Intellectual Property - Lecture 22

Intellectual PropertyLecture 22Summary of Previous LectureIn past lecture we have studiedDefinition of EthicsMoralityIntegrity?Difference between Morals, Ethics and LawsEthics in Business WorldEthics discussionsFostering good business ethics.Summary of Previous LectureHow to improve corporate Ethics?Including Ethical Considerations in Decision MakingDifferent approachesVirtue ethics approachUtilitarian approachFairness approachCommon good approachEthics in Information TechnologyToday’s LectureIntellectual Property Types of Intellectual Property RightsCopyrightsPatentsTrade SecretsLawsEmployees and Trade SecretsKey intellectual Property Right IssuesPlagiarismReverse engineeringToday’s LectureOpen source codeCompetitive intelligenceCyber squattingSummaryWhat Is Intellectual Property?Term used to describe works of the mindDistinct and “owned” or created by a person or groupUnder intellectual property law, owners are granted certain exclusive rights to a variety of intangible assets, such as musical, literary, and artistic works; discoveries and inventions; and words, phrases, symbols, and designs.6Types of Intellectual Property Rights Common types of intellectual property rights includes Copyrights Protects authored worksTrademarks A distinctive sign Patents Protects inventions.Industrial design rightsFor example Textile industry print rights in PakistanTrade secret law Helps safeguard information critical to an organization’s successTypes of Intellectual Property Rights CopyrightsCopyrightsCopyright Laws has been enacted by most governments Pakistan updated copyright law in 1992.Established in the U.S. Constitution Article I, Section 8, Clause 8Grants creators of original works the exclusive right to: DistributeDisplay PerformReproduce work Prepare derivative works based upon the workAuthor may grant exclusive right to others10Copyrights ..Copyright termCopyright law guarantees developers the rights to their works for a certain amount of time.Types of work that can be copyrightedArchitectureArtAudiovisual worksChoreographyDramaGraphics11Copyrights Types of work that can be copyrightedLiterature Motion picturesMusicPantomimesPicturesSculpturesSound recordingsOther intellectual works:12Copyrights ..Must fall within one of the preceding categoriesMust be originalEvaluating originality can cause problemsFair use doctrineAllows portions of copyrighted materials to be used without permission under certain circumstancesMaintains balance between protecting an author’s rights and enabling public access to copyrighted works Different factors are considered when evaluating copyrighted material.13Copyrights ..Fair use doctrine factors include:Purpose and character of the useNature of the copyrighted workPortion of the copyrighted work usedEffect of the use upon the value of the copyrighted workCopyright violationCopy substantial and material part of another’s copyrighted work Without permission14Copyrights ..Software copyright protectionRaises many complicated issues of interpretationCopyright law should not be used to inhibit interoperability between the products of rival vendorsGeneral Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT)A multilateral agreement regulating international trade Trade agreement between 117 countriesCreated World Trade Organization (WTO) to enforce15Copyrights ..The WTO and the WTO TRIPS Agreement (1994)TRIPS= Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property RightsMany nations recognize that intellectual property has become increasingly important in world tradeEstablished minimum levels of protection that each government must provide to the intellectual property of members16Copyrights ..World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO)Agency of the United NationsAdvocates for the interests of intellectual property ownersWIPO Copyright Treaty provides additional copyright protections for electronic media“The protection of broadcasting organizations will be maintained on the agenda of the 24th session of the SCCR”. To be held in 2012.17WIPO Web Portal19Copyrights ..PatentsPatentsGrant of property right to inventorsIssued by Intellectual Property Organization of Pakistan.In U.S. issued by U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO)Permits an owner to exclude the public from making, using, or selling the protected inventionAllows legal action against violatorsPrevents independent creation as well as copying21Pakistan’s Intellectual Property Organization official Web PortalPatents ..Applicant must file with the IPOPIPOP searches prior artPrior artExisting body of knowledge Available to a person of ordinary skill in the art23Patents An invention must pass four testsMust be in one of the five legal classes of itemsMust be usefulMust be novelMust not be obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the same fieldItems cannot be patented if they are:Abstract ideasLaws of natureNatural phenomena24Patents ..Patent violationMaking unauthorized use of another’s patentNo specified limit to the financial penaltySoftware patentProtects feature, function, or process embodied in instructions executed on a computerIn US 20,000 software-related patents per year have been issued since the early 1980s25Patents Before obtaining a software patent, do a patent searchSoftware Patent Institute is building a database of information Software cross-licensing agreementsLarge software companies agree not to sue each other over patent infringementsSmall businesses have no choice but to license patents26Patents ..Defensive publishingStrategy used to prevent another party from obtaining a patent on a product, apparatus or method by prior publishing the product idea.Company publishes a description of the innovationEstablishes the idea’s legal existence as prior artDefeat the novelty of subsequent patent publication.FastPatent troll firmCompany who enforces patients against one or more alleged infringers (Patent Infringement) in a manner considered aggressive or opportunistic. 