中央电大知识产权法形成性考核册答案小抄.doc

电大知识产权法考试资料形成性考核册作业1一、名词解释（每小题2分，共20分）1、知识产权法：知识产权法是调整因创造、使用智力成果而产生的，以及早确认、保护和形式治理成果所有人的知识产权的过程中所发生的各种社会关系的法律规范的总称2、商品装潢：是指在商品或其包装、容器以及其他附着物上所进行的装饰。3、商品商标：指使用于商品之上的商标，根据使用者的不同，分为制造商标和销售商标。4、证明商标：也称保证商标，是指由对某种商品或服务具有检测和监督能力组织所控制，而由其以外的人使用在商品或服务上，用以证明该商品或服务的原产地、原料、制造方法、质量、精确度或其他特定品质的商品商标或服务商标。5、注册商标：经国家商标主管机关核准注册的商标。二、简答题（每小题10分，共40分1、请按你的理解给知识产权概念下个定义。答：知识产权是治理成果所有人和使用人给予自己所拥有的智力成果而依法享有的各项民事权利的总和，包括著作权、商标权、专利权、阀线圈、发明权以及其他科技成果权。知识产权是一个随着科学技术、文学艺术的发展而不断拓展和深化的概念2、请试述知识产权的法律性质。知识产权是一种无形财产权，是一种特殊的民事权利，这就是知识产权的法律性质。3、请试述知识产权的范围。知识产权的范围，有广义和狭义两种。广义的知识产权范围，为两个主要的保护知识产权的国际公约所界定。第一：1967年签订的世界知识产权组织公约指出，知识产权应包括下列权利：1关于文学、艺术和科学作品的权利；2关于表演艺术家的表演、录音和广播的权利；3关于人类在一切领域内的发明的权利；4关于科学发现享有的权利；5关于工业品外观设计的权利；6 关于商品商标、服务商标、商号及其他商业标记的权利；7关于制止不正当竞争的权利；8其他一切来自工业、科学及文学、艺术领域的智力创作活动所产生的权利。第二：1995年1月1日成立的世界贸易组织（WTO）的与贸易有关的知识产权协议规定的范围，包括：1版权与邻接权2商标权3地理标志权4工业品外观设计观5专利权6集成电路布图设计权7未公开的信息专有权，主要是商业秘密权.目前基本上国际上都是以这两个协议所界定的范围为知识产权的范围。 狭义的知识产权，指传统意义上的知识产权，即专利权、商标权、著作权。卓越人社区 o4你认为知识产权法有哪些作用（最少四条）。 答：（1）为智力成果完成人的权益提供了法律保障，调动了人们从事科学技术研究和文学艺术作品创作的积极性和创造性。（2）为智力成果的推广应用和传播提供了法律机制，为智力成果转化为生产力，运用到生产建设上去，产生了巨大的经济效益和社会效益。（3）为国际经济技术贸易和文化艺术的交流提供了法律准则，促进人类文明进步和经济发展。（4）知识产权法律制度作为现代民商法的重要组成部分，队对完善我国法律体系，建设法治国家具有重大意义。三、案例（40分）某公司新生产一种环保型纯天然矿泉水。经试销顾客反响很好，销售业绩不断上升，为防止他人假冒并树立市场形象，取得信誉，公司决定申请商标注册。公司想起名注册商标为“神怡”，但又怕别人利用法律侵害其商标权益，如何注册也不清楚。如果你作为商标代理人将提出哪些建议，并提供注册咨询服务。要求：写一篇咨询意见书（包括怎样注册、程序是什么、如何防止权益被侵害、可采取哪些方案。）根据我国商标法及相关法规，我作为商标代理人，谨对贵公司申请“神怡”牌矿泉水注册商标一事，出具咨询意见如下： 一、 怎样申请注册商标及申请程序。我国商标法规定，我国国内申请人可以通过两种渠道办理商标注册，一是由申请人委托商标代理机构代为办理注册商标申请事宜，二是由申请人直接办理。贵公司可以选择其中之一进行办理。若选择委托办理，贵公司首先应当注意选择具有商标代理资质的商标代理机构就代理事项与之协商一致，签订委托代理合同，出具授权委托书，并向该机构交纳代理费以及贵公司企业法人营业执照等有效证件的复印件。若选择直接办理，则应持企业介绍信、企业法人营业执照及有关申请文件，直接到商标局办理注册商标申请手续。无论采用哪种渠道，都必须填写统一的商标注册申请书报商标局，并提交商标图样及申请人身份证讲的复印件。商标局在收到商标注册申请之后，将依法对该申请进行形式审查和实质审查，经审查，对符合规定的，予以初步审定并予以公告。自公告之日起三个月内无异议者，予以核准注册。对不符合规定的，予以驳回。申请人不服的，可以自收到驳回通知之日起15日内向商标复审委员会申请复审。对复审结果不服的，可以自收到复审结果通知书之日起30日内向人民法院起诉。二、 关于防止贵公司合法权益受损害的措施这个问题的实质是贵公司一旦获得“神怡”牌矿泉水注册商标后，应采取哪些措施予以保护的问题。关于商标保护，我国法律规定主要有行政保护和司法保护两种方式。行政保护是指商标管理机关通过行政程序依法查处商标侵权行为来保护商标专用权。贵公司一旦发现自己拥有的注册商标权益受到损害，如市场上出现假冒产品，就应当及时向商标管理机关报告，并积极搜集相关证据，配合商标管理机关打击任何人对贵公司注册商标合法权益的侵权行为。司法保护是指司法机关通过司法程序依法审理商标侵权案件，制裁商标侵权人，打击假冒注册商标犯罪来对商标专用权予以保护。如有必要，贵公司依法直接向人民法院起诉，请求司法保护。此外，贵公司也应加强注册商标自我保护，包括通过学习增强商标保护意识，配备商标管理人员，采取各种预防措施，发生侵权事件后及时请求行政保护和司法保护等。商标事务所商标代理人：年 月 日知识产权法形成性考核册作业2王某在黑龙江省齐齐哈尔市于1990年4月1日向中国专利局受理处有几名为“保温鞋”的实用新型申请文件，邮戳日为1990年4分月1日，中国专利局受理处收到该申请文件的日期为1990年4月6日。李某在北京于1990年4月2日向中国专利局额受理处直接递交一份与王某同样的发明创造的专利申请文件，也名为“保温鞋”的实新型专利申请。 问：如何处理？为什么？答：本题的考点是依法判断王某与李某谁是该项专利的最先申请人，该项专利的申请权应当归谁所有。我国专利法规定，两个以上主题相同的发明创造分别向专利行政部门提出申请的，实行先申请原则。即谁是最先申请人，谁就是请求权人。确定的方法是，以申请日作为申请时间先后的判断标准，以国务院专利行政部门受到专利申请文件之日为申请日，但是申请文件是邮寄的，以寄出的邮戳日为申请日。在本题中，王某是以邮寄方式申请的，邮戳日是1990年4月1日，因此他的申请日依法应确定为1990年4月1日。而李某是以直接递交方式申请的，递交时间是1990年4月2日，申请日为1990年4月2日。由此可见，王某是该项专利的最先申请人，因此国家专利局应确定该项专利的申请权归王某所有。 知识产权法形成性考核册作业3案例答案要点：关于故宫博物馆国务院和某出版社纠纷的案例，考核的是分析问题、解决问题的能力。要求写以原告的代理人身份写一篇代理意见和以被告的律师身份写一篇答辩意见。本题无标准答案，只要言之有理，能自圆其说，予以发挥即可 代理意见参考要点：我受某某律师事物所委托，担任原告故宫博物馆的代理人，现根据民法通则和著作权法等法律法规的规定，以事实为基础，以法律为准绳，发表以下代理意见： 1、故宫博物馆将900多套珍贵文物进行摄影、测量，编写文字形成作品并经过“两家出版社”出版，从而享有该作品的著作权。理由：（1）被告非法使用的原告790张图片是经过原告故宫博物馆对文物进行摄影、编写文字而成，原告对每一张图片享有摄影作品的著作权。（2）原告对900多张图片配以文字，予以整理编辑，拥有对900套图片文字汇编而成的汇编作品即出版物的著作权。 2、出版社侵犯了故宫博物馆的著作权，构成了权利的侵犯，应当赔礼道歉，赔偿损失。