Gene and Betty Hoots Case Gloria Goomtam Columbia Southern University Most people cherish the right to own property. And for most Americans, this means the right to own real property. Real property is land and everything permanently attached to it. The type of ownership a person has in a piece of property determines his or her right to the property. Intellectual property consists of the fruit of one’s mind and not one’s hands. The laws of intellectual property protect property that is primarily the result of mental creativity rather than physical effort. When we are thinking about rights of any kind, it is important to remember that society, through laws, decides what rights individuals and communities have with regard to property. At times, intellectual property is more complicated than …show more content…
To be protected in interstate use, the trademark must be registered with the U.S. Patent Office under the Lanham Act of 1947. To register a mark with the Patent office, you must submit a drawing of the mark and indicate when it was first used in interstate commerce and how it is used. The Patent Office would then conduct an investigation to verify those facts and will trademark as long as it is not generic, descriptive, immoral, deceptive, the name of a person whose permission has not been obtained or is similar to another trademark. (Kubasek, N., Browne, M. N., Herron, D. J., Dhooge, L. J., & Barkacs, L. 2016). The case of Zatarians, Inc. versus Oak Grove Smokehouse, Inc. is similar to Gene and Betty Hoots case. Both companies, Zatarian and Oak Grove Smokehouse, sold similar fish seasoning products. Zatarian’s product was called “Fish Fri” and Oak Grove Smokehouse’s product was named “Fish Fry”. Zatarian had already registered his brand name product and it was very well known in New Orleans. The court ruled that Oak Grove can use the name too, as long as it is being produced outside of New Orleans. (Spiers, D.
United States v. Sell, 343 F.3d 950, 2003 U.S. App. LEXIS 26859 (8th Cir., Sept. 2, 2003)
DISCUSSION/ANALYSIS Introduction: Throughout this discussion, I will debate and analyse the ideas I have collected from my research. My discussion is separated under sub headings which will allow me to form a better understanding of how capital punishment is viewed, which will help me in reaching a possible answer to my question. Firstly, I am going to be discussing two very well known case studies. Case studies: The two case studies I have picked to focus my research on are: Derek Bentley who was the last man executed in Britain along with Ruth Ellis who was the last woman executed in Britain.
The hallmark of a property interest is that the party “[has] a legitimate claim of entitlement to it.” Merely having an adverse effect is not sufficient to make something a property interest. Normally, something does not qualify as a property interest if the state has discretion over the entitlement. Courts determine discretion by looking to whether a benefit can only be removed for good cause. Property interests go beyond traditional types of property, such as land or goods, but instead can include a wide range of government benefits. For example, the Supreme Court has recognized property interests in welfare benefits, government employment, social security benefits, and licenses. Courts use a two-tiered system for determining property interests. First, as previously mentioned, courts determine whether state law provides a property interest, and second they determine whether the nature of the interest is such that it deserves constitutional protection. In summation, a plaintiff has a valid property interest if they can show state law provides them a entitlement that is of a nature that is protected by the due process
v. VIP Prods., LLC 666 F. Supp. 2d 974 (Mo., 2008) Anheuser-Busch makes a distinction between confusing and non-confusing parodies, the latter being protected as a parody. The important factors in the case were that the price point of the products was the same, they were directly competing goods and the survey showed that there was a level of confusion (30.3% were confused), in addition, consideration was placed on irreparable harm caused by the defendants use of the mark, the priority lay with the first to register the trademark, lastly the District Court considered public interest, i.e. whether the public was deceived. Similarly in Starbucks Corp v. Wolfe’s Borough Coffee Inc., 588 F3d 97 (2d Cir. 2007) the court distinguished Louis Vuitton S.A. v Haute Diggty Dog, LLC, 507 F.3d 252 (4th Cir. 2007) by holding that if (as in the Louis Vuitton case), the mark is used in non-competing goods, the defendant conveyed that it was not the source of the plaintiffs product and if the actual use of the mark does not impair the distinctiveness of the plaintiff’s mark there may be an argument in favor of the defendant, however, if the defendant’s humor is not conveyed to the public, and does not increase the public identification of the plaintiff’s mark with its mark it will fail to establish
It is often conceptualized that property is the rights of 'ownership'. In common law property is divided into real property, which is the interests in land and improvements there, and personal property, which are interests in anything other than real property. Personal property is divided into tangible property (such as a bike, car and clothse), and intangible property (such as bonds and stocks), which also includes intellectual property (copyrights, trademarks etc). The modern property rights conceive of possession and ownership as belonging to legal individuals, even if the individual is not a real person. Hence, governments, corporations and other collective forms of ownership are shown in terms of individual ownership.
