The Goal of Intellectual Property Law to Encourage Innovation

1.The goal of intellectual property law is to encourage innovation. Individuals and companies will be far less likely to create new or improved products, services, and works such as movies and albums if others can readily copy and profit from their efforts.

Choose one of the scenarios below and determine which type of intellectual property law applies and whether it would, in fact, provide any remedy. Remember to identify and explain the elements necessary to claim protection as intellectual property, why you think those elements are or are not present, and what other information you would need to make this determination.

William Writer has developed a great idea for a novel. It will feature a young magician named Henry Pryor who attends a special high school for magicians. Henry has many interesting friends and even searches for the Philosopher’s Rock.
Karen Kitchens is a fantastic cook. Her best dish is fried chicken. Her fried chicken is so good that her friends suggest she start a restaurant. After some thought, Karen agrees. She plans to open Kitchen’’ Fried Chicken, but because the name is a bit long she decided to shorten it to KFC. Her sign will be red and white and feature an image of Karen’s father, a white-haired old man with a goatee.
Sandy Secretary works for a huge cola company. The company is famous for its secret formula that it has used for more than 100 years. One day while looking for something in the boss’s office, Sandy finds a piece of paper that lists the secret formula. Sandy secretly makes a copy of the formula and offers to sell it to a competitor.

fundamental issues in business law

2.Consumer protection is an important issue, but how much responsibility should the government have in protecting the consumer? There are many products that pose a health hazard yet are legal. Choose one of the following examples and explain whether you think that the government should ban the product.

Cigarettes.
Beer, wine, or liquor.
Fast food.

For all discussions:

Post your initial response.
Remember to respond to other posts for full credit.
Have fun and make friends.

fundamental issues in business law

3.The responsibility of the directors of a corporation is to provide a return to shareholders on their financial investment in the corporation; in other words, shareholders expect to make money on their investment. Corporations such as Facebook, Google, and Apple are financed through the sale of billions and billions of dollars in shares purchased by investors. Sometimes, however, the duty to maximize profits runs contrary to legal, but still questionable, business opportunities.

Assume that you’re the director of one of the corporations listed below and have been presented with the business opportunity described in the scenario. Would you advise the corporation to accept the opportunity? Make sure to fully explain your answer, considering both the financial return expected and any related ethical concerns.

fundamental issues in business law

ToyCo has just been informed that its wooden trains produced in China contain lead paint and can no longer be sold in the United States. However, a distributor offers to negotiate a deal with a foreign company to sell the trains in a South American country that has no laws addressing the presence of lead paint in children’s toys.
BabyHealth is seeing decreasing sales of its powdered infant formula in the United States due to more and more mothers choosing to breastfeed their babies. In an effort to offset these losses, BabyHealth chooses to sell their formula in third-world countries. However, it is widely known that the water sources in these countries is often contaminated and not boiled prior to use.
After producing 10 million versions of its new smartphone, PhoneLand discovers that due to a manufacturing oversight, some of the phones may catch fire if left in a car on a hot day. While the worst case financial impact from the phones catching fire is $10 million in damages, recalling and repairing the phones will bankrupt the company

4. One of the most fundamental issues in business law involves the question of when a company can be held liable for the acts of an individual person, whether this involves a contractual obligation or a personal injury (meaning a tort). Choose one of the scenarios below and explain whether you think the business is liable for the acts under the principles of agency law.

the landscaping of homes

A real estate agent hires a handful of local kids to do the landscaping of homes that he is trying to sell. In addition to the general payment, he reimburses them for the cost of gasoline for lawn mowers and other equipment. While mowing a lawn, one of the kids loses control of a lawn mower and it mows down a neighbor’s very expensive collection of lawn gnomes.
In a hurry to get his apartment complex painted, a homeowner hires three people he meets at the local home improvement store to do the work. Since they are not professional painters, he provides all the equipment and paint needed to do the work. While at the apartment complex, one of them breaks into an apartment, assaulting the resident and stealing a wallet.
An entrepreneur decides to open up his own car-for-hire business and creates an app allowing anyone to connect with people who need a ride. The passengers pay the entrepreneur, who in turn pays a percentage to the driver. Other than the app, the entrepreneur has no involvement between the driver and the passenger. One night, a driver who is intoxicated picks up a passenger and then gets into an accident, resulting in the passenger being severely injured.

fundamental issues in business law

5.While related, law and ethics are not the same. The law establishes what individuals must do, while ethics describes what individuals should do. this means is that some things viewed as immoral may in fact not be illegal, and some illegal activities may not necessarily be immoral.

For this discussion, pick one of the topics below and explain whether you think it’s immoral, and then whether you think it should be illegal. Make sure to fully explain and support your answer.

Gambling with friends at work.
Using marijuana at a party.
Obtaining an abortion.
Marketing sugary drinks to children

The Goal of Intellectual Property Law to Encourage Innovation