nogales. She types up her notes, complete with charts, graphs and fold-outs and wants to market them with the title "Sophia's Legal Crap." She is concerned that there are unscrupulous entrepreneurs out there who would steal her ideas. Since she slept through that lecture, she has asked for your advice as to what she can and should do to protect her ideas. She also asks how long this protection lasts. In particular, she has heard through a friend that Nathan Anonich intends to market a book called "Nate's Crappy Law" and wants to know what she can do to stop it. Please discuss fully what you would tell Sophia. - Answer - You cannot get a copyright, she can't do anything - Can't stop it because the supreme court decides first amendment: right to free speech. Right trumps sophia's right (prior restraint) - Can sue after she publishes - Prove to win intentional infringement $150,000 - Substantial similarity between works, originality of expression, have to prove you were first, or both copied someone else; hd to have access to your work and ability to copy work. Prove he had book in front of him and copied it. - Anyone can freely use the underlying ideas or principles embodied in a work - Even though the names are similar, the underlying ideas are the same How long does a copyright last? - Answer A lifetime and 70 years How long does a publisher copyright last? - Answer 95 years * final form in a durable medium under berne convention True or False: It is safe to assume that all the stuff that is available on the internet is free for anyone to use as s/he pleases. _____True. _____False. Why or why not? Be specific in your answers. - Answer - False because all information can be considered intellectual property. - Everything on the internet is copyrighted - If you don't pay a certain amount, then sued What is a patent? - Answer - Exclusive right to makr sell or use an invention, discovery, or process for a period of 20 years. Designs are protected for 14 years - Required: Invention is genuine, novel, useful and not obvious in light of given technology at the time. What is a copyright? - Answer - Rights in artistic or literary works in the author which arise automatically at the time of the creation of the work - Duration: -> Authors life + 70 yrs -> Corporation --95 years from the date of publication or 120 years from date of creation, whichever is easier - Exception: fair use doctrine -> Educational purposes -> Not significant -> Can use for laughs -> Can use for omage What is the berne convention? - Answer - Deals with copyrights - 179 signatories as of 2020 - Minimum standards; assume each country will pass its own rules/standards - Minimum duration: life of author + 50 years. US is 70 years -Why extra 20 years? Maybe because its fair, heirs and gets benefit from copyright J or I. What does mickey mouse have to do with copyright law? - Answer - Example of copyright law - Extended copyright for mickey mouse and senator sunny bodow hald musical sunny and cher created patent - At the time called mickey mouse protection act - if Walt Disney- his copyright expires in 2036 - The Disney company-2023 copyright expires What is a trademark? - Answer - Shoes, watches, technology, food - Registered with the federal government and satisfy original trademark and various types of trademarks depending on value of symbol/name - So others are not gaining money. Its for profits for the trademarked company - Service mark - Certification mark - Trade names - Trademark infringement vs. Trademark dilution - Can title trademarks of books - Harry Potter movies are trademarked, books are not What is trademark infringement? - Answer - Protects Consumer - Federal statute passed in 1920s. LANHAM ACT. Consumer protection acts. Successful plaintiff they were confused and made mistake on quality of product (consumer likely to be confused on product) What is trademark dilution? - Answer - Protect brand/trademark holder - FEDERAL POLLUTION ACT in 1995. Designed to face issues what manufacturers are producing, designing to protect brand. Is someone trying to freeride on someone else's brand. What are some examples of trademark dilution? - Answer - Yahoo! in Tirana, Albania -> Because hard to connect fastfood and internet service What are some examples of trademark infringement? - Answer - McDonalds - Heineken Beer -> Consumer might be confused with beer in store - Daiads shoes: Nike- nkie, COrona- Cerona, Arm & Hammer- Arm and Hatchet What is a trade secret? - Answer - Common law and uniform trade secrets act - Coca Cola Recipe is a trade secret - If they can keep it as it is, they should. If they cant, then get a patent In which of the following situations would a court likely hold Ursula liable for copyright infringement? - Ursula goes to the library and photocopies ten pages from a scholarly journal relating to a topic on which she is writing a term paper. - Ursula