Authorities
Statutes.
The laws the guides interpret: Texas statutes first, then federal law. Each entry links to the guides that rely on it.
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Tex. Bus. & Com. Code § 15.501: Health care practitioner noncompetes
Section 15.501, added by S.B. 1318, applies the same four requirements as the amended physician provision to noncompetes with health care practitioners: a buyout capped at total annual salary and wages, a one-year maximum, a five-mile radius, and a covenant clearly and conspicuously stated in writing. Health care practitioners are dentists licensed by the State Board of Dental Examiners, nurses licensed under Chapter 301 of the Occupations Code, and physician assistants licensed under Chapter 204. A practitioner covenant that fails these requirements is not enforceable.
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Tex. Bus. & Com. Code § 15.50: Physician noncompetes
Section 15.50 governs covenants not to compete with physicians. As amended by S.B. 1318, a physician covenant governed by the amendments must expire no later than one year after termination, cover no more than a five-mile radius from the primary practice site, be clearly and conspicuously stated in writing, and be voidable by the physician's payment of a buyout capped at the physician's total annual salary and wages at termination. A covenant is void and unenforceable if the physician is involuntarily discharged without good cause under subsection (d), and the practice of medicine does not include managing or directing medical services in an administrative capacity under subsection (b-1).
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Tex. Bus. & Com. Code § 16.102: Infringement of a Texas-registered mark
Section 16.102 gives the owner of a Texas-registered mark a claim for infringement of that mark. A Texas registration is required. Remedies under subsections (b) through (e) include an injunction, the infringer's profits or the registrant's damages, and destruction of infringing materials. Profits and damages may be increased up to three times, with attorney's fees to the prevailing party, where the infringer acted with actual knowledge of the mark or in bad faith. Damages are available only where the infringer intended to cause confusion or deceive.
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Tex. Bus. & Com. Code § 2.312(c): UCC warranty against infringement
Under the Texas Uniform Commercial Code, a seller warrants that the goods will be delivered free of the rightful claim of any third person by way of infringement or the like, except when the buyer furnished the specifications for the goods. In a patent dispute involving a chain of sellers, a customer sued for infringement may look to its supplier and to this warranty.
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Tex. Bus. & Com. Code §§ 17.951-17.955: Bad-faith patent assertion
Sections 17.951 through 17.955 address bad-faith assertions of patent infringement in demand letters. The statute applies only to patent claims, not copyright, and only the Texas Attorney General can enforce it. A recipient of a patent demand letter should still assess the claim on its merits and the response deadline.
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Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code § 134A.002: TUTSA definitions
Section 134A.002 defines the terms of the Texas Uniform Trade Secrets Act, including the definition of a trade secret in subsection (6): information the owner has taken reasonable measures to maintain secret and that derives independent economic value from not being generally known. It also defines misappropriation and improper means.
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Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code § 134A.003: TUTSA injunctive relief
Section 134A.003 provides injunctive relief for actual or threatened trade secret misappropriation under the Texas Uniform Trade Secrets Act. Subsection (a) authorizes an injunction against actual or threatened misappropriation.
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Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code § 134A.0065: TUTSA sealing procedure
For actions under the Texas Uniform Trade Secrets Act, H.B. 4081 created a separate sealing process in section 134A.0065, effective September 1, 2025. A party files a notice of sealing and an affidavit describing the information and the factual basis for treating it as a trade secret. An order granting or denying a motion to unseal is treated as a severed final judgment that any participant in the hearing may appeal under subsection (j). The procedure applies only in Texas courts, not to DTSA claims in federal court.
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Tex. Gov't Code § 25A.004(d)(4): Business Court jurisdiction over IP actions
Section 25A.004(d)(4) gives the Texas Business Court jurisdiction over specified actions involving intellectual property ownership, use, and licensing, where the amount in controversy exceeds $5 million, excluding interest, statutory damages, exemplary damages, penalties, attorney fees, and court costs. Federal exclusivity still applies to claims arising under the patent and copyright laws.
