A copyright owner has the right to prevent others from making copies of his work. In certain situations one may make copies without the copyright owner's permission. There are various situations in which such a "Fair Use" applies including in an educational context.
The Patent Office requires that a patent applicant submit relevant prior art (e.g., patents, technical articles, technical journals, etc.) to the Patent Office to help the Office perform its examination of patent applications. Does this requirement conflict with a copyright owner's right to control reproduction of a copyrighted work?
17 U.S.C. §107 provides a fair use exception for a copyrighted work. Four factors are considered when deciding if a fair use exception exists: “(1) the purpose and character of the use, including whether such use is of a commercial nature or is for nonprofit educational purposes; (2) the nature of the copyrighted work; (3) the amount and substantiality of the portion used in relation to the copyrighted work as a whole; and (4) the effect of the use upon the potential market for or value of the copyrighted work.” 17 U.S.C. §107. In 2012, the United States Patent & Trademark Office (USPTO) discussed fair use with regards to non-patent literature (NPL) in the patent examination process in a memo to the patent community. Through the memo, the USPTO addressed fair use issues such as making copies of copyrighted NPL and providing it to an applicant during patent examination and making a copy of a copyrighted NPL and submitting it to the USPTO.
