Intellectual Property Law

Instructions: Consider cutting and over writing a false answer. There shall be zero tolerance on indiscipline, misbehavior, cheating, nuisance or any other ground.

Q. 1: Write TRUE or FALSE against each statement

1. The grant of patents to traders and manufacturers became common practice in Tudor times: Elizabeth

I granted some 50 between 1561 and 1590._________

2. Sir John Harrington’s request for a patent for a new water closet was turned down in 1596, on

grounds of propriety. __________

3. In 1624, this public interest doctrine was incorporated into the Statute of Monopolies, section 6 of

which rendered illegal all monopolies except those “for the term of 15 years or under hereafter to be

made of the sole working or making of any manner of new manufactures within this Realm to the true

and first inventor”._________

4. A written specification became a prerequisite during the reign of Queen Anne, one of the first patents

to comply with this requirement being James Puckle’s 1719 patent for a machine gun.________

5. In 1785, Richard Arkwright’s spinning machine patent was voided for want of an adequate

specification. __________

6. James Watt’s 1796 steam engine patent was the second beneficiary of this extension of patentability

to improvements. __________

7. In 1850, the Great Exhibition highlighted many of the deficiencies of the patent system, which

required an applicant for a patent to petition seven different offices, a process lampooned in Charles

Dickens’s A POOR MAN’S TALE OF A PATENT.___________

8. The patent system was overhauled in 1852 by the Patent Law Amendment Act, which simplified

procedures, reduced fees and introduced a single UK patent to replace the national patents that had

been offered until then._________

9. In 1883, further reforms brought into existence the Comptroller-General and a staff of examiners,

though they were charged only with checking on the adequacy of the description of inventions

submitted to them, not on novelty.___________

10. 1904 saw the introduction of a limited investigation into the novelty of the invention before a patent

would be granted.____________

11. By 1905 there were 1,022 volumes arranged in 146 classes, and a couple of years later the

abridgement volumes were completed back to the first patent to be given a number, granted in 1617

to Rathburn & Burges for “Engraving and Printing Maps, Plans &c” __________

12. No radical changes were made in the patent system between then and 1977, when the present Patents

Act replaced the 1949 one. __________

13. Beside the 1977 Act, the 1949 Act looks parochial: it continued to provide for “patents of

importation”, granting a monopoly to the first person to bring an invention to the UK, rather than its

inventor._________

14. The 1977 Act was specifically designed to achieve harmonisation with the conventions___________

15. The Act was amended in 2005 to conform to the revisions to the EPO known as EPO 2000 ____________

16. As Lord Mansfield said as long ago as 1778, disclosure is:... the price the individual should pay the

people for his monopoly.__________

17. Patents are granted for inventions that satisfy the criteria set out in the legislation. They must be

novel, inventive, capable of industrial application and not specifically denied protection by the

legislation_________

18. The skilled worker is assumed to read the prior art carefully, though lacking inventive capacity he

may fail to realize the importance of some of it.____________

19. The EU Commission published its Proposal for a directive on the patentability of computer-

implemented inventions on 25 February 2001__________

20. The UK implemented the EC directive on the legal protection of biotechnology inventions

(98/44/EC) in the Patents Regulations 2007, which amend the Patents Act 1977__________

Key IPL Answers

1. True 2. True 3. False

4. False

5. False

6. False

7. False

8. True

9. True

10. False

11. True

12. True

13. True

14. True

15. False

16. True

17. True

18. True

19. False

20. True

Q. 2: Answer the following short questions in not more than five lines

1. A patent is an exclusive right granted for an invention, which is a product or a process that

provides, in general, a new way of doing something, or offers a new technical solution to a

problem. Explain.

2. Patents provide incentives to individuals by offering them recognition for their creativity and material reward for their marketable inventions. These incentives encourage innovation, which assures that the quality of human life is continuously enhanced. Explain.

3. What role do the Patents play in everyday life?4. Should I discuss the details of my invention with a potential investor before filing a patent

application?5. What is industrial Designs?

6. What cannot be protected by industrial design rights?7. What rights are conferred by industrial design protection?

Q. 3: “Anderson” your client worked in a fast food restaurant “Wag mama” for Ten years as chef in North Germany, one of his job description was to prepare food recipe, on 31 Dec. 1993, he was approached by the CEO of KFC to work for them in the Eastern Coast of Canada, so he resigned his current job and accepted the terms and conditions of KFC. He followed the same recipe which he used as a Special of his previous employer. Wag mama brought the suit against him for the breach of confidential information; He is now in the court to defend against his previous employer on the grounds of “Confidential Information” Fast food claims that Anderson breached the confidential information while on the other hand he claims that he is covered under “Competition Law and Fair Use”. During the pendency of the suit and after working hours in KFC Anderson worked for “Just Fish” where he had to prepare steam fish and roasted tuna, later on he found that the recipe for roasted tuna is not up to hygienic standards, so he gave the information of both recipes to food control authority. The authority took the action and imposed fine of US $ 10,0000/ on Just Fish. The owner used his discretionary powers and fired him from Just Fish and also sued and claimed damages. Advise your Client using relevant case law that whether he breached the confidential information or not? Q. 4: Critically evaluate the defenses of Trademark using relevant case law.Q. 5: Discuss in detail grounds of infringement of Trade mark using relevant case law.Q. 6: Examine the concept of Confidential information and exceptions to it. Q. 7: Copy rights provides exclusive economic rights. Explain in detail.