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Tex. Gov't Code § 25A.004(d)(5): Business Court jurisdiction over TUTSA actions
Section 25A.004(d)(5) gives the Texas Business Court jurisdiction over actions under the Texas Uniform Trade Secrets Act, where the amount in controversy exceeds $5 million, excluding interest, statutory damages, exemplary damages, penalties, attorney fees, and court costs. A separate clause from the intellectual property clause in subsection (d)(4), it covers TUTSA claims that a state court may hear.
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15 U.S.C. § 1051: Trademark application
Section 1051 governs applications to register a trademark. A mark may be filed on the basis of use in commerce under subsection (a) or on the basis of a bona fide intent to use it in commerce under subsection (b).
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15 U.S.C. § 1052: Bars to registration
Section 1052 sets out the grounds on which the USPTO may refuse registration, including under subsection (e) marks that are merely descriptive, deceptively misdescriptive, or primarily geographically descriptive. Subsection (f) allows a descriptive mark to register on proof of acquired distinctiveness.
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15 U.S.C. § 1057: Registration certificate; presumptions
A certificate of registration is prima facie evidence of the validity of the registered mark and the registrant's ownership and exclusive right to use it under subsection (b). Registration also gives nationwide priority from the filing date under subsection (c), subject to prior users.
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15 U.S.C. § 1072: Constructive notice of registration
Registration of a mark on the Principal Register is constructive notice of the registrant's claim of ownership. That notice bars a later claim that the mark was adopted without knowledge of the registrant's use.
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15 U.S.C. § 1114: Infringement of a registered mark
Section 1114 provides the infringement claim for a registered mark. The owner must show a legally protectable mark and a likelihood of confusion under subsection (1). Counterfeiting of a registered mark is addressed through sections 1114, 1116(d), and 1117(b)-(c).
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15 U.S.C. § 1115: Incontestability and defenses
After five years of continuous use following registration, an owner may file a declaration making the right to use the mark incontestable under section 1065, and an incontestable registration is conclusive evidence of the right to use under section 1115, subject to the listed defenses. Subsection (b)(4) preserves the descriptive fair use defense.
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15 U.S.C. § 1116: Injunctive relief; seizure
Subsection (a) authorizes injunctive relief for trademark infringement. Subsection (d) governs ex parte seizure and impoundment of infringing counterfeit goods, with strict safeguards including a prompt hearing and a bond.
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15 U.S.C. § 1117: Recovery of profits, damages, and costs
Subsection (a) allows recovery of the defendant's profits, the owner's damages, and costs, and up to three times actual damages as compensation rather than a penalty. Subsection (b) provides trebling for intentional counterfeiting, and subsection (c) provides statutory damages for counterfeiting. The Fifth Circuit applies the Octane standard to fee awards under this section.
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15 U.S.C. § 1125: False designation, dilution, and cybersquatting
Subsection (a)(1)(A) covers false designation of origin for unregistered marks and trade dress, and subsection (a)(1)(B) covers false advertising. Subsection (c) provides the dilution claim for a famous mark, requiring a mark widely recognized by the general consuming public of the United States. Subsection (d) provides the cybersquatting claim for a domain name registered or used in bad faith to profit from a distinctive or famous mark.
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15 U.S.C. § 1127: Definitions
Section 1127 defines terms used throughout the Lanham Act, including what counts as use in commerce, abandonment, and a counterfeit mark. A counterfeit is a spurious mark identical with, or substantially indistinguishable from, a registered mark, on the goods or services for which it is registered.
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17 U.S.C. § 101: Copyright definitions
Section 101 defines terms used throughout the Copyright Act, including the categories of a work made for hire. A work prepared by an employee within the scope of employment is a work made for hire, and a commissioned work qualifies only if it falls in one of nine statutory categories and the parties expressly agree in a signed writing.
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17 U.S.C. § 102: Subject matter of copyright
Copyright subsists in original works of authorship fixed in a tangible medium of expression under subsection (a). Under subsection (b), protection never extends to ideas, procedures, processes, systems, methods of operation, concepts, principles, or discoveries, however they are expressed.
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17 U.S.C. § 106: Exclusive rights in a copyrighted work
The copyright owner has the exclusive rights to reproduce the work, prepare derivative works, distribute copies, publicly perform the work, publicly display the work, and, for sound recordings, perform the work publicly by means of a digital audio transmission.
