Task: BUG, Inc., a company based in the city of Springfield, in the State of Columbia, U.S.A. designs, manufactures, and sells electronic recording devices. These devices are used by law enforcement agencies (police, FBI, etc.) to intercept and record sounds and voices. The equipment taps into telephone wires, cell phone transmissions, and picks up sounds and voices through the walls of a house or in open-air locations through the use of a remote microphone.
For each question about BUG, Inc. below, please provide the best answer of the four possible choices.
Question 1. One of the reasons BUG devices work so well is because the parts use a special alloy of rare metals that are produced in BUG's facility for certain of the parts. Which of the following methods would be inconsistent with BUG using the law of trade secrets to ensure that its devices are the only ones that use this alloy?
A. Limiting the number of people who have access to the alloy's composition
B. Requiring all employees who handle the alloy to sign a non-disclosure agreement
C. Patenting the manufacturing method for the alloy
D. Keeping the blueprints for the devices under lock and key
Question 2. One of BUG's main competitors is WIRETAP, Inc., a company based in the nearby state of Deseret. A WIRETAP employee used a fake name and applied for a job at BUG. This employee forwarded all of the e-mail he received to WIRETAP's corporate headquarters once a week for six weeks, and at the end of the six week period, he was given access to the special alloy that BUG uses in its devices. He was caught with a photocopy of the alloy's formula and manufacturing method in his briefcase when he left the BUG office. Which causes of action appear likely to succeed in a civil lawsuit by BUG against WIRETAP?
A. Fraud
B. Civil RICO
C. Misappropriation of Trade Secrets
D. All of the above.
Question 3. If the spy sues BUG based on the security guard's conduct, what is the spy's best avenue for recovery of damages?
A. Civil RICO
B. Defamation
C. Respondeat Superior
D. Breach of Contract
Question 4. BUG wants to start marketing its products to the public via the internet. However, another company called "Columbia Cybersquatter Corporation" has already obtained the rights to the web address www.buginc.com. What is the most effective legal cause of action available to BUG to obtain the rights to this website address?
A. Commercial Defamation (or "disparagement")
B. Violation of Trademark
C. Conversion
D. Fraud
Question 5. A member of the Springfield Police Department was using one of BUG's devices to monitor potential criminal activity. The device included an earpiece that is supposed to be inserted into the user's ear so that the user can hear what the device is recording. Unfortunately, the earpiece on this particular unit shorted out and the unit caught fire. The police officer was badly hurt and will have some level of permanent hearing damage. BUG is liable for these injuries if which of the following is true:
A. BUG should have anticipated that a short-out might cause a fire while the device was in someone's ear, but this possibility did not actually occur to anyone in the company involved with the product, and no warning of this potential risk was attached to the product itself.
B. The specifications of the device are such that a short-out and fire will not happen, but this particular unit was made defectively due to an employee not paying attention while assembling the product.
C. The device was manufactured according to specifications, but the specifications included a defect that created a risk of the short-out and fire - even though at the time the device was designed and manufactured, it was considered "state of the art" for safety.
D. If any of A, B, or C were true, BUG is liable for the police officer's damages.