Intellectual Property Opportunities  

We live in a world of intellectual property.  For this week's discussion, take a look around your house, and select one item to discuss.  It can be a branded food item, a CD, an appliance, almost anything.  Just try to find something that you think is or has been well-protected by intellectual property.  In your posting, first describe the item you've selected.  Then, list a few ways to protect that item via intellectual property law.  Try to include all four categories of intellectual property in your overall listing.  You don't have to determine the actual patents, trademarks, copyrights and trade secrets for your product; just define some reasonable ways they could be protected.

Here's an example.  I have a can of Diet Coke on my desk.  The name Diet Coke is protected by trademark law.  The package is protected by trade dress (trademark) law.  The formula or recipe for Diet Coke is a trade secret.  The aluminum can and pop top are covered by several patents.  And, finally, this product is extensively advertised, and the original songs in that advertising are protected by copyright law.

Now, do the same for your product.  Then, please provide additional ideas about how to protect your classmates' products via intellectual property.  

1st classmate:  

I chose my i phone for this discussion post. It seems to be one of the most popular phones out there and i decided to look a little into the patents for the apple product. Apple’s logo is widely known across the World and is patented. The “i” in front of their products including the i phone is not. Something I found interesting was that Apple has to pay a part of their profit of each i phone sold to Nokia. Apparently, Nokia patented touch screens for phones back in the 1990  s. Some of the features on the i phone which have been patented by Apple are the “slide to lock feature” (that no longer exists in newer models), zoom text with fingers a couple of them, and double tapping to zoom. Apparently, the box i phones come in are also patented by Apple. The ios software is also an important patent that upholds the i phone’s capabilities. There are a minimum of 200 patents that are used in creating an i phone. This number is growing as new features are getting patented. For example, last year Apple patented a 360 degree screen patent (which is predicted to be incorporated in i phones in coming years.

2nd classmate:

As I read the assigned chapters for this week I was sipping on a Starbucks Frappuccino. As most know the Frappuccino is Starbucks syrup and or coffee flavored blended iced drink. In my opinion it “has been well protected by intellectual property”.  

 The name “Frappuccino” is trademarked. In 2014 Starbucks blocked a coffee shop in the Philippines from being allowed to trademark the word “frap” citing its similarities to the trademarked Frappuccino.

  On the side of the cup is a trademarked logo of a green two tailed siren. In addition the Starbucks name on the cup is another trademark. Starbucks recipes could be considered a trade secret.

 Starbucks has various patents for its food and drink processing systems. In addition under copyright law various original advertising and art related materials are protected.

 Starbucks does a very good job protecting its copyrights, in particular its trademarked name. One instance that comes to mind is when a parody Starbucks store titled “Dumb Starbucks” popped up in Las Angeles. Ultimately this store was shut down by the health department for operating without a permit.  When a coffee shop in Astoria Oregon opened up with the name Sambucks, Starbucks was successful in suing for trademark infringement even though the store’s owner was named Sam Buck.