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Intellectual Property: INFS 452 - Computer Ethics & Society

The document discusses various types of intellectual property including copyrights, patents, and trade secrets. It defines each type of intellectual property and provides examples. Key topics covered include copyright infringement, patent infringement, software patents, trade secret protection, and common intellectual property issues such as plagiarism, reverse engineering, and cyber squatting.

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41 views

Intellectual Property: INFS 452 - Computer Ethics & Society

The document discusses various types of intellectual property including copyrights, patents, and trade secrets. It defines each type of intellectual property and provides examples. Key topics covered include copyright infringement, patent infringement, software patents, trade secret protection, and common intellectual property issues such as plagiarism, reverse engineering, and cyber squatting.

Uploaded by

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© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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INFS 452 – Computer Ethics & Society

Intellectual Property

Ethics in information technology by George W. Reynolds


WHAT IS INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY?

• Intellectual property is a term used to describe works of the


mind—such as art, books, films, formulas, inventions, music,
and processes—that are distinct, and owned or created by a
single person or group. Intellectual property is protected
through copyright, patent, and trade secret laws.
COPYRIGHTS

• A copyright is the exclusive right to distribute,


display, perform, or reproduce an original work in
copies or to prepare derivative works based on the
work.
• Copyright protection is granted to the creators of
“original works of authorship in any tangible medium
of expression, now known or later developed, from
which they can be perceived, reproduced, or
otherwise communicated, either directly or with the
aid of a machine or device.
Copyright infringement

• Copyright infringement is a violation of the


rights secured by the owner of a copyright.
• Infringement occurs when someone copies a
substantial and material part of another’s
copyrighted work without permission.
Eligible Works

• The types of work that can be copyrighted


include architecture, art, audio-visual works,
choreography, drama, graphics, literature,
motion pictures, music, pantomimes, pictures,
sculptures, sound recordings, and other
intellectual works.
Fair Use Doctrine

• The fair use doctrine allows portions of


copyrighted materials to be used without
permission under certain circumstances.

• Software Copyright Protection


• To prove infringement, the copyright holder must
show a striking resemblance between its software
and the new software that could be explained only
by copying.
PATENTS

• A patent is a grant of a property right issued


by the United States Patent and Trademark
Office (USPTO) to an inventor.

• A patent permits its owner to exclude the


public from making, using, or selling a
protected invention, and it allows for legal
action against violators.
Patent infringement

• Patent infringement, or the violation of the


rights secured by the owner of a patent,
occurs when someone makes unauthorized
use of another’s patent.

• Unlike copyright infringement, there is no


specified limit to the monetary penalty if
patent infringement is found.
Continued….

• Software Patents
• A software patent claims as its invention some
feature or process embodied in instructions executed
by a computer.

• Software Cross-Licensing Agreements


• Many large software companies have cross-licensing
agreements in which each party agrees not to sue
the other over patent infringements.
TRADE SECRETS

• A trade secret is defined as business


information that represents something of
economic value, has required effort or cost to
develop, has some degree of uniqueness or
novelty, is generally unknown to the public,
and is kept confidential.
Employees and Trade Secrets

• Employees are the greatest threat to the loss of company


trade secrets—they might accidentally disclose trade
secrets or steal them for monetary gain.
• Organizations must educate employees about the
importance of maintaining the secrecy of corporate
information.
• Trade secret information should be labeled clearly as
confidential and should only be accessible by a limited
number of people.
• Most organizations have strict policies regarding
nondisclosure of corporate information.
KEY INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY ISSUES

• Plagiarism
• Plagiarism is the act of stealing someone’s
ideas or words and passing them off as one’s
own.
• Reverse Engineering
• Reverse engineering is the process of taking
something apart in order to understand it,
build a copy of it, or improve it.
Continued…….

• Open Source Code


• Open source code is any program whose source code
is made available for use or modification, as users or
other developers see fit.

• Competitive Intelligence
• Competitive intelligence is legally obtained
information that is gathered to help a company gain
an advantage over its rivals.
Continued…..

• Cyber squatting
• Cyber-squatters registered domain names for famous
trademarks or company names to which they had no
connection, with the hope that the trademark’s owner would
eventually buy the domain name for a large sum of money.

• A trademark is a logo, package design, phrase, sound, or word


that enables a consumer to differentiate one company’s
products from another’s.

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