Intellectual Property Law

Chapter 19 Discussion Questions

1. Beth has been working at home in Atlanta on an invention for a new single-cup
coffee maker. Review the following fact scenarios and identify which parties are
inventors of the resulting product.

a. As Deenie was visiting Beth one day, Deenie suggested moving the
plug for the coffee maker to the other side of the machine, which Beth
did.

b. Patricia, a talented artist, has made the drawings for the coffee maker,
which will be submitted to the USPTO when the patent application is
filed for the coffee maker.

c. Bennett, who lives in Seattle, has been frequently video conferencing
with Beth as they both work on the product.

d. Olivia contributed work to one claim for the patent, and Beth
contributed work to 18 claims for the patent.

2. Assume that Beth has been working on the single-cup coffee maker for her
employer, Good Times Manufacturing, Inc. After Beth finished her work on the
product and began working on another project, a new employee Randy continued
to tinker with the coffee maker to finish it.

a. Are Beth and Randy joint inventors? Discuss.

b. Who is the owner of the invention? Discuss.

3. Assume that Cooper and Will are joint inventors of a new watch, for which a
patent was granted last year. May Will license the patent without Cooper’s
consent? Discuss.

4. Jack’s patent was granted in 2000. In 2005, he granted a license to Connor to use
the patented invention, for which Connor pays royalties. The license agreement
says that it will last for 30 years. Review the Case Illustration for this chapter and
discuss Connor’s obligations to pay continuing royalties for the invention.

5. Why should a patent assignment be recorded with the USPTO?