INTERNET & SOFTWARE LAW- GOLDEN GATE UNIVERSITY
PROFESSOR GREENBERG
FINAL EXAM-SPRING SEMESTER 2003

Instructions

1. You have three (3) hours to complete this exam.

2. This is an open book, open materials exam. You may use any notes, books or other written materials to assist you in responding to the questions.

3. There are three (3) essay questions on this exam. Two questions are worth 33 points, and one is worth 34 points. I suggest you spend 1/3^rd of your time on each question outlining your response, and then write for the remaining time you allocate for each question. If you use the full period of three hours, this would mean outlining for 20 minutes and writing for 40 minutes on each question.

4. Each subpart is equally weighted for grading purposes, so divide your response evenly among the subparts - do not write a full answer for one part and a short answer for another part. Answer each question as fully as you can, citing any appropriate cases, industry standards, and statutes that are relevant.

5. Write your answer in a blue book, or type it on your computer using the ExamSoft software. DO NOT WRITE ON BOTH SIDES OF THE PAGE. WRITE LEGIBLY OR PRINT IF YOUR HANDWRITING IS DIFFICULT TO READ. WRITE ON EVERY OTHER LINE. If I cannot read your response to a question, your grade will be adversely affected.

6. Write your exam number on your exam envelope, at the top of this exam question packet, all used blue books (if typed, at the top of your typed pages). Do not use your name, student ID number or Social Security Number on any exam materials.

7. At the conclusion of the exam, return all exam materials to the exam envelope and submit it to the proctor. Do not seal the envelope.

Question No. 1 (33 Points)

You represent THE MATRIX, a software development company. Your client has developed a new operating system for personal computers, which it calls NEO.< This new operating system uses a graphic user interface consisting of three-dimensional (3-D) artwork to showcase the command sequences by which a user navigates through the program. The operating system is made up of source and object code which contains a mixture of code instructions for performing operating functions of the computer, as well as extensive text explanations of the theories behind the operating system, and THE MATRIX’s view of how the world’s economic and political problems can be solved through the use of an effective computer operating system.

THE MATRIX has come to you asking for advice as to how to protect the intellectual property components of NEO. What is your advice? What systems of intellectual property can provide protection, and are there any gaps in the available protection scheme? If there are gaps, what methods can be employed to close them?

Question No. 2 (33 Points)

The NEO program has been successfully launched and is selling well. To prevent copying, the NEO system has incorporated an initialization code, which causes THE MATRIX trademark to show up whenever the NEO system is launched. NEO has drawn competition from a new company, REDUX, which purchased a copy of NEO and reverse engineered it in order to make a product, which it calls DUO, which it advertises as being able to be used on most computers running NEO, and which it claims can double the number of functions the NEO system can perform.

THE MATRIX has come to you for advice as to how to respond to the new DUO product launched by REDUX. What legal remedies are available to THE MATRIX, what defenses to those remedies does REDUX have, and who is likely to win, and why?

Question No. 3 (34 Points)

Your client, Mr. Patrick Stuart, has contacted you for legal advice regarding the following two situations:

A. He owns CLEARPRINTS, a San Francisco computer printer manufacturing company, and he appears in many of the advertisements for his company’s products, as the company spokesperson. His personal credibility and lively personality are credited with much of the sales success of his company and its product, CLEARPRINTS PRINTERS. His principal competitor, DARKSIDE PRINZ, a British company based in London, which makes the DARKSIDE PRINTERZ is losing market share and is desperate to come up with a way to compete with Mr. Stuart’s company.

The owner of DARKSIDE PRINZ, Mr. McClellan, has posted on a number of leading ISP chatrooms, a statement that Mr. Stuart suffers from Hansen’s Disease (also known as Leprosy), following a diagnosis made when Mr. Stuart was a child. Mr. Stuart tells you that it was a closely guarded family secret that he was tested for leprosy when he was a child, but the test was negative and he does not have the disease. Mr. Stuart wants to know what he can do to stop Mr. McClellan’s conduct, and whether he can bring an action against Mr. McClellan in London, and if so, for what claims (assume, for purposes of this question, that the same kind of claims available under U.S. law could also be filed in any London action filed). What is your advice?

B. In its continued efforts to compete with his company, DARKSIDE PRINZ has recently opened a U.S. subsidiary in Los Angeles, and is marketing its DARKSIDE PRINTERZ at a price below its manufacturing price, and which is sold at 40% below the price of the CLEARPRINTS PRINTERS. Internal memos found by Mr. Stuart indicate that this below-market pricing is intended to last only for 9 months, in the hope that it will drive CLEARPRINTS out of business. Mr. Stuart asks what relief he can get for this conduct, where would any claim be filed, and how quickly is he likely to obtain that relief. What is your advice?

End of Exam