Intellectual

Property
Book: Ethics in Information Technology
Chapter 6
What Is Intellectual Property?
Term used to describe works of the mind

istinct and “owned” or created by a person or group

How is intellectual Property
protected?
Although intellectual property or intellectual ideas are created
in the human mind, intellectual property does not refer to the
ideas. It is how the idea materializes itself and the end result
that is protected with a patent, a copyright

The design of a fuel-efficient car maybe patented but not the

idea.

The story or the manuscript of a book is copyrighted and not

the idea of the book itself.
How is intellectual Property
protected?
Copyright law

rotects authored works

Patent law

rotects inventions
Trade secret law

elps safeguard information critical to an organization’s

success
Copyrights
Securing for limited times to authors the exclusive rights to
their writings and discoveries.
Copyrights
Grants creators of original works the exclusive right to:

istribute

isplay

erform

eproduce work

repare derivative works based upon the work

Author may grant exclusive right to others

What type of work can be
Copyright
Tangible medium of expression

Work that is saved in some permanent way so that it can be

communicated to some one else at some other time.

Examples

ork may be fixed while transmitting. i.e. Live TV

T related work saved on hard drive or cloud.

Copyright term
opyright law guarantees developers the rights to their works
for a certain amount of time

Copyright Document

ttp://www.ipo.gov.pk/uploads/CMS/
Copyright_Ordinance_1962.pdf
Eligible Works
Types of work that can be copyrighted

rchitecture

rt

udiovisual works

horeography

rama

raphics

iterature

otion pictures etc.

nd other mentioned in the Copyright_Ordinance_1962

Eligible Works
Must fall within one of the preceding categories
Must be original

valuating originality can cause problems

Some works are not eligible for copyright protection ??

ot in a tangible form of expression

Fair use doctrine
Allows portions of copyrighted materials to be used without
permission under certain circumstances

Maintains balance between protecting an author’s rights and

enabling public access to copyrighted works
Fair use doctrine
Fair use doctrine factors include:

urpose and character of the use

ature of the copyrighted work

ortion of the copyrighted work used

ffect of the use upon the value of the copyrighted work

Key concept: an idea cannot be copyrighted, but the expression of an

idea can be
Copyright Infringement
Copy substantial and material part of another’s copyrighted
work without permission
Software copyright protection
Raises many complicated issues of interpretation

For example, a software manufacturer can observe the

operation of a competitor’s copyrighted program and then create
a program that accomplishes the same result and performs in the
same manner.

Two software manufacturers could conceivably develop

separate programs for a simple game such as tic-tac-toe without
infringing the other’s copyright.
Patents
Grant of property right to inventors
Permits an owner to exclude the public from making, using, or
selling the protected invention
Allows legal action against violators
Prevents independent creation as well as copying
How to obtain a Patent?
Applicant must file with the Patent organization

rganization searches prior art, existing patents and published material in the same
area.

akes an average of 25 months from filing an application until application is issued as a

patent or abandoned

Prior art

xisting body of knowledge

vailable to a person of ordinary skill in the art

Invention must pass
An invention must pass four tests
ust be in one of the five statutory classes of items
Process, machine, manufactures, composition of matter, new uses in any of previous

ust be useful
ust be novel
ust not be obvious to a person having ordinary skill in the same field
Items cannot be patented if they are:
bstract ideas
aws of nature
atural phenomena
Patent infringement
aking unauthorized use of another’s patent

o specified limit to the monetary penalty

many software patent infringements are for independent

inventions—the same invention discovered by two different
parties without knowledge of the other’s work.

Before obtaining a software patent, do a patent search

Software patent
Protects feature, function, or process embodied in instructions
executed on a computer
Applications software, business software, expert systems, and
system software have been patented, as well as such software
processes as compilation routines, editing and control
functions, and operating system techniques.

Even electronic font types and icons have been patented.

Software cross-licensing
Agreements
Large software companies agree not to sue each other over patent
infringements

Small businesses have no choice but to license patents if they use

them

Small businesses are generally unsuccessful in enforcing their patents

against larger companies.

