Page 26 - Innovator Handbook

26
Will FAU initiate or continue patenting activity without an identified licensee?
FAU often accepts the risk of filing a patent application before a licensee has been identified. Once a license agreement is executed, the licensee generally assumes responsibility for any patent expenses. In certain cases, OTD will decline further patent prosecution after a reasonable amount of time (usually a number of years) has been spent attempting to identify a licensee without success.
What is a copyright and how is it useful?
Copyright is a form of protection provided by law to authors of “original works of authorship.” This includes literary, dramatic,
musical, artistic, and certain other intellectual works as well as computer software. This protection is available to both published and unpublished works. The U.S. Copyright Act generally gives the owner of a copyright the exclusive right to conduct and authorize various acts, including reproduction, public performance and making derivative works. OTD can file a copyright registration with the U.S. Copyright Office, but it is only necessary in certain cases. Copyright protection
is automatically secured when an original work of authorship is fixed into a tangible medium of expression such as a book, painting, song, video, or software code. The benefits of registering a copyright are that it creates a public record of ownership and allows the owner to sue for copyright infringement and collect statutory damages.
What is a trademark and how is it useful?
A trademark or service mark includes any word, name, symbol,
device, or combination thereof, that is used in commerce to identify and distinguish the source of goods or services of one manufacturer
or seller from another. OTD can file a trademark or service mark registration with the USPTO, but it is only necessary in certain cases. Trademarks and service marks become protected as soon as they are used in commerce. The benefit of registering a trademark or service mark is that it creates a legal presumption that the registrant is entitled to use the trademark throughout the U.S. for the goods or services for which the trademark or service mark is registered.