Publications

This Handbook was conceived to serve the needs of business lawyers and litigators; lawyers who sometimes counsel businesses or try cases involving patent, copyright, trade secret, right of publicity, and trademark law. Its purpose was intended to provide a practical, and handy, resource that would explain much of what those lawyers should know about intellectual property. It is not intended to teach business law or litigation; just those aspects of intellectual property that will be useful knowledge or a helpful starting point for research.

This publication includes:

Chapter 1: Patents
Chapter 2: Copyright
Chapter 3: Trade Secret Law: Maryland
Chapter 4: Right of Privacy (Publicity) Law: Maryland
Chapter 5: Trademarks
Table of Authorities, Cases, and Index

Click to view detailed Table of Contents.

Inside each chapter:

Chapter 1: Patents

This chapter provides an overview of the laws and practices that govern obtaining and enforcing U.S. patent rights. Unlike trade secrets and trademarks discussed in this Handbook, patents are almost exclusively subject to federal law. As a consequence, the jurisprudence tends to be more consistent, if not more clear, with patents than with other forms of intellectual property. In keeping with the spirit of the remainder of this Handbook, these patent chapters offer the lay reader an initial awareness of some of the more prevalent issues that may arise involving patents, and seek to provide a frame of reference to facilitate the engagement of patent counsel as appropriate.

Chapter 2: Copyright

This chapter explores the following questions: What is copyright? Where does copyright come from and what place does it occupy in the American legal system? What works are protected by copyright? How is a copyright obtained? What rights does a copyright owner have? What limitations affect the owner's rights? How are the owner's rights enforced? What is the Digital Millennium Copyright Act?

Chapter 3: Trade Secret Law: Maryland

This chapter summarizes the history, development, and current state of trade secret law in Maryland, including the requirements for prevailing in a misappropriation action and available remedies for violation of the Maryland Uniform Trade Secrets Act.

Chapter 4: Right of Privacy (Publicity) Law: Maryland

This chapter compares Maryland’s common law with other states’ common and statutory laws and discusses: (1) the origin of right of privacy (publicity) law in the United States and in Maryland; (2) right of privacy (publicity) law as it relates to celebrities, public figures, and military personnel; (3) postmortem right of privacy (publicity) laws and legislative efforts in Maryland related to right of privacy (publicity) law; (4) right of privacy (publicity) laws compared to copyright and trademark laws; and (5) the elements of a cause of action in Maryland, including forum/venue issues, pleading requirements, and potential defenses from a litigation perspective.

Chapter 5: Trademarks

This chapter describes many particulars of trademark law, with a leaning toward how the issues are important to a Maryland-based practitioner. Topics include: foundations underlying trademark law, categorizing marks, types of marks, establishing rights, loss of rights, strength of a mark, comparing marks, non-likelihood of confusion causes of action, non-infringing use, clearance—availability—evaluation, registration, Maryland statute and registration, transfers, notices, trademarks in a digital world, policing marks, infringement, litigation, defenses, remedies/damages, other remedies and defendants, international, and resources.

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