1. Can copyright protection be lost due to failure to file a timely copyright application?
   Copyright protection today does not require any registration with the Copyright Office. There are, however, benefits to obtaining a registration. First, registration is required in order to commence a lawsuit.* 17 U.S.C. § 411. Second, timely registration permits a copyright owner to seek statutory damages, 17 U.S.C. § 412, which can be helpful if actual damages are small or hard to prove, and can be a powerful factor in obtaining a prompt settlement from an alleged infringer. Third, timely registration makes a copyright owner eligible for an award of attorney’s fees in a successful infringement lawsuit. Id. For these benefits, “timely” means registering the work before the infringement commences.** Fourth, registration within five years of publication carries with it a presumption of “the validity of the copyright and of the facts stated in the certificate.” 17 U.S.C. § 410(c). Fifth, registration permits the copyright owner to seek the assistance of the U.S. Customs and Border Protection in stopping the importation of infringing goods. 19 C.F.R. § 133.31. Sixth, registration creates a publicly accessible record of copyright ownership providing contact information for those interested in obtaining a license to use the work.
2. What form or forms of intellectual property protection could be used to protect a new method for mixing natural ingredients to create a new paint color? Explain.
   Trade Secret –
   Patent –
3. If you sell a phone that includes patented technology and stores copyrighted works, have you infringed the rights of the patent and copyright owners?
4. What form of intellectual property most clearly defines the subject matter it covers?
5. Your client is preparing to launch a new product: a sandwich comprised of a piece of fried chicken between two waffles. Propose a trademark for this product and explain your recommendation.
6. Would trade secret be an effective means of protection for the sandwich described in #5?
7. Is an encyclopedia a “useful article” under the Copyright Act definition. Explain your answer.
8. Could a method that was included in a copyrighted book later be patented? Explain you answer.
9. Does a product design have to be new in order to qualify for trademark protection? Explain your answer.
10. Did the America Invents Act make it harder or easier to qualify for patent protection? Explain.
11. Is there any form of intellectual property protection that could protect a musical composition that was published 100 years ago?
12. You have clients who want to benefit from copyright, patent, trademark, and trade secret protection for their creations. For which of these is it most important that your clients keep their creations secret? Explain your answer.
13. Why is the constitutional basis for patent and copyright protection different from the constitutional basis for trademark protection?
14. Is fair use relevant to trade secret protection? Explain your answer.
15. What is the most confusing intellectual property rule you learned about this semester? Explain your answer.
16. What problems might be caused by too many intellectual property rights? Explain your answer.
17. Is any intellectual property right relevant to singing in the shower? Explain you answer.
18. Give an example of a change to the patent claim below (the claim at issue in Larami Corp. v. Amron) that would make it broader. Give an example of a change that would make it narrower. Explain your answers. “A toy comprising an elongated housing having a chamber therein for a liquid, a pump including a piston having an exposed rod and extending rearwardly of said toy facilitating manual operation for building up an appreciable amount of pressure in said chamber for ejecting a stream of liquid therefrom an appreciable distance substantially forwardly of said toy, and means for controlling the ejection.”
19. Describe something that would have infringed the original patent claim in #18 but would not infringe a claim that had been amended to the narrower claim that you gave in your answer to #18.
20. Under what circumstances can a company use another company’s descriptive trademark? Explain
    2020
21. How is the perspective of consumers relevant to intellectual property law? Give at least two examples.
22. What form(s) of intellectual property protection could be used to protect a new method for producing a distinctive scent? Explain.
23. Describe two activities that are permissible under the “first sale doctrine.”
24. What is the most flexible defense to intellectual property infringement that you have studied? Explain your answer.
25. Your client is preparing to launch a new product: a video game that teaches kids both spelling and yoga. Propose a trademark for this product and explain your recommendation.
26. Might your client from #5 be able to patent her video game, despite the fact that there are already spelling and yoga games available for sale? Explain you answer.
27. Give an example of a “useful article” under the Copyright Act definition. Explain your answer.
28. Can a trade secret be protected by copyright? Explain your answer.
29. Give an example of a trademark that is sometimes used in a generic way. Explain your answer.
30. Under what circumstances might you advise your client that trade secrecy would be superior to patent protection? Explain your answer.
31. What forms of intellectual property protection are available, if any, for products of nature? Explain your answer.
32. You have clients who want to benefit from copyright, patent, trademark, and trade secret protection. For which of these is it most important that your clients file for protection quickly? Explain your answer.
33. Describe the constitutional bases for three forms of federal intellectual property law that you have studied.
34. Describe a phrase that might be protected by trademark law but not by copyright. Explain your answer.
35. Describe an intellectual property doctrine that can lead to unpredictable results. Explain your answer.
36. What aspect of the tragedy of the commons is least relevant to intellectual property law?
37. Is the fair use doctrine the same in copyright and trademark? Explain.
38. Give an example of a change to the patent claim below that would make it broader. Give an example of a change that would make it narrower. Explain your answers.