Average patent lawsuit costs $3 - $10 million

Defensive publishing

lternative to filing for patents

ompany publishes a description of the innovation

stablishes the idea’s legal existence as prior art

osts mere hundreds of dollars

o lawyers

ast
Submarine patent
Standard is a definition or format

pproved by recognized standards organization or accepted as a de facto

standard by the industry

nables hardware and software from different manufacturers to work

together

Submarine Patent

atented process/invention hidden within a standard

oes not surface until standard is broadly adopted

EXAMPLE
An inventor or company may be able to predict the future
direction of a particular technology, or the activities of their
competitors. In doing so, a patent application could be filed in
the US which is not allowed to proceed to grant, but rather is
kept pending. Because there was no pre-grant publication of
patent applications in the US before 2000, a third party may
then develop a product, which is covered by the scope of the
submarine patent, unaware of the pending application. Once
the product is on the market, the patent application can then be
allowed to proceed to grant. The patentee can then demand a
royalty from the unsuspecting third party.
Example
For example, under the old system, someone in 1950 could
have filed a patent on, say, a packet-based computer network
router, though there were as yet hardly any computers to speak
of. By requesting repeated "continuations" during the patent
application process, the filer could force the patent to be
delayed indefinitely until packet-based routers started to come
onto the market, say in 1970. The filer then stops
requesting continuations, the patent issues, and the patent-
seeker can collect royalties on network routers for 17 years
from that point, until 1987
Patents (cont’d.)
Patent farming involves:
Influencing a standards organization to make use of a patented
item without revealing the existence of the patent

Demanding royalties from all parties that use the standard

Patent Troll
A patent troll is a person or company whose main business or
purpose is to sue other people or companies
or patent infringement.
Patent Troll
Example
For example, John Doe buys a patent for the design and
manufacture of a flat, rotating disc used to hold objects on a
countertop or other flat surface. John Doe has no intention of
manufacturing this item; he simply invests $25,000 to buy
the patent and then sues every manufacturer of lazy Susans,
record players, Asian restaurant table manufacturer, and
cabinet-organizer manufacturer he can find. John Doe sends a
letter to these people that states they are infringing on his
patent. John Doe requests payment for the damages or
threatens to sue the manufacturer in court.
Trade Secrets
Trade secret

usiness information

epresents something of economic value

equires an effort or cost to develop

ome degree of uniqueness or novelty

enerally unknown to the public

ept confidential
Information is only considered a trade secret if the company takes steps to protect it
Trade Secrets (cont’d.)
Trade secret law has a few key advantages over patents and
copyrights

o time limitations

o need to file an application

atents can be ruled invalid by courts

o filing or application fees

Law doesn’t prevent someone from using the same idea if it is
developed independently
Trade secret law varies greatly from country to country
Employees and Trade Secrets
Employees are the greatest threat to trade secrets

Unauthorized use of an employer’s customer list

ustomer list is not automatically considered a trade secret

ducate workers about the confidentiality of lists

Cou
rt must consider:

did the firm take steps to keep the list secret?

did the firm expend money or effort to develop the customer list?
Nondisclosure clauses

Nondisclosure clauses in employee’s contract

he employees cannot take copies of software programs

he employees cannot reveal details of software owned by the

organization.

Enforcement can be difficult

Confidentiality issues are reviewed at the exit interview
Non-compete agreements

Protect intellectual property from being used by competitors

when key employees leave

Require employees not to work for competitors for a period of

time
Non-compete agreements

Example:
The employee agrees as a condition of employment that in the
event of termination for any reason, he or she will not engage
in a similar or competitive business for a period of two years,
nor will he or she contact or solicit any customer with whom
Employer conducted business during his or her employment.
This restrictive covenant shall be for a term of two years from
termination, and shall encompass the geographic area within a
100-mile radius of Employer’s place of business.
Can a Product or Service Have
Multiple Forms of IP?
Yes. For example, a mobile phone might use technology (data
encryption) and include features (a camera) that have been
patented. The phone may be marketed under a brand name that
has a registered trademark. The look and feel of the phone’s
home screen design may be the subject of a copyright
registration. If the phone’s manufacturer hasn’t created all of
the phone’s IP by itself, it may have licensed some of the IP
from others.
Key Intellectual Property Issues
Issues that apply to intellectual property and information technology