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17 U.S.C. § 107: Fair use
Fair use turns on four factors: the purpose and character of the use, the nature of the copyrighted work, the amount and substantiality of the portion used, and the effect of the use on the market for the original. After Warhol, the purpose factor turns heavily on whether the use serves a different purpose from the original.
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17 U.S.C. § 1201: Circumvention of technological measures
Section 1201 prohibits circumventing a technological measure that effectively controls access to a copyrighted work. The defendant must itself circumvent the measure; merely using a product that circumvents it is not enough under the Fifth Circuit reading in the guides.
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17 U.S.C. § 1202: Copyright management information
Section 1202 prohibits intentionally removing or altering copyright management information, such as author or license information, and distributing copies knowing that information was removed. Statutory damages of $2,500 to $25,000 per violation apply under section 1203.
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17 U.S.C. § 1504: Copyright Claims Board proceedings
Section 1504 authorizes the Copyright Claims Board to hear infringement claims, declarations of noninfringement, and misrepresentation claims over takedown notices, entirely online. Recovery is capped at $30,000 per proceeding under subsection (e), with statutory damages up to $15,000 per work for timely registered works and $7,500 per work for works not timely registered.
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17 U.S.C. § 1506: Copyright Claims Board review and opt-out
Section 1506 governs reconsideration and Register review of Copyright Claims Board determinations, and limits federal court review of a determination. Subsection (i) lets a respondent opt out within 60 days after service, ending the Board proceeding; the claimant may then sue in federal court.
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17 U.S.C. § 201: Ownership of copyright
Copyright belongs first to the author under subsection (a). Work an employee creates within the scope of employment belongs to the employer automatically under subsection (b), unless the parties expressly agree otherwise in a signed writing.
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17 U.S.C. § 204: Transfers of copyright ownership
A transfer of copyright ownership, other than by operation of law, must be in a signed writing under subsection (a). An independent contractor generally keeps ownership of custom work unless there is a signed assignment, since computer programs are not among the statutory work-made-for-hire categories.
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17 U.S.C. § 411: Registration as a condition of suit
For a U.S. work, no suit for infringement may be filed until the Copyright Office has registered the work or refused registration under subsection (a). A pending application does not satisfy the requirement. Subsection (b) provides that a good-faith mistake of fact or law does not invalidate a registration, and the court must ask the Register whether the Office would have refused registration on a knowing inaccuracy.
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17 U.S.C. § 412: Timely registration and statutory remedies
Statutory damages and attorney fees are unavailable if the infringement began before the effective date of registration, unless the work was registered within three months after first publication. The same timely registration rule governs the higher Copyright Claims Board awards.
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17 U.S.C. § 501: Infringement of copyright
Section 501 defines infringement of copyright and states who may sue. Subsection (b) allows the legal or beneficial owner of an exclusive right to bring an infringement action, and the court may require the owner to notify, and may require joinder of, others with an interest in the copyright.
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17 U.S.C. § 502: Injunctions
Section 502 authorizes temporary and final injunctions on reasonable terms to prevent or restrain infringement of a copyright. Courts apply traditional equitable principles, including the four eBay factors.
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17 U.S.C. § 503: Impoundment and destruction
Section 503 authorizes the impoundment and destruction of infringing copies and the means of making them, during the case and in the final judgment.
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17 U.S.C. § 504: Damages and profits
Subsection (b) allows actual damages plus the infringer's profits not already counted in actual damages; the owner must prove only gross revenue, and the infringer must prove deductible expenses. Subsection (c) allows statutory damages instead, from $750 to $30,000 per work, up to $150,000 for willful infringement and as low as $200 for innocent infringement.
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17 U.S.C. § 505: Costs and attorney fees
In a copyright infringement action the court may allow the recovery of full costs by either party and may award a reasonable attorney fee to the prevailing party as part of the costs.
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17 U.S.C. § 507: Limitations on copyright actions
No civil action may be maintained for copyright infringement unless it is commenced within three years after the claim accrues under subsection (b). In the Fifth Circuit, a claim accrues when the owner knew or should have known of the infringement.
