ADAPTATION
The act or process of modifying an object to render it suitable for a particular or new purpose or situation.
In the law of patents—grants by the government to inventors for the exclusive right to manufacture, use, or market inventions for a term of years—adaptation denotes a category of patentable inventions, which entails the application of an existing product or process to a new use, accompanied by the exercise of inventive faculties. Federal law provides: “Whoever invents or discovers any new and useful process, machine, manufacture, or composition of matter, or any new and useful improvement thereof, may obtain a patent therefore, subject to the conditions and requirements of this title.” 35 U.S.C.A. §101.
The adaptation of a device to a different field can constitute an invention if inventiveness exists in the conception of new use and with modifications necessary to render the device applicable in the new field. The progressive adaptation of well-known devices to new, but similar, uses is merely a display of an expected technical proficiency, which involves only the exercise of common reasoning abilities upon materials furnished by special knowledge ensuing from continual practice. It, therefore, does not represent a patentable invention. Ingenuity beyond the mere adaptation of teachings as could be done by a skilled mechanic is required to achieve a patentable invention; inventive talent, rather than skill in adaptation, must be manifested. To entitle a party to the benefit of the patent statute, the device must not only be new; it must be inventively new. The readaptation of old forms to new roles does not constitute invention where there is no significant alteration in the method of applying it or in the nature of the result obtained. No invention will be recognized if the new form of the result has not previously been contemplated and, irrespective of the remoteness of the new use from the old, if no modifications in the old device are necessary to adapt it to the new use.
Invention is generally not involved where an old process, device, or method is applied to a new subject or use that is analogous to the old or to a new use or the production of a new result in the same or analogous field. If the new use is so comparable to the old that the concept of adapting the device to the new use would occur to a person proficient in the art and interested in devising a method of changing the intended function, there is no invention even though significant alterations have been made. The application of an old device to a new use is normally patentable only if the new use is in a different field or involves a completely novel function. In addition, the physical modifications need not be extensive,
as long as they are essential to the objective. In the law of copyrights the exclusive right of
the author of a literary project to reproduce,
publish, and sell his or her work, which is
granted by statute, adaptation refers to the cre-
ation of a derivative work, which is protected by
federal COPYRIGHT laws.
A derivative work involves a recasting or
translation process that incorporates preexisting
material capable of protection by copyright. An
adaptation is copyrighted if it meets the require-
ment of originality, in the sense that the author
has created it by his or her own proficiency,
labor, and judgment without directly copying or
subtly imitating the preexisting material. Mere
minor alterations will not suffice. In addition
the adapter must procure the consent of the
copyright owner of the underlying work if he or
she wants to copy from such work. The copy-
right in a derivative work, however, extends only
to the material contributed by the adapter and
does not affect the copyright protection afforded
to the preexisting material.
The rise in the use of digital media has
caused new dilemmas in the area of copyright
law with respect to adaptations. Even average
technology users may make copies and adapt the
original works to their needs. Recent issues in
this area have focused upon intellectual prop-
erty rights in the context of the INTERNET and
computer programs.
Even average computer users are now capa-
ble of copying digital music files and modifying
them through the use of software. The Internet
now allows these users to prepare these modifi-
cations and distribute them to a wide audience
using the Web, E-MAIL, and other methods of
distribution. The Copyright Act of 1976 contin-
ues to protect the copyright holders, generally
requiring those who prepared derivative works
to obtain permission from the copyright holder
(17 U.S.C.A. § 114(b) [1996]). However,
enforcement of these provisions has proven dif-
ficult and led to a number of efforts, including
those by the Recording Industry Association of
America, to find new methods for protecting the
rights of the copyright holders.
A second cause of concern among copyright
owners is the ability of computer users to make
copies of computer program and adopt these
programs to serve the users’ purposes. The
Copyright Act provides an exclusive right to the
copyright holders of computer programs and
allows owners of copies of these programs to
make additional copies only in limited circum-
stances (17 U.S.C.A. § 117 [1996]). Like sound
recordings, protection of these copyrights has
proven difficult, leading lawmakers to consider
a number of new options to protect these
rights.
In the law of real property, with respect to
fixtures (articles that were PERSONAL PROPERTY
but became part of the realty through annexa-
tion to the premises), adaptation is the relation-
ship between the article and the use that is made
of the realty to which the article is annexed.
The prevailing view is that the adaptation or
appropriation of an article affixed to real prop-
erty for the purpose or use to which the prem-
ises are devoted is an important consideration in
ascertaining its status as a fixture. According to
this theory, if the article facilitates the realization
of the purpose of the real property, the annexor
presumably intends it to be a permanent ACCES-
SION. Numerous other cases, however, allude to
the adaptation of an item to the use to which the
premises are designated, as merely one of the
tests or factors that should or must be evaluated
in determining that it constitutes real property.
Other cases view the character of the use of the
article annexed as significant.
The special construction or fitting of an article for location and use on certain land or in a particular building, which mitigates against use in another location, indicates that is was intended to constitute a part of the land. The adaptability of an annexed article for use in another location is sometimes viewed as demonstrating the retention of its character as personalty (personal property), but this characteristic is not conclusive.Articles not designed to comprise the realty retain their character as personalty.
FURTHER READINGS
Benn, Marvin N., and Richard J. Superfine. 1994. Ҥ 117
—The Right to Adapt into the Fourth Generation and the Source Code Generator’s Dilemma.” John Marshall Journal of Computer and Information Law 537.
Miller, Arthur R., and Michael H. Davis. 2000. Intellectual Property: Patents, Trademarks, and Copyright in a Nutshell. 3d ed. St. Paul,Minn.:West Group.
Plotkin, Mark E., ed. 2003. E-Commerce Law & Business. New York: Aspen.