理由：（1）出版社未经原告许可，擅自使用其图片，不仅是一种剽窃抄袭的侵权行为，而且是一种未经著作权人许可，以营利为目的，复制发行原告作品的侵权行为。结合教材283页内容。被告的行为侵犯了原告的使用权，不属于著作权法中合理使用的情形。结合教材314-316内容(2)被告未经原告同意，擅自汇编790张图片，侵犯了原告的复制权和演绎权中的汇编权。结合教材288页内容论述。（3）被告侵犯了原告的作品完整权，原告擅自使用790张图片，编写宋清瓷器图录一书，是对包含900张图片的原告出版作品的篡改。结合教材281页内容（4）被告侵犯了原告取得报酬权。原告向社会出租图片资料版权费400远，加工制作费400元，被告擅自使用图片，造成原告经济损失 3、根据著作权法等法规的规定，被告应当立即公开赔礼道歉，赔偿损失等民事责任。原告的作品系珍贵文物，因此被告应按每张800远乘2予以赔偿，应赔偿共计元。 答辩参考要点：我接受某某律师事务所，作为被告出版社的辩护人，就故宫博物馆诉出版社侵犯著作权一案，答辩如下： 1、出版人未侵犯故宫的著作权，不付赔偿责任，原告的理由有漏洞。(请对以上原告代理意见从四个方面进行反驳，阐述了个人理由，接合教材有关内容根据自己理解论述)。 2、该书有作者，出版社只是出版了他人的作品，出版社没有侵权图书的著作权。作者非法使用原告图片790张，是作者天津某教授具有侵犯原告著作权行为，应为此承担相应的民事责任，不应由出版社承担。原告应起诉作者的侵权行为 3、故宫博物馆享有该作品的著作权，但原告故宫博物馆提出的按每张800元乘2方式予以赔偿，没有法律依据，赔偿额显然跟我国法律规定相违背。作为被告的辩护人认为这种赔偿方式是不应该成立的。就赔偿问题来说，这个价格不应该这样计算，相关法律法规并没有规定翻两倍的算法，对于赔偿损失范围，著作权法规定，以被害人的实际损失为限。 知识产权法形成性考核册作业4一、名词解释：1、知识产权：是治理成果所有人和使用人给予自己所拥有的智力成果而依法享有的各项民事权利的总和，包括著作权、商标权、专利权、阀线圈、发明权以及其他科技成果权。知识产权是一个随着科学技术、文学艺术的发展而不断拓展和深化的概念2、商标权:根据我国商标法的有关规定，商标权也可称为商标专用权是指商标注册人对其注册商标所享有的权利。3、专利权：是发明基于发明创造，通过申请专利的方法，公开自己发明创造的技术内容，经审查程序而取得的专有有权，是发明人在一定期限内对其发明享有的独占权。4、著作权：也称版权，指作者对其创作的文学艺术和科学作品依法享有的权利。5、侵犯商业秘密行为：是指行为人采取不当手段获取、披露、使用权利人的商业秘密或者违反合同约定擅自允许他人使 用别人的商业秘密的行为。二、填空：1、国家知识产权局 2、自愿注册强制注册 3、商标国际注册逐一国家注册 4、个案认定被动认定 5、新颖性创造性实用性 6、形状图案色彩 7、责任视为作者 8、同意报酬同意报酬 9、一种直接 三、选择 1、AB 2、B 3、BCD 4、ABD 5、ABC 6、AD 7、D 8、ABCD 四、简答 1、申请注册的商标应当具备的条件（1）申请注册的商标必须具备构成要素；（2）申请注册的商标应具备显著性；（3）申请注册的商标不得使用法律所禁止使用的标志。（4）申请注册的商标不得与他人在同一种或者类似商品或者服务上已经注册或者初步审定商标相同或者近似。（5）申请注册的商标不得与被撤销或者注销未满一年的注册商标相同或者近似。2、授予发明专利和实用新型专利权的实质条件我国专利法第22条也规定：“授予专利权的发明和实用新型，应当具备新颖性、创造性和实用性”。（1）新颖性，是指在申请日以前没有同样的的发明或实用新型的国内外出版物上公开发表过，在国内公开使用过或者以其他方式为公众所知，也没有同样的发明或者实用新型由他人向专利局提出申请并且记载在申请日以后公布的专利申请文件中。”（2）中国专利法第22条第3款规定：“创造性，是指同申请日前已有的技术相比，该发明有突出的实质性特点和显著的进步，该实用新型有实质性特点和进步。”（3）实用性包括实践性、再现性和有益性.3、著作权人享有哪些著作人身权利 答：根据著作权法第10条规定，著作人身权主要包括发表权、署名权、修改权、保护作品完整权等四项人身权利。发表权：是作者决定是否将作品公之于众的权利。署名权：是作者在自己创作的作品和复制件上标记姓名的权利。修改权：是指修改或授权他人修改作品的权利。保护作品完整权：是保护作品不受歪曲篡改的权利。五、论述无标准答案，结合自己学习体会作答，以下仅供参考。 1、原因：考虑：（1）经济因素：如剽窃他人新技术能够减少开发成本，不用支付他人新技术的许可使用费，从而降低产品的成本，获得巨大的利益。如可以使自己的产品提高技术含量，使老产品更新换代，迅速占领国内国际市场，赢得巨大的商机与经济利益。（2）精神因素：通过剽窃他人新技术，抢先进行专利申请，成为专利权人，获得精神上的满足。（只要大家从“追名逐利” 上分析原因即可） 2、重要性：（1）保护发明创造推动技术创新，调动人们从事专利开发研究的积极性和创造性。（2）促进新技术的推广使用，促使智力成果转化为生产力，产生巨大的经济利益和社会效益；（3）促进新技术的公开和传播，促进人类文明的进步。（4）为外国投资提供保障，促进国际交流；（5）为智力成果的完成人的权益提供保证 3、保护措施：（1）自我保护（2）司法保护：行政救济和司法救济（予以展开即可）请您删除一下内容，O(_)O谢谢！2016年中央电大期末复习考试小抄大全，电大期末考试必备小抄，电大考试必过小抄Acetylcholine is a neurotransmitter released from nerve endings (terminals) in both the peripheral and the central nervous systems. It is synthesized within the nerve terminal from choline, taken up from the tissue fluid into the nerve ending by a specialized transport mechanism. The enzyme necessary for this synthesis is formed in the nerve cell body and passes down the axon to its end, carried in the axoplasmic flow, the slow movement of intracellular substance (cytoplasm). Acetylcholine is stored in the nerve terminal, sequestered in small vesicles awaiting release. When a nerve action potential reaches and invades the nerve terminal, a shower of acetylcholine vesicles is released into the junction (synapse) between the nerve terminal and the effector cell which the nerve activates. This may be another nerve cell or a muscle or gland cell. Thus electrical signals are converted to chemical