27Patents ..Standard is a definition or formatApproved by recognized standards organization or accepted as a de facto standard by the industryEnables hardware and software from different manufacturers to work togetherSubmarine patentA patent which an "inventor" files on a device or technology that doesn't exist yet, or which has not yet been successfully implemented. Patented process/invention hidden within a standard Does not surface until standard is broadly adoptedPatents ..Patent farming involves:Influencing a standards organization to make use of a patented item without revealing the existence of the patentDemanding royalties from all parties that use the standard29Trade SecretsTrade SecretsTrade secretBusiness information Represents something of economic valueRequires an effort or cost to developSome degree of uniqueness or noveltyGenerally unknown to the publicKept confidentialInformation is only considered a trade secret if the company takes steps to protect itTrade Secrets ..Trade secret law has a few key advantages over patents and copyrightsNo time limitationsNo need to file an applicationPatents can be ruled invalid by courtsNo filing or application feesLaw doesn’t prevent someone from using the same idea if it is developed independentlyWorld Trade Organization (WTO)TRIPs Agreement provides for a minimum level of protection for intellectual propertyTrade Secret LawsUniform Trade Secrets Act (UTSA)Established uniformity in trade secret lawComputer hardware and software can qualify for trade secret protectionThe Economic Espionage Act (EEA) of 1996Penalties of up to $10 million and 15 years in prison for the theft of trade secrets33Employees and Trade SecretsEmployees are the greatest threat to trade secretsUnauthorized use of an employer’s customer listCustomer list not legally considered a trade secretEducate workers about the confidentiality of listsNondisclosure clauses in employee’s contractEnforcement can be difficultConfidentiality issues are reviewed at the exit interview34Employees and Trade Secrets..Non-compete agreementsProtect intellectual property from being used by competitors when key employees leaveRequire employees not to work for competitors for a period of timeSafeguardsLimit outside access to corporate computersGuard use of remote computers by employees35Key Intellectual Property IssuesKey Intellectual Property IssuesIssues that apply to intellectual property and information technologyPlagiarismReverse engineeringOpen source codeCompetitive intelligenceCyber squatting37PlagiarismStealing someone’s ideas or words and passing them off as one’s ownMany students: Do not understand what constitutes plagiarism Believe that all electronic content is in the public domainPlagiarism also common outside academiaPlagiarism detection systemsCheck submitted material against databases of electronic content3839Plagiarism ..Turnitin.com Online Plagiarism checkerSimilarity index of all types of research and productivity documents can be checked here!Plagiarism ..Steps to combat student plagiarismHelp students understand what constitutes plagiarism and why they need to cite sourcesShow students how to document Web pagesSchedule major writing assignments in portions due over the course of the termTell students that instructors are aware of Internet paper mills and plagiarism detection servicesIncorporate detection into an antiplagiarism program41Reverse EngineeringProcess of taking something apart in order to: Understand itBuild a copy of itImprove itApplied to computer:HardwareSoftwareConvert a program code to a higher-level designConvert an application that ran on one vendor’s database to run on another’sReverse Engineering ..CompilerLanguage translator Converts computer program statements expressed in a source language to machine languageSoftware manufacturerProvides software in machine language formDecompilerReads machine language Produces source codeC Programming Compiler ExampleIn the subsequent lectures you will be introduced with Programming fundamentalsReverse Engineering ..Courts have ruled in favor of reverse engineering: To enable interoperabilitySoftware license agreements forbid reverse engineeringEthics of using reverse engineering are debatedFair use if provides useful function/interoperabilityCan uncover designs that someone else has developed at great cost and taken care to protect45Open Source CodeProgram source code made available for use or modification: As users or other developers see fitBasic premiseSoftware improvesCan be adapted to meet new needsBugs rapidly identified and fixedHigh reliabilityGNU General Public License (GPL) was a pioneer to the Open Source Initiative (OSI)Competitive IntelligenceGathering of legally obtainable informationTo help a company gain an advantage over rivalsOften integrated into a company’s strategic plans and decision makingNot the same as industrial spyingWithout proper management safeguards, it can cross over to industrial spying47Competitive Intelligence..48Competitive Intelligence ..Cyber-squattingTrademark is anything that enables a consumer to differentiate one company’s products from another’sMay be a: LogoPackage designPhraseSoundWordCyber-squattingTrademark lawTrademark’s owner has the right to prevent others from using same mark or confusingly similar markCyber-squattersRegistered domain names for famous trademarks or company names Hope the trademark’s owner would buy the domain name for a large sum of moneyCyber-squatting ..To curb cyber-squatting, register all possible domain names.org, .com, .infoInternet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN)ICANN is adding seven new top-level domains (.aero, .biz, .coop, .info, .museum, .name, and .pro)Current trademark holders are given time to declare their rights in the new top-level domains before registrations are opened to the general publicInternet Corporation for Assigned Names and NumbersWeb Portal containing all related servicesSummaryIntellectual property is protected by laws for:CopyrightsPatentsTrademarksTrade secretsPlagiarism is stealing and passing off the ideas and words of another as one’s ownReverse engineeringProcess of breaking something down in order to understand, build copy, or improve itSummary Open source codeMade available for use or modification as users or other developers see fitCompetitive intelligenceNot industrial espionageUses legal means and public informationCyber-squattingRegistration of a domain name by an unaffiliated party