A patent is an exclusive right granted for an invention, which is a product or a process that provides, in general, a new way of doing something, or offers a new technical solution to a problem. To get a patent, technical information about the invention must be disclosed to the public in a patent application. The product or process must be inventive or novel and be of public utility (be of use to the public). Some examples of sports patents are sports and training equipment such as bobsleds, aquatic wheelchairs, racquets, starting block assemblies, stop-watches, golf clubs and gym equipment. Patent protection gives the creator exclusive rights over the use of the patent. When the protection period has expired, the invention enters into the …show more content…
The importance of State Street decision is not so much the Court held that business method was patentable but rather the case has apparently expanded the subject matter of patent and have an immense impact on the patentability of sports moves. After that, the Patent Office has granted patent protection to many sports methods and other processes involving movement of the human body. The following are the most famous examples of patented sports moves, a) Method of swing training for sports b) Method of putting a golf …show more content…
The new equipment enhancing the performance is capable of being patented. This is an added incentive for companies, since a better product would enhance the image of the company, thus creating a better brand value for the company. This is highlighted in the case Wilson Sporting Goods v David Geoffrey & Associated . In this case the plaintiff had patented certain dimples on the golf balls. It was held for the defendants on the basis of the doctrine of equivalents or the requirement of novelty and inventive step for a patent. Since the knowledge was already in the public domain and the defendants had used such knowledge of the plaintiff, it was held that the defendants had not violated the claimants’ patent and were entitled to honestly use the existing knowledge in the public sphere. Nevertheless a company which comes out with a unique product through intensive research and development may seek to protect the right to its production through the protection guaranteed under the Patents Act
(7) Hall B. Patents and Patent Policy -. 2007. The 'Secondary' of the 'Secondary' of the 'Secondary' of the 'Secondary' of the 'Secondary' of the 'Secondary' of the 'Secondary' of the Morse H. SETTLEMENT OF INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY DISPUTES IN THE PHARMACEUTICAL AND MEDICAL DEVICE INDUSTRIES: ANTITRUST RULES. Allison JR, Lemley MA, Moore KA, Trunkey RD. Valuable patents. Geol.
Since the National Collegiate Athletic Association’s (NCAA) inception in 1906 there have been laws in place to protect the amateurism status of its student athletes. Over the last 100 years the NCAA has morphed into a multimillion dollar business. The success and revenue that student athletes have brought the NCAA and its member institutions has sparked a debate of whether or not to compensate players for paying. Research in the field has focused on the debate and reasons to pay players and reasons not to. There has been little attempt to assert the thoughts, feelings, and opinions of the student athletes. The purpose of this study is to examine what the thoughts, feelings, and attitudes of the student athletes towards NCAA amateurism laws. Informal face to face interviews with Division 1 student athletes at universities in Indiana will be conducted to get an analysis of the attitudes, opinions, and feelings Division 1 student athletes have towards NCAA Amateurism laws.
The failure of the NFL to disclose credible research linking concussions to permanent, hidden long-term brain injury to the players can be interpreted as both ethical and unethical. Ethical theories and traps influenced the NFL’s decision. Not disclosing the research is considered moral by the ethical theory of utilitarianism. Utilitarian ethics considers the best decision is one which maximizes overall happiness and minimizes overall pain is more ethical. Utilitarianism’s goal is to produce the best outcome for the largest number of people. The NFL’s failure to reveal the research connecting concussion to permanent brain injury’s is in line with utilitarian ethics. A larger population benefits from football compared to the small number of
“A patent is an intellectual property right granted by the Government of the United States of America to an inventor “to exclude others from making, using, offering for sale, or selling the invention throughout the United States or importing the invention into the United States” for a limited time in exchange for public disclosure of the invention when the patent is granted.” ("Patents," 2014) There are three types of patents, utility, design, and plant. Utility patents protect useful process, machines, article of manufacture, and composition of matter. Design patents pro...
The MLB is exempted from antitrust laws and that started years and years ago. Baseball is exempt because the government and the court system view baseball as just a game, not a business. Baseball continues to enjoy being immune to antitrust laws because the government is unwilling to overturn legislation from decades ago that stated baseball was for fan enjoyment not a business. In 1903 it was ruled that players could not shop their service around to other teams to increase their salaries. The team they played on owned that player’s service for their entire career. The team could sell or trade that player but the player could not simply sign with another team on his own accord.