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17 U.S.C. § 512: DMCA safe harbors and takedown procedure
Section 512 limits the liability of online service providers that meet the safe harbor conditions, including a designated agent, expeditious removal after a proper notice under subsection (c), and a policy for terminating repeat infringers under subsection (i). Subsection (f) covers misrepresentation in a notice or counter-notice, and subsection (g) governs counter-notices and put-back.
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18 U.S.C. § 1836: Defend Trade Secrets Act civil action
The Defend Trade Secrets Act provides a federal civil action for trade secret misappropriation. It applies only if the trade secret relates to a product or service used in, or intended for use in, interstate or foreign commerce under subsection (b)(1). Subsection (b)(2) allows ex parte seizure only in extraordinary circumstances, and subsection (b)(3) provides injunctions, damages including a reasonable royalty in lieu of other measures, and exemplary damages and fees for willful and malicious misappropriation.
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18 U.S.C. § 1839: Trade secret definitions
Subsection (3) defines a trade secret as information the owner has taken reasonable measures to keep secret and that derives independent economic value from not being generally known or readily ascertainable. Subsection (5) defines misappropriation, and subsection (6) defines improper means.
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18 U.S.C. § 2320: Trafficking in counterfeit goods or services
Section 2320 makes intentional trafficking in counterfeit goods or services a federal crime. For a first offense, an individual faces up to 10 years in prison and a $2,000,000 fine, and a company up to a $5,000,000 fine; penalties increase for repeat offenses and for counterfeit military goods, drugs, or conduct causing serious injury. A criminal case does not award the owner damages directly, though restitution may be ordered.
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19 U.S.C. § 1526: Customs recordation of trademarks
An owner of a federally registered mark may record it with U.S. Customs and Border Protection for $190 per class, and the recordation remains in force as long as the registration. Under subsection (e), Customs may detain imports bearing counterfeit marks, and counterfeit goods are subject to seizure and forfeiture.
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28 U.S.C. § 1295: Federal Circuit jurisdiction
Section 1295 gives the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit exclusive jurisdiction over appeals in cases arising under the patent laws under subsection (a)(1), including appeals from Patent Trial and Appeal Board final written decisions. Other federal intellectual property appeals from Texas district courts generally go to the Fifth Circuit.
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28 U.S.C. § 1338: Exclusive federal jurisdiction over patent and copyright cases
Federal district courts have exclusive jurisdiction over claims arising under the patent and copyright laws under subsection (a). A state-law claim that merely involves a patent question, such as legal malpractice in a patent case, can stay in state court.
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28 U.S.C. § 1400: Venue in patent and copyright cases
Subsection (a) provides the venue rule for copyright cases. Subsection (b) provides that a patent infringement suit may be brought only where the defendant resides, or where it has committed acts of infringement and has a regular and established place of business. A domestic corporation resides only in its state of incorporation.
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28 U.S.C. § 1404: Transfer for convenience
Subsection (a) allows a court to transfer a case to another district where it could have been brought, for the convenience of parties and witnesses and in the interest of justice. In Texas patent cases the Federal Circuit applies Fifth Circuit law, and the movant must show that the other district is clearly more convenient.
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35 U.S.C. § 101: Patentable subject matter
A patent may cover a process, machine, manufacture, or composition of matter, or an improvement of one. Laws of nature, natural phenomena, and abstract ideas cannot be patented as such. Courts apply the two-step Alice/Mayo test: whether the claim is directed to an exception, and if so whether it adds an inventive concept.
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35 U.S.C. § 102: Novelty; prior art
A claim is not novel, and the patent is invalid for anticipation, if a single earlier reference discloses every element of the claim. Section 102 sets the conditions for patentability based on novelty and the prior art that counts against a claim.
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35 U.S.C. § 103: Nonobviousness
A claim is invalid for obviousness if the differences between it and the prior art are such that the claimed invention as a whole would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art. Courts apply the Graham factors, and a combination of familiar elements by known methods is likely obvious if it yields only predictable results.
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35 U.S.C. § 111: Patent applications
Section 111 governs patent applications. A provisional application under subsection (b) secures a filing date but is abandoned at twelve months and is never examined. A nonprovisional application is the one the USPTO examines and that can issue as a patent.
