In the tenth week of the spring semester we discussed Chapter 11 of Intellectual Property Law. “Property establishes a relationship of legal exclusion between an owner and other people regarding limited resources.” In this chapter we learn that the Constitution allows Congress to “promote the progress of science and useful arts, by granting for limited times to authors and inventors the exclusive right to their respective writings and discoveries.” Simply put, this means Congress allows you to have ideas and creations while also safeguarding your idea from others who want to use it. While the Constitution gives Congress the ability to protect your ideas, you must follow certain steps to “protect the time, effort, and money spent in developing knowledge to turn it into valuable intangible resources.” If these necessary steps are not taken, your information could be “captured” by others who want to use the idea. Another information discussed in the chapter is infringement, which is the appropriation or use of any form of intellectual property. In essence, trespassing is stealing the property of another person or party. This leads to trade secrets. A trade secret is having knowledge or information about one's ideas that may have "economic value because it is not generally known or has been the subject of reasonable efforts by the owner to maintain secrecy." If it becomes known that someone knows a trade secret, then a judge can issue what is called an injunction, which is an “order to do something or to refrain from doing something.” This injunction prevents those who have violated a trade secret from ceasing to reveal the secret or practice it. The next thing discussed in the chapter is the pat...... middle of paper ......pple Inc. Although the amount awarded to Apple Inc. was much less than expected, it was also significantly less than what Judge Koh had vacated after the previous trial; that number is 400 million. This case was a huge victory for Apple Inc. and its power in the electronics industry. This ruling was also a huge statement in terms of patent infringement. As Colleen Allen said in an interview, "If we didn't reward Apple a lot, we're saying it's okay to infringe on patents." Finally, Apple Inc. and Samsung Electronics went to the U.S. District Court over Apple Inc.'s claim that Samsung Electronics had infringed some of the technology patents used on the iPhone and iPad. Apple Inc.'s zoom patent was then invalidated by the USPTO. Judge Koh then ruled in favor of Apple Inc. and ordered Samsung Electronics to pay $290 million to Apple Inc..