signals, allowing messages to be passed between nerve cells or between nerve cells and non-nerve cells. This process is termed chemical neurotransmission and was first demonstrated, for nerves to the heart, by the German pharmacologist Loewi in 1921. Chemical transmission involving acetylcholine is known as cholinergic. Acetylcholine acts as a transmitter between motor nerves and the fibres of skeletal muscle at all neuromuscular junctions. At this type of synapse, the nerve terminal is closely apposed to the cell membrane of a muscle fibre at the so-called motor end plate. On release, acetylcholine acts almost instantly, to cause a sequence of chemical and physical events (starting with depolarization of the motor endplate) which cause contraction of the muscle fibre. This is exactly what is required for voluntary muscles in which a rapid response to a command is required. The action of acetylcholine is terminated rapidly, in around 10 milliseconds; an enzyme (cholinesterase) breaks the transmitter down into choline and an acetate ion. The choline is then available for re-uptake into the nerve terminal. These same principles apply to cholinergic transmission at sites other than neuromuscular junctions, although the structure of the synapses differs. In the autonomic nervous system these include nerve-to-nerve synapses at the relay stations (ganglia) in both the sympathetic and the parasympathetic divisions, and the endings of parasympathetic nerve fibres on non-voluntary (smooth) muscle, the heart, and glandular cells; in response to activation of this nerve supply, smooth muscle contracts (notably in the gut), the frequency of heart beat is slowed, and glands secrete. Acetylcholine is also an important transmitter at many sites in the brain at nerve-to-nerve synapses. To understand how acetylcholine brings about a variety of effects in different cells it is necessary to understand membrane receptors. In post-synaptic membranes (those of the cells on which the nerve fibres terminate) there are many different sorts of receptors and some are receptors for acetylcholine. These are protein molecules that react specifically with acetylcholine in a reversible fashion. It is the complex of receptor combined with acetylcholine which brings about a biophysical reaction, resulting in the response from the receptive cell. Two major types of acetylcholine receptors exist in the membranes of cells. The type in skeletal muscle is known as nicotinic; in glands, smooth muscle, and the heart they are muscarinic; and there are some of each type in the brain. These terms are used because nicotine mimics the action of acetylcholine at nicotinic receptors, whereas muscarine, an alkaloid from the mushroom Amanita muscaria, mimics the action of acetylcholine at the muscarinic receptors. Acetylcholine is the neurotransmitter produced by neurons referred to as cholinergic neurons. In the peripheral nervous system acetylcholine plays a role in skeletal muscle movement, as well as in the regulation of smooth muscle and cardiac muscle. In the central nervous system acetylcholine is believed to be involved in learning, memory, and mood. Acetylcholine is synthesized from choline and acetyl coenzyme A through the action of