Introduction to Intellectual Property provides a clear, effective introduction to patents, copyright, trademarks, and trade secrets. The text may be used by students and instructors in formal courses, as well as those applying intellectual property considerations to entrepreneurship, marketing, law, computer science, engineering, design, or other fields. The luminaries involved with this project represent the forefront of knowledge and experience, and the material offers considerable examples and scenarios, as well as exercises and references.

Increasingly, firms use licensing to exploit and commercialize trademarks internationally. In a globalized market, the free flow of goods and services by means of licensing requires detailed knowledge of national legal provisions and principles that apply to agreements of this type. This chapter-by-chapter comparative overview on the law and application of trademark licensing worldwide – including chapters on such key commercial jurisdictions as the EU Member States, the United Kingdom, the United States, Brazil, and Japan – is written by a team of experienced and distinguished attorneys, each representing a particular country. Each contributor describes and analyses legal challenges and offers practical guidance on licensing issues in his or her national jurisdiction. Within this framework, each chapter discusses such issues and topics as the following: country-specific regulations on trademark licensing; particular legal requirements to be complied with prior to entering into a license agreement; antitrust legislation affecting the scope of a license agreement; breach of a trademark licensing agreement; circumstances under which a breach of contract also constitutes a trademark infringement; permitted extent of non-compete or non-challenge clauses; licensee’s standing to sue third parties for trademark infringement; effect of invalidation or expiry of the licensed trademark on the agreement; and licensee’s right to claim entitlement to goodwill in the trademark, or a right to compensation, for investments made in the trademark. Because of the broad range and variety of countries covered, the book will be welcomed by legal practitioners dealing or coming into contact with trademark licensing in practically any jurisdiction. Taken together, the chapters provide invaluable insights into the similarities and differences among the covered jurisdictions, helping trademark holders and their counsel to understand the particulars of a specific market and deciding whether to enter it or not. It will also be valuable as a comprehensive resource for academic researchers or policymakers interested in the international harmonization of intellectual property licensing law.

"This treatise is a comprehensive and up-to-date guide to the law of trademarks and unfair competition. It provides a thorough introduction to the federal laws protecting registered trademarks and trade dress, as well as the broad array of federal and state unfair competition doctrines which protect unregistered trademarks and trade dress. Coverage includes the standards and procedures for obtaining federal registration, the rights and remedies available to owners of both registered and common law marks under federal and state law, and the full array of applicable defenses"--

Trademarks were traditionally protected in the United States only under State common law, growing out of the tort of unfair competition. As early as 1791, Thomas Jefferson proposed that the marks of sailcloth makers could be protected under the Commerce Clause,[1] but it was not until 1870 that Congress first attempted to establish a federal regime for the protection of trademarks. This statute, purported to be an exercise of the Copyright Clause powers, was struck down in the Trade-Mark Cases, leading Congress to finally create a successful act under its Commerce Clause power in 1881.A major revision was enacted in 1905, and in 1946, Congress passed the Lanham Act (15 U.S.C. §§ 1051-1127), which currently defines federal protection and registration for trademarks, and grants administrative authority to the United States Patent and Trademark Office ("USPTO"). State law continues to add its own protection, complementing the federal system.