intellectual property rights - chapter 7 - bit - it5104
DESCRIPTION
Lecture Materials of BIT External IT5104 - Professional Issues in IT 2013/2014 conducted at OSBTTRANSCRIPT
Chapter 07 - Intellectual Property Rights
IT5104: Professional Issues in IT
OpenArc Campus – BIT Sem V - PIIT
Patents, Confidential Information, Trademarks and
Domain names
Patents
Temporary right (20 years), granted by the state, enabling an
inventor to prevent other people from exploiting his invention
without his permission. Even if they have discovered it for
themselves.
Unlike copyright, it does not come into existence automatically.
the inventor must apply for the patent to be granted. (NIPO)
•Encourage new inventions
•Encourage the disclosure of those new inventions
Paris Convention
Advantages Patentee will have
As a solution to above patentee will have
• Government will grant a temporary monopoly on the
commercial use of their invention.
• The temporary monopoly also gives the inventor a
chance to recover the expenses made during the
development of his invention.
• They could then set a high price and make a nice profit
as there will be no other competitors for that temporary
period.
Inventors are often hesitant to reveal the details of their Invention,
for fear that someone else might copy it.
• They could also request money from others in return for a
license to practice the invention. The licensing income then
provides extra income.
What can be Patented
If the work
• is new;
• involves an inventive step;
• is capable of industrial application;
• is not in an area specifically legally excluded.
An Invention is a practical solution to a problem in technology. An
invention may relate to a product or a process.
NIPO
‘New’ means that it must not should be publicly used or disclosed.
‘Inventive’ means that the invention should not be obvious. Must
not be something that anyone reasonably competent in the field
would have produced if faced with the same requirements.
What can be Patented
The requirement that the invention is capable of ‘industrial
application’ is simply a requirement that the invention must
have a practical application.
What cannot be Patented
• Discoveries, scientific theories and mathematical methods;
• Plants, animals micro organisms other than transgenic micro
organisms and an essentially biological process for the
production of plants and animals other than non biological and
micro-biological processes;
• Schemes, rules or methods for doing business, performing
purely mental acts or playing games .
• Methods for treatment of human or animal body by surgery or
therapy and diagnostic methods practiced on human or animal
body.
• Inventions which are necessary to protect public order,
morality including human animal or plant life, health, or to
avoid serious prejudice to environment.
• A literary, dramatic, musical or artistic work or any other
aesthetic Creation.
• The presentation of information.
What cannot be Patented
Patents for Software
Softwares are usually protected by Copyrights. (Sri Lanka also)
To make it patented, different countries taken it differently.
In USA, software can be patented, if…
• It is part of a product that is itself eligible to be patented.
• It controls a process that has some physical effect.
• It processes data that arises from the physical world.
Issues related to patents
Patents are not helpful to small companies. Even if they can
afford to file for patents, they cannot afford to defend their
patents or defend themselves against invalid claims for
patent infringement coming from large companies.
Confidential Information
Obligation of Confidence
result of a specific clause in contracts
Non Disclosure Agreements (NDA)
Protection of trade secrets
Avoid for personal benefits, for monetary value, as a retaliation.
Enable a competitor to gain a considerable advantage.
Official Secrets Act. (Sri L
anka)
Confidential Info in Employment
Why having a Notice Period in Leaving Employment
One reason is to avoid issues related to confidential information.
It is common for working people who are likely to have sensitive
knowledge about the organization (Marketing, Finance), to be
employed on contracts of employment that comparatively long
periods of notice (typically three or six months). Other areas
usually have one month notice period.
When a employee give a notice, they being immediately removed
from the sensitive work and assigned to such important and
worthy tasks as reorganizing the company's technical library which
are not sensitive.
NOT Confidential Info in Employment
Confidential information doesn’t include professional skills and
expertise gained from the employment.
Ex : If as part of your employment, you learn to code in Java or to
design using UML you take these skills with you and you are
entitled to use them in your new employment.