“A process of producing an improved multilayered crispy chip-type sandwich food product, consisting of the steps of: selecting two or more crispy chips from the group consisting of potato chips, corn chips, rice cakes, oat crackers and wheat crackers; coating at least one side of each said crispy chip with a marshmallow-like food product; inserting between the two crispy chips an intermediate filler food product selected from the group consisting of substances generally known as peanut butter, chocolate, coconut, jelly, jams, candy marmalades, syrups, fruits and extracts, with each selected filler layer being disposed between and bonded to a respective pair of opposite facing said marshmallow like layers to form a substantially united food product of discrete food layers.”

19. Describe something that would have infringed the original patent claim in #18 but would not infringe a claim that had been amended to the narrower claim that you gave in your answer to #18.
20. Can multiple entities be held liable for a single act of infringement? Explain.

2019

1. Describe a way in which an intellectual property owner’s actions could cause the owner to lose intellectual property protection.
2. Is there a form of intellectual property protection that you think is too difficult to acquire? Explain.
3. Describe an activity that would be permissible under copyright’s first sale doctrine.
4. Can the lyrics to a song be protected by trade secret?
5. Your client is preparing to launch a new product: a running shoe for dogs. Propose a trademark for this product and explain your recommendation.
6. Your client Iris Inventor has been competing with her rival Paula Practitioner to invent a new type of exercise equipment designed to help video game competitors develop their hand-eye coordination. Iris has just completed a successful version of her invention but she has not yet acquired a facility that can produce it for sale. She has heard a rumor that Paula has also completed her own invention and that the two types of exercise equipment are very similar. Would you advise Iris to take any action to maintain or establish intellectual property rights in her invention? Explain.
7. Give an example of a useful article under the Copyright Act definition. Is your example copyrightable? Explain.
8. Is there any form of intellectual property protection that can prevent copying of the phone numbers in a phone book? Explain.
9. Describe an example of a trademark that might be at risk of genericide. (You may use an example from you home country, but carefully explain how the trademark is used.)
10. Is it possible to make fair use of a patented invention? Explain.
11. If a brilliant scientist discovers an important characteristic of the human body, knowledge of which has the potential to save many lives, is there a form of intellectual property protection that can apply to that discovery?
12. Your client Iris from question #6 has not started selling her exercise equipment, but she did distribute 100 samples to her friends so that they would start to talk about the product on social media. Will this endanger her ability to seek patent protection for her invention? Explain.
13. Assess the validity of the following statement:
    Copyright law ensures genuine progress in the realms of creativity and knowledge production because protection extends only to creations that represent a significant advance over anything that has come before.
14. Assess the validity of the following statement:
    Colors cannot be protected by trademark because there is a limited supply of colors and granting rights to them would hamper competitors’ ability to develop useful products.
15. Imagine that you are a policy maker in a country that currently has no intellectual property law. What is the first form of intellectual property protection that you would propose, if any. Explain your answer.
16. Are there exclusions from protectable subject matter of copyright and/or patent that are likely to cause a tragedy of the commons? Explain.
17. Your client has just published for sale a book of poetry that includes a short (two line) poem that is almost identical to a poem that was first published by a famous poet sixty years ago. Describe two reasons why your client’s activity might not be copyright infringement.
18. Does adding an element to a patent claim make that claim broader or narrower? Explain.
19. Are there actions online platforms like YouTube can take to limit their exposure to copyright liability? Explain.
20. Can something be protected by both trade secret and trademark?