Seventh Blog - Key Intellectual Property Issues

Blog # 7 - Key Intellectual Property Issues

By: Nicole Bernal Marcial

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What is Intellectual Property (IP?

  IP is protected in law by, for example, patents, copyright and trademarks, which enable people to earn recognition or financial benefit from what they invent or create. By striking the right balance between the interests of innovators and the wider public interest, the IP system aims to foster an environment in which creativity and innovation can flourish.

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Types of Intellectual Property

Intellectual property is defined as any work that is creative and includes inventions, literary works, images, and symbols. With the introduction of the Internet, laws surrounding intellectual properties have changed significantly.

Copyright

Copyright is a legal term used to describe the rights that creators have over their literary and artistic works. Works covered by copyright range from books, music, paintings, sculpture and films, to computer programs, databases, advertisements, maps and technical drawings.

Patent

A patent is an exclusive right granted for an invention. Generally speaking, a patent provides the patent owner with the right to decide how - or whether - the invention can be used by others. In exchange for this right, the patent owner makes technical information about the invention publicly available in the published patent document.

Trademark

A trademark is a sign capable of distinguishing the goods or services of one enterprise from those of other enterprises. Trademarks date back to ancient times when artisans used to put their signature or "mark" on their products.

Industrial Design

An industrial design constitutes the ornamental or aesthetic aspect of an article. A design may consist of three-dimensional features, such as the shape or surface of an article, or of two-dimensional features, such as patterns, lines or color.

Geographical Indications

Geographical indications and appellations of origin are signs used on goods that have a specific geographical origin and possess qualities, a reputation or characteristics that are essentially attributable to that place of origin. Most commonly, a geographical indication includes the name of the place of origin of the goods.

Trade Secrets

Trade secrets are IP rights on confidential information which may be sold or licensed.  The unauthorized acquisition, use or disclosure of such secret information in a manner contrary to honest commercial practices by others is regarded as an unfair practice and a violation of the trade secret protection.

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Key Intellectual Property Issues

1. Plagiarism

Plagiarism is the use of others' published and unpublished ideas or words (or other intellectual property) without attribution or permission, and presenting them as new and original rather than derived from an existing source. The intent and effect of plagiarism is to mislead the reader as to the contributions of the plagiarizer. This applies whether the ideas or words are taken from abstracts, research grant applications, Institutional Review Board
applications, or unpublished or published manuscripts in any publication format (print or electronic).

How to avoid Plagiarism?

• For short quotes, use quotation marks in the sentence.
•  For longer quotes indent the entire passage
• If you have used a table, chart, diagram etc., cite the source directly below with a statement that permission has been obtained.
• “All sources should be disclosed and, if large amounts of other people's written or illustrative material are to be used, permission must be sought.” COPE, 1999.

2. Open Source

Open Source actually describe a type of license.

Open = A license to any person who want to use the code, i.e. open to public.

Source = Source Code is Licensed.

Examples

• GNU/Linux
• Apache Web Server & others
• GCC Compiler
• VLC media player
• KDE Plasma Desktop
• Mozilla Firefox

3. Reverse Engineering

-Process of taking something apart in order to 

• Understand it 
• Build a copy of it
• Improve it

-Applied to computer

• Hardware
• Software

-Convert a program code to a higher level design
-Convert an application that ran on one vendor’s database to run on another’s -Patent may be able to stop reverse engineering, but copyright and trade secret will not stop reverse engineering.

4. Competitive Intellegence

Competitive intelligence is the activity of monitoring the environment external to the firm for information that is relevant for the decision making process of the company. The objective of competitive intelligence is not to steal a competitor’s trade secret or other proprietary property, but rather to gather in a systematic, overt manner a wide range of information that when collated and analyzed provides a fuller understanding of a competitors’ structure, culture, behavior, capabilities, and weakness.

5. Cybersquatting

Cybersquatting refers to illegal domain name registration or use. Cybersquatting can have a few different variations, but its primary purpose is to steal or misspell a domain name in order to profit from an increase in website visits, which otherwise would not be possible. Trademark or copyright holders may neglect to reregister their domain names, and by forgetting this important update, cyber squatters can easily steal domain names. Cybersquatting also includes advertisers who mimic domain names that are similar to popular, highly trafficked websites. Cybersquatting is one of several types of cybercrimes. Cybersquatting is also known as domain squatting.

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Is it okay that someone might be able to grab or get your photos posted online?

Getting your photos posted online by someone is not okay. Invasion of privacy can occur if you are portrayed falsely and in a highly offensive manner. For example, your photo was posted at a Most Wanted type of website, and you are not wanted by the law. Your privacy might also be invaded if the photo was taken by someone who intruded on you in a situation in which you had a reasonable expectation of privacy: for example, in your own home. It is not an invasion of privacy to photograph someone in a public place or at any event where the public is invited.

Another reason to stop the use is known as the right of publicity. This occurs if your image is used for commercial purposes such as to sell products or to imply that you endorse a product. If the photo is used in a commercial website: that is, one sponsored by a business or that sells products or services: the unauthorized use of your image would probably violate your right of publicity. The public must be able to identify you in the photograph.