makes blouses, dresses, and other clothes and sells them in her small shop. She advertises some of the outfits as Guest items, hoping that customers might mistakenly assume that they were made by Guess, the well-known clothing manufacturer. - Ursula teaches Latin American history at a small university. She has a digital video recorder and frequently records television programs relating to Latin America and puts them on DVDs. She takes the DVDs to her classroom so that her students can watch them. - Answer Ursula makes blouses, dresses, and other clothes and sells them in her small shop. She advertises some of the outfits as Guest items, hoping that customers might mistakenly assume that they were made by Guess, the well-known clothing manufacturer. What is the most important thing that you SHOULD have learned in the Legal Environment of Business? - Answer Stare Decisis What is the difference between courts of law and courts of equity? Between legal remedies and equitable remedies? - Answer - Courts of law: compensation; has jury; Stare decisis; Cash or Land - Courts of Equity: JUstice and equality; fairness between parties; no jury; judges; no stare decisis; equitable maxims; anything else - Legal remedies: Monetary- money or property - Equitably Remedy: nonmonetary/anything else What happens when a federal statute conflicts with a state constitutional provision? - Answer Federal Law wins What happens when a state statute conflicts with the common law of the state? - Answer State Statute wins What happens when a state constitutional amendment conflicts with the US constitution? - Answer US Constitution wins What is the difference between "binding authority" and "persuasive authority"? - Answer - Binding Authority: cases, statutes, or regulations that a court must follow because they bind the court. - Persuasive Authority: cases, statutes, or regulations that the court may follow but does not have to follow What is a contract? - Answer - Promises that are enforceable at law -> Are all promises enforceable at law? No What is contract law? - Answer - Serves as a sorting function- to sort out promises that should be enforceable at law and those that the law will not enforce (though the promise may represent moral or ethical duty even if it is not enforceable at law) - Provides the innocent (nonbreaching party) a remedy at law -> Remedy: relief provided to the innocent party when the other party has breached the contract -> Breach of contract: failure to perform what a party is under an absolute duty to perform Who is protected in terms of the remedies? - Answer - Interests protected: • Non-breaching party: • Generally: Try to Protect the Expectation Interest: Give the non-breaching party the "benefit of his bargain." • Alternative: Reliance interest of the non-breaching party. • Alternative: Restitution. • Breaching Party: • Mitigation of Damages. What are the most common remedies? - Answer 1. Damages. Equitable remedies (available only when damages are inadequate) 2. Rescission (cancel contract) and restitution (the restoration of something lost or stolen to its proper owner). 3. Specific performance. Calls for the performance of the act promised in the contract. (Note that civil law countries are much more liberal in granting specific performance as a remedy.) Example: Unique subject matter of contract. Usually will not be granted in the sale of goods context unless the goods are specially manufactured or otherwise unique. Will not be granted in a personal services contract. 4. Reformation (the court allows the parties to rewrite a portion of the contract so that it reflects the parties' original intentions more closely) What are the different types of damages? - Answer - Compensatory damages - Punitive damages - Nominal damages - Liquidated damages - Consequential damages What are compensatory damages? - Answer Damages to try and compensate the non-breaching party for his loss of bargain. Intend to cover direct losses and costs What are Punitive damages? - Answer Not generally awarded in a contract case. Contract law attempts to compensate the non-breaching party for the loss of his bargain; it does not seek to punish the breaching party. Some exceptions, most of which involve a tort that overlaps with breach of contract: e.g. fraud, unfair and deceptive business practices. What are nominal damages? - Answer may be awarded when a technical injury or default has occurred and no actual damages have been suffered. Not generally sought. What are liquidated damges? - Answer The Contract specifies a certain amount to be paid in the event of a future default or breach of contract What are consequential damages? - Answer Foreseeable indirect damages which result from a parties breach of contract. They differ from compensatory damages in that they are caused by special circumstances beyond the contract itself. - Hadley v. Baxendale (1854).