At head of title : European Commission Research Project on Judicial Cooperation in Matters of Intellectual Property and Information Technology.

Misuse is an increasingly important topic because of the central role intellectual property plays in our economy. The consequences of a misuse finding are severe: unenforceability of the patent or copyright involved, and defense to a suit to recover royalties in a license. The defense continues to arise in patent cases, has led to the dismissal of several recent copyright cases, and is now being asserted in trademark cases. The misuse defense thus represents a nexus of intellectual property and antitrust law and has the potential to affect business practices involving computer copyrights and other areas highly relevant in today's economic environment. This timely handbook covers the origin and development of the misuse doctrine, the debate about its scope and existence in relation to antitrust law, and its present status in patent, copyright, and trademark law. It also gives practical insights into how the doctrine affects both licensing and litigation practice.

This is an easy-to-use resource for practitioners facing a patent, trademark, or copyright issue for the first time, or looking for a refresher on IP law.

An excellent text for clients to read before meeting with attorneys so they'll understand the fundamentals of patent, copyright, trade secret, trademark, mask work, and unfair competition laws. This is not a "do-it-yourself" manual but rather a ready reference tool for inventors or creators that will generate maximum efficiencies in obtaining, preserving and enforcing their intellectual property rights. It explains why they need to secure the services of IPR attorneys. Coverage includes employment contracts, including the ability of engineers to take confidential and secret knowledge to a new job, shop rights and information to help an entrepreneur establish a non-conflicting enterprise when leaving their prior employment. Sample forms of contracts, contract clauses, and points to consider before signing employment agreements are included. Coverage of copyright, software protection, and the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) as well as the procedural variances in international intellectual property laws and procedures.

This book addresses two crucial concerns of intellectual property owners--how to recover monetary compensation when an infringement has occurred and how to prevent further infringement.