the enzyme choline acetyltransferase and becomes packaged into membrane-boundvesicles. After the arrival of a nerve signal at the termination of an axon, the vesicles fuse with the cell membrane, causing the release of acetylcholine into thesynaptic cleft. For the nerve signal to continue, acetylcholine must diffuse to another nearby neuron or muscle cell, where it will bind and activate areceptorprotein. There are two main types of cholinergic receptors, nicotinic and muscarinic. Nicotinic receptors are located at synapses between two neurons and at synapses between neurons and skeletal muscle cells. Upon activation a nicotinic receptor acts as a channel for the movement of ions into and out of the neuron, directly resulting indepolarizationof the neuron. Muscarinic receptors, located at the synapses of nerves with smooth or cardiac muscle, trigger a chain of chemical events referred to as signal transduction. For a cholinergic neuron to receive another impulse, acetylcholine must be released from the receptor to which it has bound. This will only happen if the concentration of acetylcholine in the synaptic cleft is very low. Low synaptic concentrations of acetylcholine can be maintained via a hydrolysis reaction catalyzed by the enzyme acetylcholinesterase. This enzyme hydrolyzes acetylcholine into acetic acid and choline. If acetylcholinesterase activity is inhibited, the synaptic concentration of acetylcholine will remain higher than normal. If this inhibition is irreversible, as in the case of exposure to many nerve gases and some pesticides, sweating, bronchial constriction, convulsions, paralysis, and possibly death can occur. Although irreversible inhibition is dangerous, beneficial effects may be derived from transient (reversible) inhibition. Drugs that inhibit acetylcholinesterase in a reversible manner have been shown to improve memory in some people with Alzheimers disease. abstract expressionism, movement of abstract painting that emerged in New York City during the mid-1940s and attained singular prominence in American art in the following decade; also called action painting and the New York school. It was the first important school in American painting to declare its independence from European styles and to influence the development of art abroad. Arshile Gorky first gave impetus to the movement. His paintings, derived at first from the art of Picasso, Mir, and surrealism, became more personally expressive. Jackson Pollocks turbulent yet elegant abstract paintings, which were created by spattering paint on huge canvases placed on the floor, brought abstract expressionism before a hostile public. Willem de Koonings first one-man show in 1948 established him as a highly influential artist. His intensely complicated abstract paintings of the 1940s were followed by images of Woman, grotesque versions of buxom womanhood, which were virtually unparalleled in the sustained savagery of their execution. Painters such as Philip Guston and Franz Kline turned to the abstract late in the 1940s and soon developed strikingly original stylesthe former, lyrical and evocative, the latter, forceful and boldly dramatic. Other important artists involved with the movement included Hans Hofmann, Robert