Re: An IP gripe

On Mon, Aug 16, 1999, Laura N. Gasaway <laura_gasaway[_at_]unc.edu> wrote:
>
> On Thu, 12 Aug 1999, Carol Cricow <carol[_at_]yujean.com> wrote:
> >
> > Am I the only one who resents the term "Intellectual Property" being
> > used only for patents? I just got a flyer in the mail advertising a
> > CLE called "International Judge Conference on Intellectual Property
> > Law." A quick glance at the schedule told me that this is a
> > conference on patent law.
> >
> > Earlier this year, I was asked to be on a career panel at the
> > University of Oregon law School representing "soft" intellectual
> > property -- by which they meant "not patents" which, apparently,
> > goes as "hard" intellectual property.
> >
> > I resent that. Many of the most important, cutting edge issues in
> > IP law are in the areas of copyright and trademarks -- esp. with
> > Internet issues such as copyright infringement by posting on a web
> > site and domain names as trademark.
> >
> > The kind of IP law I practice, that is copyrights, trademarks and
> > licensing, is IP. Period. Not "hard"; not "soft" -- just intellectual
> > property.
> >
> > Sorry for the slight diatribe but it really pisses me off.
>
> Actually, as a copyright person I am experience a similar strange
> phenomenum, at least on college campuses. For some reason, folks now
> want to refer to IP when indeed they mean copyright. Certainly,
> universities have trademark and patent issues too, but invariably,
> when it is a non-lawyer using the term "intellectual property" it
> turns out they really mean copyright.
>
> I have wondered if people think the term IP sounds better?

I think Lolly is onto something here. I have noticed the same thing, and I suspect that it's because the term "ip" has a sort of digital-age panache that stodgy old print-bound "copyright" lacks.

Bob

Robert C. Cumbow
> Graham & Dunn, P.C.
> 1420 Fifth Avenue, 33rd Floor
> Seattle, Washington 98101-2390
> Phone: 206-340-9619
> Fax: 206-340-9599
> E-mail: rcumbow[_at_]grahamdunn.com
> Website: http://www.grahamdunn.com/
Received on Tue Aug 17 1999 - 15:45:58 GMT