Intellectual property includes ideas, and the works of inventors, authors, composers and other creative people. Patents, copyrights and trademarks establish legal rights in intellectual property. Alternatively, control over the use of an idea might be maintained by treating it as a trade secret. In these ways, the ideas of inventors and creators are protected and others are prohibited from appropriating the ideas and creative works of others. This course addresses the concept of intellectual property and the public policies that support the law of patent, copyright and trademark. Subjects include the process of obtaining patents, trademarks and copyrights; requirements of originality and, for patents, utility; infringement issues; and the problems posed by international trade and efforts to address them through the World Intellectual Property Organization. This course will be offered in 2021-22, and in alternating years thereafter.
GOV 1310 or GOV 2310.