Intellectual Property

Definitions Laws and regulations Examples

Copyrights Patents Trade marks

Copyright is a form of intellectual property that gives the author of an original work exclusive right for a certain time period in relation to that work, including its publication, distribution and adaptation, after which time the work is said to enter the public domain.

Copyright has been internationally standardized, lasting between fifty to a hundred years from the author's death, or a shorter period for anonymous or corporate authorship. Some jurisdictions have required formalities to establish copyright, but most recognize copyright in any completed work, without formal registration. Generally, copyright is enforced as a civil matter.

(1) literary works (2) musical works (3) dramatic works (4) pantomimes and choreographic works (5) computer databases

(6) pictorial, graphic, and sculptural works

(7) motion pictures (8) architectural works

(9) sound recordings (10) Computer software, user interface, webpage

Plagiarism and infringement of someone else copyright are closely related, but not the same. http://www.cuhk.edu.hk/policy/academichonesty/p04.htm:

“Example 1Student A copies a sonnet from Shakespeare and submits it as his own work. This is plagiarism. However this is not a violation of copyright, because the law only protects copyright for a certain period of time. In the case of Shakespeare, copyright has lapsed and anybody can re-publish the texts of Shakespeare for free.”

Example 2 (same web site):“Professor A has published a book of 300 pages. Student B publishes another book, the content of which is

“Professor A has written "(copy 300 pages)". This is a wonderful book. “

This would not constitute plagiarism, because Student B has made it very clear, by the use of quotation marks, that the material is not his own work. But this would be a violation of copyright, and the publisher of Professor A's book will sue Student B.”

http://www.chinapost.com.tw/taiwan/2007/11/15/130975/Man-arrested.htm

2007: TAIPEI, Taiwan -- A man was arrested for violating copyright laws after he was caught selling photocopied Oxford University Press books online.

Hsu, 27, struck a plea bargain in exchange for not having charges pressed against him.

Hsu agreed to donate NT$60,000 to the Taiwan Book Publishers Association (TBPA), put up posters on intellectual property rights (IPR) at 20 universities, stand at the entrance of universities for a total of 80 hours while wearing a placard stating his crime and handing out flyers on IPR, and post 200

letters of apology online.

Valid for 20 years from filing Others cannot practice Lengthy process of establishment Often requires layer acting on your behalf In Canada: Canadian Patent Office

http://www.cipo.ic.gc.ca/eic/site/cipointernet-internetopic.nsf/eng/h_wr00001.html

Something new, inventive, and useful or industrially applicable.

What you can patent: algorithm, device, process, method, tool satisfying the above definition.

What you cannot patent: laws of nature, will known facts, anything publically known, abstract ideas or thoughts, software (in general).

Patent infringement is defined as manufacture and/or use of an invention or improvement for which someone else owns a patent issued by the government, without obtaining permission of the owner of the patent by contract, license or waiver.

The infringing party will be liable to the owner of the patent for all profits made from the use of the invention, as well as any harm which can be shown by the inventor.

Microsoft has been involved in a patent infringement case involving its word processor program Microsoft Word

Microsoft's Word program allegedly infringes Canadian software developer i4i's U.S. Patent No. 5,787,449. 

The asserted claim (claim 14) of this patent is directed to "markup languages" for computers used bby Licrosoft Word

http://www.patentlyo.com/microsoft_i4i_openingbrief.pdf

In May, in the Eastern District Court of Texas, a jury found that Microsoft was guilty of infringement and awarded i4i more than 280 million dollars in damages. 

An injunction was ordered which would have prevented Microsoft from selling Word 2003 and Word 2007 after October 10, 2009. 

The case is now before the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit

REDMOND – Feb. 9, 2009 –Google announced Google Sync, which is made possible by a patent license they obtained from Microsoft covering Google’s implementation of the Microsoft Exchange ActiveSync protocol on Google servers.

Microsoft recently announced an expansion of its Exchange ActiveSync Licensing Program, and licensees currently include partners and competitors Apple, Nokia, Palm, Samsung, and Sony Ericsson.

Horacio Gutierrez, VP, Intellectual Property & Licensing, Microsoft:

“Google’s licensing of these Microsoft patents relating to the Microsoft Exchange ActiveSync protocol is a clear acknowledgment of the innovation taking place at Microsoft. 

A trade mark is a distinctive sign used by an individual, business or other entity to identify that the products or services originate from a unique source.

A trademark is designated by the following symbols:

™ for an unregistered trademark, a mark used to promote or brand goods;

℠ for an unregistered service mark, a mark used to promote or brand services;

® (for a registered trademark).

A trademark could be a name, a word, a logo, a symbol, a design etc.

Examples are found at: http://www.fotosearch.com/photos-images/trademark.ht

ml Logo examples are found at: http://images.google.ca/images?

hl=en&q=examples+of+logos&um=1&ie=UTF-8&ei=kH3JSr37Mo_0sQPN1oCiBQ&sa=X&oi=image_result_group&ct=title&resnum=4

In Canada, a trademark is registered by filing an application with the Trademarks Office together with a non-refundable fee of $250.00.

Initial Examination. Within the four months, the Trademarks Office examiners then carry out a search of trademark records for potentially conflicting marks.

Approval. Once past the conflict search stage, the Trademarks Office will submit for Advertisement.

Advertisement. The trademark information is published in the Trademarks Journal. Any interested party may file an opposition against registration of the trademark owing to alleged confusion with an existing mark. Allowance. If the Trademarks Office receives no objection within two months of publication in the Trademarks Journal, the Trademarks Office issues a notice of allowance of the application for registration.

Registration. A final step of registration, a fee of $200.00 and certificate of registration.

American Airlines Files Trademark Infringement Case Against Google by Fred Aun, ClickZ, Aug 20, 2007

“In a lawsuit similar to many others that preceded it, American Airlines is taking on Google's keyword-based AdWords business by alleging the practice is a blatant example of trademark infringement. The complaint, filed in U.S. District Court in Fort Worth, makes the same argument presented by a number of other companies that have sued the search giant during the past five years: Google has no right to sell company trademarks for use as keyword triggers that elicit paid advertisements.

In addition to the assertions of trademark infringement and other claims, the lawsuit alleges Google engages in false advertising when it uses the words "sponsored link" to describe the ads it delivers.”

Any confidential business information which provides an enterprise a competitive edge may be considered a trade secret.

Trade secrets encompass manufacturing or industrial secrets and commercial secrets. The unauthorized use of such information by persons other than the holder is regarded as an unfair practice and a violation of the trade secret.

Depending on the legal system, the protection of trade secrets forms part of the general concept of protection against unfair competition or is based on specific provisions or case law on the protection of confidential information.

Selling to competitors Espionage Book about espionage

http://www.bearanyburden.com/spy_fact_fiction.html

Espionage famous cases http://www.fbi.gov/libref/historic/famcases/famcases.htm