Question

Why doesn't the Uniform Commercial Code cover patents? Please explain with a couple sentences.

Answer 1

The Uniform Commercial Code (UCC) contains rules applying to many types of commercial contracts, including contracts related to the sale of goods, leasing of goods, use of negotiable instruments, banking transactions, letters of credit, documents of title for goods, investment securities, and secured transactions. However, there are also many business-related contracts that the UCC does not cover.

While former Official Comment 1 to old section 9-104 indicates that security interests in copyrights and patents were subject to old Article 9 generally, the former comment references old sections 9-302(3) and (4) and provides that the filing provisions of the copyright and patent acts were equivalent to filing under old Article 9. Additionally, former Official Comment 8 of old section 9-302 includes the Copyright Act as an example of a federal statute that exempts an Article 9 filing under old section 9-302(3)(a).

While these former comments are instructive, they are not dispositive. In fact, the federal statutes governing trademarks, copyrights, and patents do not explicitly address security interests. An examination of the relevant provisions of these statutes reveals why there is uncertainty as to where security interests in trademarks, copyrights, and patents need to be filed in order to be deemed perfected.