Business law assignment
3. According to Professor Wolfe’s odd theory of money and thermodynamics, money is a representation of energy and intelligence which is exchanged for goods and services. Money is therefore basically a convenient substitute for energy and intelligence. It ultimately represents the ability to reverse entropy i.e. value addition. Given that the main factor for the existence of thermodynamic concept is the thermal distinction two communicating systems, the purpose for money flows is therefore the imbalances between supply and demand for an accepted means of exchange for economic goods.
4. The four main categories of intellectual property are copyrights, patents, trademarks, and trade secrets.
A copyright protects the original works of authors of either published or unpublished creations. The copyright law specifies that the rights of authorship for the literary or artistic works remain purely the possession of the original author or artist for a specified period of time. An author or artist automatically acquires the right of copyright immediately he/she creates the literary or artistic work. Copyright applies to seven broad categories: literary, musical, dramatic, pantomimes and choreographic, motion pictures and av works, pictures, graphs, and sculptures, sound recordings and phonorecords.
Patents – a patent is a legal property right afforded to an inventor as exclusive rights to an invention for a limited time. Such an invention needs to be novel, not obvious, and useful. The patents have to be distributed by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office and apply to such items as processes, manufacturing designs, machines, biological discoveries, and compositions of matter. Patents belong to the inventor for a specified period time (often 20 years) before expiring.
Trademarks – a trademark refers to any distinctive word, name, symbol, logo, motto, design, or device used to identify and distinguish goods or services from others. it allows the owner to promote, profit, protect, and identity goods or services. A trademark is automatic under common law and legally protected upon registering with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.
Trade secrets – these are designs, practices, formulas, recipes, processes, or ideas that a company uses to gain leverage in its industry. The owner is responsible for keeping hidden the trade secrets as opposed to having legal protection. If they leak to the general public, anyone is free to use them to their own advantage.