Motherwell, and Mark Rothko; among other major abstract expressionists were such painters as Clyfford Still, Theodoros Stamos, Adolph Gottlieb, Helen Frankenthaler, Lee Krasner, and Esteban Vicente. Abstract expressionism presented a broad range of stylistic diversity within its largely, though not exclusively, nonrepresentational framework. For example, the expressive violence and activity in paintings by de Kooning or Pollock marked the opposite end of the pole from the simple, quiescent images of Mark Rothko. Basic to most abstract expressionist painting were the attention paid to surface qualities, i.e., qualities of brushstroke and texture; the use of huge canvases; the adoption of an approach to space in which all parts of the canvas played an equally vital role in the total work; the harnessing of accidents that occurred during the process of painting; the glorification of the act of painting itself as a means of visual communication; and the attempt to transfer pure emotion directly onto the canvas. The movement had an inestimable influence on the many varieties of work that followed it, especially in the way its proponents used color and materials. Its essential energy transmitted an enduring excitement to the American art scene. Science and technology is quite a broad category, and it covers everything from studying the stars and the planets to studying molecules and viruses. Beginning with the Greeks and Hipparchus, continuing through Ptolemy, Copernicus and Galileo, and today with our work on the International Space Station, man continues to learn more and more about the heavens. From here, we look inward to biochemistry and biology. To truly understand biochemistry, scientists study and see the unseen bystudying the chemistry of biological processes. This science, along with biophysics, aims to bring a better understanding of how bodies work from how we turn food into energy to how nerve impulses transmit.analytic geometry, branch ofgeometryin which points are represented with respect to a coordinate system, such asCartesian coordinates, and in which the approach to geometric problems is primarily algebraic. Its most common application is in the representation of equations involving two or three variables as curves in two or three dimensions or surfaces in three dimensions. For example, the linear equationax+by+c=0 represents a straight line in thexy-plane, and the linear equationax+by+cz+d=0 represents a plane in space, wherea, b, c,anddare constant numbers (coefficients). In this way a geometric problem can be translated into an algebraic problem and the methods of algebra brought to bear on its solution. Conversely, the solution of a problem in algebra, such as finding the roots of an equation or system of equations, can be estimated or sometimes given exactly by geometric means, e.g., plotting curves and surfaces and determining points of intersection. In plane analytic geometry a line is frequently described in terms of its slope, which expresses its inclination to the coordinate axes; technically, the slopemof a straight line is the (trigonometric) tangent of the angle it makes with thex-axis. If the line is parallel to thex-axis, its slope is zero. Two or more