USA Law and Practice Contributed by: Keith Medansky, Tamar Duvdevani, Michael Geller, Aislinn Smalling and Kristina Fernandez Mabrie, DLA Piper LLP
DLA Piper LLP 650 S. Exeter Street, Suite 1100, Baltimore, MD 21202-4576
Tel: (410) 580-3000 Fax: (410) 580-3001 Email: info@us.dlapiper.com Web: www.dlapiper.com
Common law copyrights are not recognised, and state laws addressing copyright generally are pre-empted. 1.2 Conventions and Treaties/Rights of Foreign IP Holders The US is a party to several treaties relevant to
1. Trade Mark and Copyright Law 1.1 Governing Law Trade Mark US trade mark law is governed by federal and state statutes and common law. Federal law is controlled by the Lanham Act (15 USC § 1051 et seq). Many states also have trade mark and unfair competition statutes. Their scope varies, but they are generally similar to federal law. Trade mark rights arise from use, not just regis - tration. Therefore, common law trade marks are recognised. However, there are benefits to own - ing a federal registration. Common law rights are limited to the geographic area in which the mark is used and a limited zone of expansion. Copyright US copyright law is governed by the Copyright Act of 1976 (17 USC § 101 et seq). For certain pre-1978 works, the 1909 Copyright Act gov - erns.
trade marks including: • Trademark Law Treaty
• Singapore Treaty • Madrid Protocol • Paris Convention • TRIPS
• Pan-American Convention • Buenos Aires Convention The US is a party to several treaties relevant to
copyrights including: • Berne Convention
• UCC (Geneva and Paris) • Buenos Aires Convention • TRIPS • WIPO Copyright Treaty • WIPO Performances and Phonograms Treaty
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