According to Henry Cheeseman, the author of a textbook titled Business Law: Legal Environment, Online Commerce, Business Ethics, and International Issues, intellectual property accounts for over one-half of the value of large companies in the United States (131-132). On April 4th, 2018, an article written in the New York Times titled, “Tinder and Bumble are Seriously at War”, by Valeriya Safronova tells the story of two similar applications at war over intellectual property. Match Group, which owns dating applications and websites such as Tinder, Match.com, OkCupid, and Plenty of Fish, sued Bumble, another dating application, for violating its patents and trademarks, and for a misuse of trade secrets. Patents, trademarks, and trade secrets all fall under the category of intellectual property.
Intellectual property is a term that describes “patents, copyrights, trademarks, and trade secrets. Federal and state laws protect intellectual property rights from misappropriation and infringement” (Cheeseman 131). Intellectual property falls under the category of property rights known as intangible rights, which are not physical objects. Intellectual property is very significant for companies in …show more content…
The Leahy-Smith America Invents Act, passed in 2011, stipulates a first-to-file rule, meaning the first to file a patent on an invention, regardless if this person invented the invention, receives the patent. Utility patents are valid for 20 years, and the patent term begins the day the patent application was first filed (Cheeseman 135). After the 20 years, the patent is no longer on the invention and it is released into the public domain, meaning anyone can produce or sell the invention (Boone 12 April 2018). For example, a person files for a patent on his or her invention on January 1st, 2018. The patent was granted to the person three years later. The term of the patent ends on January 1st,