Unit 6: Intellectual Property
Intellectual property is anything that is developed through intellectual and creative processes. Intellectual property includes such things as patents, copyrights, trade secrets, and trademarks. Protecting intellectual property rights is important, because companies often invest a great deal of time and resources in developing new inventions. It would not be worth the investment if competitors could reproduce these inventions without permission or compensation to the owners. Not surprisingly, intellectual property represents a very significant part of many businesses' net worth. According to Forbes Magazine, intellectual property represents more than 80% of a typical business' value.
Completing this unit should take you approximately 7 hours.
Upon successful completion of this unit, you will be able to:
- identify the requirements to hold a valid trademark, and determine what can and cannot be trademarked;
- identify the requirements to hold a valid patent, and apply this knowledge to determine what can or cannot be patented;
- define copyright, and determine when a copyright has been or has not been violated;
- identify and describe the body of law that protect trade secrets, and apply this knowledge to
- determine situations in which trade secrets will or will not be protected; and
- analyze the impact of the digital era on intellectual property rights.
6.1: Trademarks
Read the introductory materials for Chapter 9. What kind of property interest, as discussed in the last unit, would intellectual property be? Is it tangible or intangible? How are intellectual property rights important to businesses? While patents or copyrights are the often the first examples that come to mind when discussing intellectual property, there are other important intellectual property rights.
However, they have one key drawback. Trade secret protections can be lost due to reverse engineering, which is the process through which an invention or system is broken down and analyzed in order to uncover its trade secret. Reverse engineering is legal. For this reason, many businesses choose to go the patent route to protect their intellectual property. This section goes into more detail about reverse engineering and how competitors can take advantage of that process.
Read this section. Trademark laws allow companies to secure a claim to a specific identifying item, such as a name or design. Think of trademarked items you might be familiar with: those used by restaurant chains, software companies, and mobile phone manufacturers. Trademarks set a company apart from similar companies, and allow consumers to readily identify the company. The US government has adopted a specific regimen of laws to protect trademarks. As you read, note the many identifying categories that can be trademarked, including even the shape of a bottle. Also note what cannot be trademarked under US law. Lastly, be aware of what remedies are available for infringement or dilution of a trademark and the defenses against these claims. Complete the exercises at the end of the section.
6.2: Patents
Read this section. Patent law is an increasingly complex area of law, and is filled with conflict and controversy. It creates a property right of the design of useful new inventions for a certain period, after which the patent expires. There are three types of patents; make note of what these are, and also of the kinds of things that cannot be patented. Patent holders have remedies when patents are infringed, which has led to the emergence of patent-holding companies, or patent trolls, that derive revenue solely from suing for patent infringement. Be sure to complete the exercises at the end of the section.
6.3: Copyrights
Read this section. Copyright is another area of intellectual property law that has grown more controversial over the last twenty years, particularly with the increased importance of the Internet in daily life. The Internet has vastly increased the availability of original written and creative material to the general public. For some, this easy access can cause confusion, creating the assumption that such material can be used by any person for any reason. Others have intentionally sought to bypass the protections available to such material. Some see the copyright protections available to creative work to be excessively restrictive; through various efforts, they attempt to promote the availability of creative works through open licenses. In this section, familiarize yourself with the protections that US law provides to copyright holders. Note also how digital copyright licenses can further restrict the use of digital media. As always, pay attention to the remedies for copyright infringement and the defenses to such a claim. Complete the exercises at the end of the section.
6.4: Trade Secrets
Read this section. Trade secret laws generally protect businesses that wish to maintain the confidentiality of their formulas, processes, or client lists, since they have important economic value. Be aware of both the civil and criminal penalties that go with stealing a trade secret, as well as potential defenses against such claims. Be sure to do the short exercise at the end of the section.
6.5: Intellectual Property in the Digital Age
Read this article, which discusses the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, a 1998 law that addresses copyright infringement and access controls to copyrighted materials given recent digital and other technological innovations.
Read this article, which discusses the Online Copyright Infringement Liability Limitation Act, a portion of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act of 1998. This portion of the law deals specifically with providing limitation of liability for online service providers that immediately take down content if someone alleges a copyright infringement. It also reflects the challenges to intellectual property rights inherent in the dissemination of information over the Internet.
Read this article, which discusses PRO-IP Act, a 2008 law that provided further civil and criminal penalties for trademark, patent, and copyright infringement. While it reflects government concerns regarding international enforcement of intellectual property laws, a significant part of the PRO-IP Act deals with issues related to file sharing, which was another step in government efforts to protect intellectual property rights subject to infringement through the Internet.
Unit 6 Assessment
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