University of Maryland Trade Secrets, Issue Spotters Business Case Problems – assignmentcollections.com

Business scenarios

8–1.Fair Use. Professor Wise is teaching a summer seminar in business torts at State University. Several times during the course, he makes copies of relevant sections from busi- ness law texts and distributes them to his students. Wise does not realize that the daughter of one of the textbook authors is a member of his seminar. She tells her father about Wise’s copying activities, which have taken place without her father’s or his publisher’s permission. Her father sues Wise for copyright infringement. Wise claims protection under the fair use doctrine. Who will prevail? Explain.

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8–2. patent Infringement. John and Andrew Doney invented a hard-bearing device for balancing rotors. Although they obtained a patent for their invention from the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, it was never used as an automobile wheel balancer. Some time later, Exetron Corp. produced an automobile wheel balancer that used a hard-bearing device with a support plate similar to that of the Doneys’ device. Given that the Doneys had not used their device for automobile wheel balancing, does Exetron’s use of a similar device infringe on the Doneys’ patent? Why or why not? (see page 162.)

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Business case problems

8–5. BUSINESS CASE PROBLEM

WITH SAMPLE ANSWER: Trade Secrets.

Jesse Edwards, an employee of Carbon Processing and Reclamation, LLC (CPR), put unmarked boxes of company records in his car. Edwards’s wife, Channon, who suspected him of hiding financial

information from her, gained access to the documents. William Jones, the owner of CPR, filed a suit, contending that Chan- non’s unauthorized access to the files was a theft of trade se- crets. Could the information in the documents be trade secrets? Should liability be imposed? Why or why not? [Jones v. Ham- ilton, 53 So.3d 134 (Ala.Civ.App. 2010)] (see page 169.)

• For a sample answer to problem 8–5, go to appendix F at the end of this text.

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8–8. Copyright Infringement. SilverEdge Systems Software hired Catherine Conrad to perform a singing telegram. SilverEdge arranged for James Bendewald to record Conrad’s performance of her copyrighted song to post on its Web site. Conrad agreed to wear a microphone to assist in the recording, told Bendewald what to film, and asked for an additional fee only if SilverEdge used the video for a commercial purpose. Later, the company chose to post a video of a different performer’s singing telegram instead. Conrad filed a suit in a federal district court against SilverEdge and Bendewald for copyright infringement. Are the defendants liable? Explain. [Conrad v. Bendewald, 2013 WL 310194 (7th Cir. 2013)]

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Assignments 2

issue spotters

Q.1. Dana takes her roommate’s credit card without per- mission, intending to charge expenses that she incurs on a vacation. Her first stop is a gas station, where she uses the card to pay for gas. With respect to the gas station, has she committed a crime? If so, what is it?

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Business scenarios

Q.3Felicia posts her résumé on GotWork.com, an online job-posting site, seeking a position in business and managerial finance and accounting. Hayden, who misrepresents himself as an employment officer with International Bank & Commerce Corp., sends her an e-mail asking for more personal information.

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Business Case problems

10–5. fourth amendment. Three police officers, including Maria Trevizo, were on patrol in Tucson, Arizona, near a neighborhood associated with the Crips gang, when they pulled over a car with suspended registration. Each officer talked to one of the three occupants. Trevizo spoke with Lemon Johnson, who was wearing clothing consistent with Crips membership. Visible in his jacket pocket was a police scanner, and he said that he had served time in prison for burglary. Trevizo asked him to get out of the car and patted him down “for officer safety.” She found a gun. Johnson was charged in an Arizona state court with illegal possession of a weapon. What standard should apply to an officer’s patdown of a passenger during a traffic stop? Should a search warrant be required? Could a search pro- ceed solely on the basis of probable cause? Would a rea- sonable suspicion short of probable cause be sufficient? Discuss. [Arizona v. Johnson, 555 U.S. 323, 129 S.Ct. 781, 172 L.Ed.2d 694 (2009)].

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10.8 During the morning rush hour, David Green threw bottles and plates from a twenty-sixth-floor hotel balcony overlooking Seventh Avenue in New York City. A video of the incident also showed him

doing cartwheels while holding a beer bottle and sprinting toward the balcony while holding a glass steadily in his hand. When he saw police on the street below and on the roof of the building across the street, he suspended his antics but resumed tossing objects off the balcony after the police left. He later admitted that he could recall what he had done, but claimed to have been intoxicated and said his only purpose was to amuse himself and his friends. Did Green have the mental state required to establish criminal liability? Discuss. [State of New York v. Green, 104 A.D.3d 126, 958 N.Y.S.2d 138 (1 Dept. 2013)].