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35 U.S.C. § 112: Specification and claims
The specification must describe the invention and how to make and use it under subsection (a). The claims must particularly point out and distinctly claim the invention under subsection (b), and a claim is indefinite if it does not tell skilled readers its scope with reasonable certainty. Dependent claims refer to an earlier claim and add limits under subsection (d).
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35 U.S.C. § 154: Patent term and the right to exclude
A patent gives its owner the right to exclude others from making, using, offering for sale, selling, or importing the invention in the United States under subsection (a)(1). Utility patents generally end 20 years after the earliest nonprovisional application was filed under subsection (a)(2), and the term can be extended to make up for Patent Office delay under subsection (b). A provisional application does not start the 20-year clock.
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35 U.S.C. § 161: Plant patents
Section 161 authorizes plant patents, and plant patents follow the utility patent rules on term. The patent basics guide cites it alongside the utility and design patent provisions.
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35 U.S.C. § 171: Design patents
Section 171 authorizes design patents on the ornamental design of a manufactured article. A design patent protects appearance rather than function, and its term is set by section 173.
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35 U.S.C. § 173: Design patent term
Design patents issued from applications filed on or after May 13, 2015 last 15 years from grant.
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35 U.S.C. § 261: Ownership and assignment
Section 261 governs ownership of patents and the recording of assignments. An assignment not recorded at the Patent Office within three months can be void against a later buyer who paid value without notice.
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35 U.S.C. § 262: Joint owners
Each co-owner of a patent may use and license the patent without the consent of the other co-owners. All co-owners must ordinarily join as plaintiffs in an infringement suit, and one co-owner cannot be forced to join.
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35 U.S.C. § 271: Infringement of patents
Subsection (a) defines direct infringement: making, using, offering to sell, selling, or importing the claimed invention without authority. Subsection (b) covers induced infringement and subsection (c) covers contributory infringement. Subsection (e)(1) provides a safe harbor for uses reasonably related to federal regulatory review, and subsection (e)(2) makes filing an abbreviated new drug application an act of infringement.
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35 U.S.C. § 281: Remedy for infringement
Section 281 gives a patentee a civil action for infringement of a patent. The patentee, including successors in title, may sue, and an exclusive licensee that holds all substantial rights may sue in its own name.
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35 U.S.C. § 283: Injunctions
Section 283 authorizes courts to grant injunctions to prevent the violation of any right secured by patent, on terms the court deems reasonable. There is no automatic injunction; a court applies the four eBay factors before granting permanent injunctive relief.
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35 U.S.C. § 284: Damages
The court awards damages adequate to compensate for the infringement, but in no event less than a reasonable royalty, together with interest and costs. For egregious infringement the court may increase damages up to three times, under the Halo standard.
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35 U.S.C. § 285: Attorney fees in exceptional cases
In an exceptional case the court may award reasonable attorney fees to the prevailing party. Under Octane Fitness, an exceptional case is one that stands out from others based on the substantive strength of a party's position or the unreasonable way the case was litigated, and entitlement must be shown by a preponderance of the evidence.
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35 U.S.C. § 286: Time limitation on damages
No damages may be recovered for infringement committed more than six years before the filing of the complaint. An expired patent can still support a suit for past infringement within that six-year limit.
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35 U.S.C. § 287: Marking and notice
Subsection (a) governs patent marking: failure to mark a patented product can limit damages, and no damages may be recovered for infringement before actual notice if the products were not marked. A demand letter may serve as that notice.
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35 U.S.C. §§ 311-319: Inter partes review
Sections 311 through 319 authorize inter partes review, a Patent Trial and Appeal Board trial to cancel claims as anticipated or obvious over earlier patents and publications. The petitioner must prove unpatentability by a preponderance of the evidence under section 316(e), estoppel follows a final written decision under section 315(e), and either party may appeal to the Federal Circuit under section 319.
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35 U.S.C. §§ 321-329: Post-grant review
Sections 321 through 329 authorize post-grant review, a Patent Trial and Appeal Board trial on any ground of invalidity, available only within nine months after grant. The petitioner must prove unpatentability by a preponderance of the evidence under section 326(e), and estoppel follows a final written decision under section 325(e).