Constitutional US Law

Category: Copyrights and Patents

  • State Power on Patents and Copyrights

    State Power Affecting Patents and CopyrightsDisplacement of state police or taxing powers by federal patent or copyright has been a source of considerable dispute. Ordinarily, rights secured to inventors must be enjoyed in subordination to the general authority of the states over all property within…

  • Trade-Marks

    Trade-Marks and AdvertisementsIn the famous Trade-Mark Cases,1 decided in 1879, the Supreme Court held void acts of Congress that, in apparent reliance upon this clause, extended the protection of the law to trademarks registered in the Patent Office…

  • Patent Procedure

    Procedure in Issuing PatentsThe standard of patentability is a constitutional standard, and the question of the validity of a patent is a question of law.1 Congress may authorize the issuance of a patent for an invention by a special, as well as by g…

  • Patentable Discoveries

    Patentable DiscoveriesThe protection traditionally afforded by acts of Congress under this clause has been limited to new and useful inventions,1 and, although a patentable invention is a mental achievement,<a name=t2 href=#f2 target="_self&quot…

  • Copyright

    Nature and Scope of the Right Secured for CopyrightThe leading case on the nature of the rights that Congress is authorized to "secure" under the Copyright and Patent Clause is Wheaton v. Peters.1 Wheaton was the official reporter for the S…

  • Copyright and the First Amendment

    Copyright and the First AmendmentThe Copyright Clause nominally restricts free speech by allowing for an author's monopoly to market his original work. The Court has "recognized that some restriction on expression is the inherent and intended effect of every grant of copyright." <a nam…

  • Copyrights and Patents

    Clause 8. Copyrights and PatentsThe Congress shall have Power * * * To promote the Progress of Science and useful Arts, by securing for limited Times to Authors and Inventors the exclusive Right to their respective Writings and Discoveries.ResourcesNotes and ReferencesThis text about <a hre…