For public interest, confidential information can be disclosed,
complaining malpractice on the part of their employer. But there
is no legal framework for protection over the whistle blower yet.
Whistle Blowing Situation
Whistle Blowing Situations
But in many Professional Body code of conducts clearly mention
that, for the public interest you should blow the whistle. But not
for personal gain.
It is reasonable to blow the whistle in following situations.
• a criminal offence;
• failure to comply with a legal obligation;
• a miscarriage of justice;
• danger to health and safety;
• environmental damage:Freedom of Expression
(Fundamental Right in Sri Lankan
Constitution)
Most of the employers encouraged workers to raise the matter
internally, and also developed organization procedure to
handle those kind of situations ethically.
If only the internal route has proved ineffective, it may be
appropriate to disclose the information to a professional body
or to a public official.
Whistle Blowing Situations
Trade Marks
• Any sign capable of being represented graphically, which is
capable of distinguishing goods or services of different
enterprises.
• A trade mark may, in particular, consist of words (including
personal names), designs, letters, numerals or the shape of
goods or their packaging.
• Registration is valid for a period of 10 years. Need to be
renewal. Marks registered in Sri Lanka are valid only in Sri
Lanka as Sri Lanka still not sign for the relevant convention.
™ ®℠
NIPO
Functions of a mark
(a) Distinguishes the goods or services of its owner from those
of others
(b) Indicates the source of the goods or services
(c) Individualizes the goods or services of the owner
(d) Enables the owner to reach the customers
(e) Helps the consumers to make the choice in the market etc.
Unregistered marks can be protected under the
unfair competition law or common law action
for passing off.
Popular trade marks
Nokia tune
• Apply a unauthorized registered trade mark (that a registered
trade mark that you do not own or do not have the owner's
permission to use) to goods;
• Sell or offer for sale (or hire) goods or packaging that bear an
unauthorized trade mark;
• Import or export goods that bear an unauthorized trade mark;
• Have in the course of business, goods for sale or hire goods
(or packaging) that bear an unauthorized trade mark.
Offences
In most circumstances, the offence will be criminal and punishable
by a fine or up to two years' imprisonment. However. the trade mark
owner can also bring civil proceedings to claim for the financial
damage he may have suffered.
Registered Trade Marks
It is highly recommended for register the mark. The registration of
the mark, gives its owner exclusive right to use it, assign it and
license it. You can enforce these rights easily and effectively through
court- civil or criminal or both. You can refrain others from using
your mark or a mark deceptively resembling your mark. You are
even entitled to claim damages.
MTN Networks (Pvt) Ltd
filed suit against an individual
Dialog GSM
Vs
Dualog Phone Centre
Lanka Spice Limited McCurrie
VsMcDonanald
Trade Marks for Software
Trade marks are an effective way of protecting retail package
software from piracy.
Given that pirated software can be distributed over the internet
with no physical packaging, it is desirable to display the trade
mark prominently when the software is loaded, as well as
displaying it on the packaging.
Domain Names
Domain names need to be easily remember and need to be a way
of identifying a business.
Typically domain name is a way of advertising and marketing.
So companies like to use their trade marks or their company names
as their Internet domain names.
http://67.23.249.138 http://sarasavi.lk/
ICANN – Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers
• Manage Internet domain names.
• Its main responsibility is to ensure ‘universal resolvability’
(having globally unique – same domain name should always
lead to the same internet location) of Internet address.
• They delegates the responsibility to regionally respective bodies
and coordinates them. (lk domain registry)
ICANN
Cyber Squatting
Also known as domain squatting.
“Using a domain name with bad faith, intent to profit from the
goodwill of a trademark belonging to someone else. “
The cybersquatter then offers to sell the domain to the person or
company who owns a trademark contained within the name at an
inflated price.
It is usually cheaper and quicker for the trademark owner to pay
up than to pursue legal remedies.