1. Government-owned land.
2. Hist. Government lands that are open to entry and settlement. • Today virtually all federal lands are off-limits to traditional entry and settlement.
3. Intellectual property. The universe of inventions and creative works that are not protected by intellectual-property rights and are therefore available for anyone to use without charge. • When copyright, trademark, patent, or trade-secret rights are lost or expire, the intellectual property they had protected becomes part of the public domain and can be appropriated by anyone without liability for infringement. [Cases: Copyrights and Intellectual Property 40. C.J.S. Copyrights and Intellectual Property § 31.]
“[P]ublic domain is the status of an invention, creative work, commercial symbol, or any other creation that is not protected by any form of intellectual property. Public domain is the rule: intellectual property is the exception.” 1 J. Thomas McCarthy, McCarthy on Trademarks and Unfair Competition§ 1.01[2], at 1-3 (3d ed. 1996).
