copyright 2009 pearson education canada 17 - 1 chapter 17 intellectual property

Copyright 2009 Pearson Education Canada 17 - 1

Chapter 17

Intellectual Property


Introduction

• What is Intellectual Property (IP)?– Any creative material put in tangible form.– Pure ideas are not IP.

• Proprietary IP– Owned by individual or company.

• Public Domain IP– Accessible by all.


Proprietary IP

• Information for which ownership is established.– Owner may be individual, partnership or

company.

• IP can be owned, bought, sold or shared like any tangible asset.

• Legislation sets regulations concerning IP.– Legal protection does not extend outside of

country that passed the law.


Establishing Ownership

• To establish ownership, one must register the IP.– Application made to government office.– IP registered if all legal requirements are met.– Once registered, description of IP is made

public.

• All types of IP, except trade secrets, may be registered.

• Copyrights do not need formal registration.


Public Domain

• Information has no established ownership– Anyone can use it.

• Property in this designation:– Common knowledge,– Legal protection has expired,– Placed in public domain by owner.


Importance of IP

• Two important consequences– Owner can control and profit from the use of

work by others.– Records of registered IP are public storehouses

of knowledge.

• Protection encourages creativity– Few people would conduct research if they

could not have exclusive use of results.


Protecting IP

• Canadian Intellectual Property Office (CIPO) registers IP– IP owner’s responsibility to initiate

proceedings to protect IP

• A practising engineer must know how to protect IP

• Must also understand and respect rights of others.


Rights of Employers and Employees

• Who owns rights to IP? – Employee or Employer?

• If employee changes employer, how much knowledge can be taken to new employer?

• Depends on individual circumstances– Usually included in employment contract.


Copyright

• Copyright Act: Administered by CIPO

• Definition: right to produce, reproduce, perform, publish, adapt, sell or lease original work.

• Author owns right to work except if:– Created as part of employment– Commissioned work

(continued)


Copyright (continued)

• In Canada, copyright lasts author’s lifetime plus 50 years.– Photographs, films, recordings and videos are

protected for 50 years from date of creation.

• In US and Europe: author’s life plus 75 years or 95 years for works created by corporations.


Copyright Registration

• In Canada: author owns copyright even without registration.

• May register copyright with CIPO– Serves notice that copyright exists– Establishes date of creation, author’s name,

and ownership.

• Copyright Conventions – Berne and Universal– Extends copyright to other countries.


Copyright Infringement

• Violation of copyright– Substantial quotation or borrowing of work

without author’s permission.

• Plagiarism: Misrepresentation of authorship.

• Enforcing a copyright is author’s responsibility.

• Fair Dealing: Small amount of copying or reproduction permitted.


Copyright and Computer Programs

• Computer programs may be copyrighted as literary works.

• It is infringement to:– Make, sell, distribute, import, or rent copies of

computer programs without author’s consent.• Individual may make one backup copy for personal

use (Fair Dealing).

• Program decompilation.


Patents• Legal right to exclude others from making,

using, or selling an invention.– Lasts 20 years.

• CIPO handles 35 000 applications a year.

• Patent also serves as public notice.– Patent requires full disclosure of invention.– Vital resource to industrial and academic

institutions.

• Patent office does not enforce patents.

(continued)


Patents (continued)

• Application may be submitted for any of the following:– a product (of manufacture),– an apparatus (a machine for making other

objects),– a manufacturing process,– a composition of matter,– an improvement for any of the above.

• Provided it is new, useful and ingenious.(continued)


Patents (continued)

• Three key criteria—novelty, usefulness, and ingenuity—are examined for each patent application,

• The invention must be original, serve a useful purpose, and must not be an obvious improvement over prior known art.


Patent Application Process

• The four main steps in the patent process are:– Retain an agent, and search existing patents.– File an application.– Request an examination.– Protect the patent.

• Application must be submitted within one year from date of first public disclosure of invention.– “First-to-file” rule.

(continued)


Patent Application Process (continued)

• Patent application must contain:– Petition: Formal request that a patent be granted,– Abstract: Summary for publication in Patent

Office Record,– Specification: Description of invention,

including relevant prior art, and its novelty, usefulness, and ingenuity,

– Claims: Defines precisely what aspects of invention to be protected,

– Drawings: Illustrations / models of invention.

(continued)


Patent Application Process (continued)

• Once patent application has been filed, – Request is made to have it examined.– Request must be made within five years of

filing date; – Otherwise application expires. – Applicant uses this delay to engage in research

and planning to see whether it is worthwhile to proceed.

• Fees for filing, examination, granting of patent, as well as annual maintenance fees.


Patent Treaties• Patents must be filed in all countries in which

protection is sought.

• International Paris Convention for Patents– Foreign patent valid from date that Canadian patent

obtained, provided application made within a year.

• Patent Cooperation Treaty – World Intellectual Property Organization in Geneva

• Permits patent application in foreign country from Canada.


Industrial Designs• Aesthetic look of product may be one of its

main selling features– Can be registered as an industrial design.

• Applies to shape, pattern, or ornamentation of article. – Visual aspects of the design are protected.

• Must be registered during first year of use.• Protection has a maximum term of 10 years.• If design or pattern is on an article or piece of work

that is subject to copyright but is used to produce 50 or more such articles, then it can only be protected as an industrial design.


Trademarks

• Word, symbol, or design intended to identify products or services.– Ordinary marks distinguish articles or services.

• Most corporate logos fall into this category.

– Certification marks indicate a quality standard for a product or service set by some recognized organization

– Distinguishing guise is a wrapping, shape, packaging, or appearance that serves to distinguish product from other similar products or services.

(continued)


Trademarks (continued)

• Trademark may not be approved if – It is similar to an existing registered trademark.– It is applicant’s name or surname

• Unless name has become associated with and/or identifies that product.

– It is a clearly descriptive term. • E.g., “Red” cherries cannot be registered.

– It is a deceptively incorrect term. • E.g., “Air Courier” not allowed for courier that

delivers parcels by truck.

– It suggests government approval.(continued)


Trademarks (continued)

– It is the name of the product in English or any other language.

– It suggests a connection with Red Cross, Armed Forces, a university, public authority, or RCMP.

– It could be confused with international signs.– It could be confused with a plant variety

designation.– It is the name of a living person or one who

has died in the preceding 30 years.


Integrated Circuit Topographies

• Configuration of layers of semi-conductors, metals, insulators, etc that form the circuits in a semi-conductor microchip.– Registration of topography can supplement patent

protection for a novel circuit or its function.– Must be applied for within two years of commercial

use of the design, and is valid only in Canada.– Term is to end of tenth year from first commercial use

or from filing of application for registration, whichever is earlier.


Trade Secrets• Commercially important secret formula,

design, process, or compilation of information.– Not regulated by government.– Employees who have access must agree to

maintain secrecy, usually as part of their employment contract.

– If a trade secret is deliberately or accidentally misappropriated, then legal action may be undertaken for damages.

• Theft or tort law.

copyright 2009 pearson education canada 17 - 1 chapter 17 intellectual property

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