TRADEMARK, DOMAIN NAMES, COPYRIGHT, and TRADE SECRETS

Samsung

I. TRADEMARK

TRADEMARK
A trademark is a word, symbol, or phrase, used to identify a particular manufacturer or seller's products and distinguish them from the products of another.

Four Categories of Trademark

To determine if a symbol deserves a trademark, copyright courts place it into four categories: arbitrary, suggestive, descriptive, and generic. These are in the general order of creativity, with arbitrary marks being the most distinctive.

Four Categories of Trademark

Arbitrary An arbitrary mark is often called a fanciful mark because it has absolutely no relation to the product with which it is associated. This can often be the most successful type of symbol since it can become engraved in consumer's mind.

Four Categories of Trademark

Suggestive A suggestive mark is not directly tied into a product or company, but it somehow associates itself with the business or item.

Four Categories of Trademark

Generic Generic "marks" are devices which actually name a product and are incapable of functioning as a trademark. Unlike descriptive marks, generic devices will not become a trademark even if they are advertised so heavily that secondary meaning can be proven in the mind of consumers. A generic description like "car" or "cereal" is a something that we use to identify an object, not just identify a particular brand of object.

Four Categories of Trademark

Descriptive Descriptive marks are more linked to their companies or products. Because this can walk the line between generic and actually information, descriptive marks or slogans generally must fulfill another characteristic, secondary meaning. This means that although a phrase might be able to describe a number of different products, this symbol or slogan has come to be specifically associated with a particular company in the minds of the consumers.

 Obtaining a trademark for your company can be an important part of protecting your creativity and products. If you or someone you know needs help with the legal aspect of receiving a trademark or copyright, talk to the business lawyers

The symbol means the trade mark has been registered. The TM symbol (trademark) usually denotes that the owner is claiming unregistered trade mark right.

Why Register a Trademark ?

A. Greater Protection B. Greater Deterrence C. Greater Remedies

What kinds of trademarks can be registered?

1. Descriptive 2. Suggestive 3. Arbitrary 4. Fanciful

What kinds of trademarks cannot be registered?

1. Generic terms 2. Surnames 3. . Geographically descriptive or geographically misdescriptive terms 4. Scandalous or immoral marks -These are marks that offend the conscience. 5. Deceptive marks

Trademark of Samsung:

Trademark of Samsung:
Symbol or logo for company is the best method to show your company identity and it also represent your companys reputation and integrity. There is little consideration when you want to register your symbol or logo for company like:
The design of the logo The uniqueness of the logo

Trademark of Samsung:
As we can see, the current Samsung logo design is intended to emphasize flexibility and simplicity while conveying a dynamic and innovative image through the ellipse, the symbol of the universe and the world stage.

The openings on both ends of the ellipse where the letters "S" and "G" are located are intended to illustrate the company's open-mindedness and the desire to communicate with the world. The English rendering is a visual expression of its core corporate vision, excellence in customer service through technology.

Trademark of Samsung:
The basic color in the logo is blue, the color that the company has had used in its logos for years. The blue color symbolizes stability and reliability, which are precisely what the company wishes to accomplish with its customers. It also stands for social responsibility as a corporate citizen, a company official explained.

II. DOMAIN NAME

DOMAIN NAMES
A domain name is an identification string that defines an area of authority.

Domain Name Concern:

The selection and protection of a domain name may be the most important detail in the creation of a web site. Domain names function as the address for a web site, and arguments over domain names have become more common and more heated as the popularity of the Internet grows.

Domain Name Concern:

Selecting a Domain Name Reclaiming a Domain Name Registered by Another Obtaining a Domain Name Protecting a Domain Name Obtaining Multiple Domain Names under Different Top Level Domains

Domain Trademark/Ownership Dispute Issues

At first, domain names are nothing but user-friendly addresses. However, in a commercial marketplace, they came to be seen as marketing tools and brand names. Thus, domain names became a tradable commodity.

So many legal issues on domain name have arisen, and accordingly more and more disputes between domain name holders and complainants have been taken before relative courts all over the world. There are conflicting decisions among different authority and even within the same nation.

types of domain name disputes

Cyber squatting Typo squatters Gripe site

types of domain name disputes

Cybersquatting - involves no such competition, but instead an unlicensed user registering the trademark as a domain name to pressure a payoff (or other benefit) from the lawful mark owner.

Typosquattingthose registering common misspellings of trademarks as domain nameshave also been targeted successfully in trademark infringement suits.

types of domain name disputes

Other types of domain name disputes include the so-called "gripe site," which use a registered trademark in a domain such as "[trademark]sucks.com."

Domain of Samsung
Samsung is the legal domain of Samsung Company. http://www.samsung.com/

III. COPYRIGHTS

COPYRIGHTS
Copyright is a legal concept, enacted by most governments, giving the creator of an original work, exclusive rights to it, usually for a limited time. A copyright is an exclusive right. That means you have the right to exclude all others from copying your work or from making works derived from your work. The other side of the coin, of course, is that you do not have the right to copy another person's work (music, screenplay, images) without permission, unless the work is in the public domain.

COPYRIGHTS
Copyright law does not protect short phrases, tag lines, or business and domain names. Trademark law may protect those elements. Copyright law also does not protect the ideas on your website. Although patents may protect business methods involving websites, underlying, exposed ideas have no legal protection.

Copyright protection is automatic when the creative work is created. Ownership of the copyright vests in the author of the work unless the author is an employee creating the work within the scope of her duties or there is a written agreement that transfers copyright ownership.

Difference b/n copyright, patent and trademark

Trademark is any word, symbol, device, logo or slogan that identifies and distinguishes one product or service from another. Patent is a right provided by the government that allows inventors to prevent another from making, selling, or using another invention that is similar in nature. Patents may be used to protect inventions, machines, devices, processes and many other things. Registering A Trademark does not practice patent law Copyright is a bundle of rights granted to authors of creative works such as books, websites, computer software, music, architecture, paintings and many other creative works. A copyright owner has the exclusive right to copy and sell the work and additionally has the right to perform it and make variations on it.

Copyright Infringement and Protection

Avoiding Copyright Infringement
Ask yourself: Do I have permission to use each and every element of my website? If you dont have the right or permission to use the work of someone, you may be infringing someones copyright. And you may get a demand for damages or you may get sued.

Copyright Infringement and Protection

Protecting Your Copyright
First, putting a copyright notice on your website is not required for protection but it is a good idea to prevent someone from claiming they are innocent rather than willful infringers. Second, you may register your website with the Copyright Office. A federal registration has many benefits including access to the courts, statutory damages and attorneys fees if registered before infringement. Because most websites are dynamic and change frequently, however, registration can be tricky. Your website registration will have to be updated periodically to get full protection.

Example: Copyright of Samsung (website)

IV. TRADE SECRTES CONSIDERATION

TRADE SECRTES
formula, practice, process, design, instru ment, pattern, or compilation of information which is not generally known or reasonably ascertainable, by which a business can obtain an economic advantage over competitors or customers.

trade secret is information that:

is not generally known to the public; confers some sort of economic benefit on its holder (where this benefit must derive specifically from its not being generally known, not just from the value of the information itself); is the subject of reasonable efforts to maintain its secrecy.

Protection
A company can protect its confidential information through non-compete and non-disclosure contracts with its employees (within the constraints of employment law, including only restraint that is reasonable in geographic and time scope). The law of protection of confidential information effectively allows a perpetual monopoly in secret information - it does not expire as would a patent. The lack of formal protection, however, means that a third party is not prevented from independently duplicating and using the secret information once it is discovered.

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