Protecting Intellectual Assets Across Borders

This chapter explains how business firms can use law to protect their intellectual property in foreign countries, as well as in the United States against infringement originating from outside the United States. It begins with a summary of the major intellectual property treaties harmonizing state legislation on the protection of patented inventions, copyrighted expressions, trademarks, trade secrets, and other forms of intellectual property. It introduces the general principles found in these treaties, followed by a summary of the most important substantive treaty provisions. It briefly explains the process for multinational registration of trademarks and patents. It then discusses border protection against imported goods that infringe intellectual property rights, with an emphasis on Customs recordation and the Section 337 investigation process. It then discusses parallel imports (gray market goods) and the cases and doctrines that have developed regarding the ability of business firms to exclude such imports from the United States. It concludes with practice essays and multiple choice questions.