lines with equal slopes are parallel to one another. In general, the slope of the line through the points (x1,y1) and (x2,y2) is given bym= (y2-y1) / (x2-x1). The conic sections are treated in analytic geometry as the curves corresponding to the general quadratic equationax2+bxy+cy2+dx+ey+f=0, wherea, b, fare constants anda, b,andcare not all zero. In solid analytic geometry the orientation of a straight line is given not by one slope but by its direction cosines, , , and , the cosines of the angles the line makes with thex-, y-,andz-axes, respectively; these satisfy the relationship 2+2+2= 1. In the same way that the conic sections are studied in two dimensions, the 17 quadric surfaces, e.g., the ellipsoid, paraboloid, and elliptic paraboloid, are studied in solid analytic geometry in terms of the general equationax2+by2+cz2+dxy+exz+fyz+px+qy+rz+s=0. The methods of analytic geometry have been generalized to four or more dimensions and have been combined with other branches of geometry. Analytic geometry was introduced by RenDescartesin 1637 and was of fundamental importance in the development of thecalculusby Sir Isaac Newton and G. W. Leibniz in the late 17th cent. More recently it has served as the basis for the modern development and exploitation ofalgebraic geometry. circle, closed plane curve consisting of all points at a given distance from some fixed point, called the center. A circle is a conic section cut by a plane perpendicular to the axis of the cone. The term circle is also used to refer to the region enclosed by the curve, more properly called a circular region. The radius of a circle is any line segment connecting the center and a point on the curve; the term is also used for the length r of this segment, i.e., the common distance of all points on the curve from the center. Similarly, the circumference of a circle is either the curve itself or its length of arc. A line segment whose two ends lie on the circumference is a chord; a chord through the center is the diameter. A secant is a line of indefinite length intersecting the circle at two points, the segment of it within the circle being a chord. A tangent to a circle is a straight line touching the circle at only one point, the point of contact, or tangency, and is always perpendicular to the radius drawn to this point. A circle is inscribed in a polygon if each side of the polygon is tangent to the circle; a circle is circumscribed about a polygon if all the vertices of the polygon lie on the circumference. The length of the circumference C of a circle is equal to (see pi) times twice the radius distance r, or C=2r. The area A bounded by a circle is given by A=r2. Greek geometry left many unsolved problems about circles, including the problem of squaring the circle, i.e., constructing a square with an area equal to that of a given circle, using only a straight edge and compass; it was finally proved impossible in the late 19th cent. (see geometric problems of antiquity). In modern mathematics the circle is the basis for such theories as inversive geometry and certain non-Euclidean geometries. The circle figures significantly in many cultures. In religion and art it frequently symbolizes heaven, eternity, or the universe.