The Health and fitness industry have many ethical issues involved which was very interesting to me. I have never purchased a membership at a health club, but from the reading I learned a lot about how they operate. It amazed me that health clubs push their sales representatives to get 200-300 new members a month (Amend, 1992). This is a large amount of people for such a short amount a time, which means some members are not fully aware of the fine print of the membership agreement. Also the reading mentions that more than half of instructors at these clubs do not have valid certification (Copeland et al, 1988),. This is unethical because the members pay each month for the service of a qualified staff member to assist them in exercise and fitness. Safety of the members could also be at risk working out with a non-qualified trainer. Learning how these companies do business make me want to hold off as long as possible to join a gym.
One of the most pressing issues within physical contact sports is the amount of Traumatic Brain Injuries (TBI) sustained by the players on both professional and amateur levels. This particular topic has been debated over numerous times, arguing whether or not there should be more safety regulations within these particular sports. Many people suggest that adding more regulations will impact the sports taking away from their original entertainment. However, one can clearly see the endangerment these athletes face with long term brain trauma, and how certain steps should be enforced in order to avoid this.
Intellectual Property Law used to only protect art, music, and literature, but because of technological development, Intellectual Property Law now also protects a greater variety of innovations including designs, inventions, symbols, discoveries, and words. The phrase “intellectual property” was first known to be used in the late 1700’s; however, it was not widely talked about, nor was the Intellectual Property Law in actuality commonly implemented. Intellectual Property Rights slowly gained more attention by mid-1800’s after the Industrial Revolution had taken place: more companies were created, competition between corporations became fiercer, and owning unique innovations were crucial to winning the competition. However, as Intellectual Property
In the sports world, as much as in the political, social or corporate world, ethics is put to the test at all times. Most athletes spend their career trying to overcome many barriers in order to gain notoriety and achieve good results with the objective of winning titles and, especially, to have great future opportunities, as for example, being awarded with an athletic scholarship.
In today’s society, especially sporting activities involving youth and young adults, it is imperative to ensure the safety of those involved. When an individual is injured either physically, emotionally or both, there is the concern of legal action towards coaches and the association conducting the sporting activity (Wolohan, 2013). The litigious culture that Americans live under has produced a heightened awareness to avoid negligence in athletic activities through proper training and education (Wolohan, 2013). Negligence is defined as an unintended accident that has caused injury to a person or material goods without a premeditated plan of action to cause pain and suffering (Yiamouyiannis, 2008). For that reason, the
Because of its intangible nature, and particularly the increase of the digital domain and the internet as a whole, computers and cyber piracy make it easier for people to steal many forms of intellectual property. Due to this major threat, intellectual property rights owners’ should take every single measure to protect their rights. Unless these rights are either sold, exchanged, transferred, or appropriately licensed for use in exchange for a monetary fee, they should be protected at all cost. In order to protect these rights, the federal and states governments have passed numerous laws and statutes to protect intellectual property from misappropriation and infringement. “The source of federal copyright and patent law originates with the Copyright and Patent ...
The industry bought into focus throughout will be the sports industry as it is the aspiration of the writer’s career choice after graduating from university.
Ethical and moral quandaries are present at all levels of organized sports (DeSensi, 2010). Athletic directors and sporting managers face many demands each day surrounding their job responsibilities; budgets, parents, coaches, student-athletes, office personal, facility management, public relations. Each of these areas and many more require a considerate, level minded, comprehensive ethical and moral response when a challenge arises to develop an equitable response and solution (DeSensi, 2010). Hence, having a plan of action to handle ethical and moral issues may be essential to creating a culture of integrity in athletic organization.
The World Intellectual Property Organization, Intellectual property is the ‘products of the mind: inventions, literary and artistic works, any symbols, names, images, and designs used in commerce’. Intellectual Properties such as Patents, designs, trademarks and copyrights are protected by laws. The US government offers different types of protection for these properties. The Lanham Act (15 U.S.C.A. Section 1051 et seq., also known as the Trademark Act of 1946, provides protection for trademarks. A trademark is defined as a name, word, symbol, or device or any combination thereof, adopted and used by a manufacturer or merchant to identify its goods and distinguish them from those manufactured and sold by others.
They are a type of intellectual property, similar to trademarks and copyrights. A patented invention is stamped with the word patent, and a number assigned to the patent. Some are marked with the location of the patent for example ‘China Patent’ and a number, indicating it was patented China. One item can be covered by more than one patent, as in the case of a laptop. After a patent application is submitted, a candidate is allowed to mark a product patent pending, but that does not convey any legal protection. It is illegal to mark an item as patented if it doesn’t have a patent.