lagiarism

everse engineering

pen source code

ompetitive intelligence

rademark infringement

ybersquatting
Plagiarism
Stealing someone’s ideas or words and passing them off as one’s own
Many students:

o not understand what constitutes plagiarism

elieve that all electronic content is in the public domain

Plagiarism is also common outside academia
Plagiarism detection systems

heck submitted material against databases of electronic content

Plagiarism (cont’d.)
Plagiarism (cont’d.)
Steps to combat student plagiarism

elp students understand what constitutes plagiarism and why they need to cite
sources

chedule major writing assignments in portions due over the course of the term

ell students that instructors are aware of Internet paper mills and plagiarism
detection services

ncorporate detection into an antiplagiarism program

Plagiarism forms
Verbatim copying
Copying elements of another author's paper, such as equations
or illustrations that are not common knowledge, or copying or
purposely paraphrasing sentences without citing the source.
Self-plagiarism
Plagiarism (cont’d.)
HEC Plagiarism policy :

http://hec.gov.pk/english/services/faculty/Documents/Plagiaris
m/Plagiarism%20Policy.pdf
Reverse Engineering
Process of taking something apart in order to:
nderstand it
uild a copy of it
mprove it
Applied to computer:
ardware
oftware
Convert a program code
o a higher-level design
o create a new representation
Begins by extracting design stage details
Reverse Engineering (cont’d.)
Convert an application that ran on one vendor’s database to run on another’s

Compiler
anguage translator
onverts computer program statements expressed in a source language to machine
language
Software manufacturer
rovides software in machine language form
Decompiler
eads machine language
roduces source code
Reverse Engineering (cont’d.)
Courts have ruled in favor of reverse engineering:

o enable interoperability
Software license agreements forbid reverse engineering
Ethics of using reverse engineering are debated

air use if it provides useful function/interoperability

an uncover designs that someone else has developed at great

cost and taken care to protect
Open Source Code
Program source code made available for use or modification:

s users or other developers see fit

Basic premise

any programmers can help software improve

an be adapted to meet new needs

ugs rapidly identified and fixed

igh reliability
Reasons to Create Open Source
To earn respect for solving a common problem
Feel the need to pay back
To attract potential clients
Reluctant to license and market it
Why license is needed for open
source software ?
Competitive Intelligence
Gathering of legally obtainable information

o help a company gain an advantage over rivals

Often integrated into a company’s strategic plans and decision
making
Not the same as industrial espionage, which uses illegal means
to obtain business information not available to the general
public
Without proper management safeguards, it can cross over to
industrial espionage
Competitive Intelligence
(cont’d.)
Competitive Intelligence
(cont’d.)
Trademark Infringement
Trademark is logo, package design, phrase, sound, or word that
enables consumer to differentiate one company’s product from
another’s
Trademark owner can prevent others from using the same mark
or a confusingly similar mark on a product’s label
Organizations frequently sue one another over the use of a
trademark in a Web site or domain name
Nominative fair use is defense often employed by defendant in
trademark infringement case
Cybersquatting
Cybersquatters

egister domain names for famous trademarks or company

names

ope the trademark’s owner will buy the domain name for a
large sum of money
To curb cybersquatting, register all possible domain names

org, .com, .info

Cybersquatting (cont’d.)
Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN)

everal top-level domains (.com, .edu, edu., .gov, .int, .mil, .net, .org,
aero, .biz, .coop, .info, .museum, .name, .pro, .asis, .cat, .mobi, .tel,
and .travel)

urrent trademark holders are given time to assert their rights in the new
top-level domains before registrations are opened to the general public

nti-cybersquatting Consumer Protection Act allows trademark owners

to challenge foreign cybersquatters
Summary
Intellectual property is protected by laws for:

opyrights

atents

rademarks

rade secrets
Plagiarism is stealing and passing off the ideas and words of another as one’s
own
Reverse engineering

rocess of breaking something down in order to understand, build a copy of, or

improve it
Summary (cont’d.)
Open source code

ade available for use or modification as users or other developers see fit
Competitive intelligence

ses legal means and public information

Trademark infringement

se of other’s trademark in a Web site can lead to issues

Cybersquatting

egistration of a domain name by an unaffiliated party