Property is an owned object, whether that is land or a house or a computer. We own property, it’s our right to protect and decide what we do with that property. We worked hard to own property and we will fight to protect it from both foreign and domestic threats. When someone takes our property, we call it theft, but when the government does it, it’s called Eminent Domain.
In the absence of registered trade mark rights, case law suggests as a general principle, that mere similarity of goods is not enough for an actionable wrong to occur. Passing off derives from the common law action deceit which is the civil action for fraudulent misrepresentation. Passing off is a non-statutory cause of action that has developed over the years through case law and has changed considerably overtime. Passing off came into existence long before trademarks became registerable and has always been available at common law for marks refused registration, not registered or ineligible for
Businesses filing the claim must also show that the business use of the trademark is expected to cause uncertainty as to the association, relationship or the affiliation among them. To establish a violation of the Lanham Act for either a registered mark under 15 U.S.C. § 1114, or an unregistered mark under 15 U.S.C. § 1125(a), the plaintiff must demonstrate that (1) it has a valid and legally protectable mark; (2) it owns the mark; and (3) the defendant's use of the mark to identify goods or services causes a likelihood of confusion.( A&H Sportswear, Inc. v. Victoria's Secret Stores, Inc., 237 F.3d 198 (3rd Cir.
Owners of real, intellectual and personal property each have the same rights under the law, whether it is a physical entity or a non-physical entity. “Ownership of real property is typically complicated than that of the personal or intellectual property since the law provides for different forms of ownership, which carry different rights (Roger, 2012). First, real property is regulated by federal and state statutes as well as common law. For example, a fee simple individual that has
It seems to me that every living thing on this earth is born with a sense of knowing what personal possession is, like animals, when they know what toy or what human belongs to them. Even babies, no matter human or animal, they say as soon as a baby is born they know the smell, voice, and touch of their mothers. Besides being inborn in every living thing, the right to property probably began back in the cavemen era over 100,000 years ago, when humans lived as hunter and gatherers. They obtained private property, rights to food, tools, weapons, and habitation. Even though they say in history that the early humans lacked the intellect that was essential for language and abstract thinking, I think they knew they had a right to possessions such as the tools they used and created to kill, eat, and gather. These rights probably changed as society changed. People became more aware of the land they began with. Then as they developed the skills to cultivate and use the land for food is probably when it went from community use to individual use. “With more permanent settlement, populations grew, small communities formed, and these communities established governing bodies to overcome problems that typically arise with communal land: shirking and consumption. This development, according to Krier, was a product of human design, rather than evolutionary forces. Over the years, these small communities gave way to organized nation states and eventually to our modern-day world with its complex property regimes.”(
The World Intellectual Property Organization, Intellectual property is the ‘products of the mind: inventions, literary and artistic works, any symbols, names, images, and designs used in commerce’. Intellectual Properties such as Patents, designs, trademarks and copyrights are protected by laws. The US government offers different types of protection for these properties. The Lanham Act (15 U.S.C.A. Section 1051 et seq., also known as the Trademark Act of 1946, provides protection for trademarks. A trademark is defined as a name, word, symbol, or device or any combination thereof, adopted and used by a manufacturer or merchant to identify its goods and distinguish them from those manufactured and sold by others.
Intellectual property is property resulting from intellectual, creative processes. A product that was created because of someone’s individual thought process. Examples includes books, designs, music, art work, and computer files. (Miller R. J., 2011, p. 114) In the music industry a copyright is an important tool for artist to use to protect themselves from infringers. A copyright is the exclusive right of an author or originator of a literary or artistic production to publish, print, or sell that production for a statutory period of time. A copyright has the same monopolistic nature as a patent or trademark, but it differs in that it applies exclusively to works of art, literature, and other works of authorship (including computer programs). (Miller R. J., 2011, p. 125)
There are many reason that why is it important to protect one’s intellectual property. Some of the reason are Creator being accused as a theft, Loss of Reputation, Loss of income, Loss of Asset and Loss of Authority Rights.
Intellectual property has played an important role for entrepreneurs. Without intellectual property, businesses would not exist. According to the textbook Entrepreneurship: Successfully Launching New Ventures written by Bruce Barringer and Duane Ireland states that intellectual property is “any product of human intellect that is intangible but has value in the marketplace. It is called “intellectual” property because it is the product of human imagination, creativity, and intensiveness (Barrigner & Ireland, 2012, pg. 395).” Intellectual property is an important issue for entrepreneurial firms because firms can benefit from their work. It is protected through intellectual property laws. According to an article through the American Intellectual
Intellectual property is information, original ideas and expressions of the persons mind that have profitable value and are protected under copyright, patent, service mark, trademark/trade secret regulation from replication, violation, and dilution. Intellectual property includes brand items, formulas, inventions, data, designs and the work of artists. It is one of the most tradable properties in the technology market.