5. IP protection Flashcards
What are IP rights?
A category of property rights for intangible properties, relating to creation of human intellect.
7 available protection mechanisms and each object
- Design protection for the object ‘esthetics’.
- Trademarks for designations (brand, logo).
- Patent for technical innovations
- Copyright for software codes
- Secrecy for know-how
- Technical measures, also for know-how
- Licenses for control (business model)
Define ‘copyrights’
=Exclusive right of a creative work to reproduce the work. It protects the expression of an idea in the work of a creative work, not the idea itself. (someone else can still use its own code and achieve the same result, this is ok).
Define ‘patent’
= a set of exclusive rights granted by a state to an inventor in exchange for detailed public disclosure (tradeoff!) of the invention. The invention is a solution to a spec. tech problem, and is a product or a process.
PS. a patent is not the right to use the invention, only the right to exclude others from using it.
Adv and disadv for copyright vs patent in protecting software
Copyright is easier to obtain, whereas patent must be filed for in each territory and long application process.
The ‘object’ in copyright is just an expression (here: the code) whereas in patent it must be a technical method or device.
Copyright is available in all fields, whereas patent only for tech inventions.
Patent has a stronger protections (against all commercial use), whereas copyright only is protected against copying.
Duration: longer for CR (50 years after the creator’s death), patent only max 20 years.
4 critera for granting a patent:
- Has to be technological
- Has to be new
- Has to involve an inventive step
- Has to have the ability of be applied in industry.
Examples of things that should not be granted patent, according to the law:
- discoveries/scientific theories
- aesthetic creations
- ## programs för computers
3 reasons to care about IP rights:
- Freedom to operate - you want to make sure that you are not making infringments on others’ protections.
Can be costly. - Protection/exclusivity - You want to be able to stop someone from using your invention.
- Asset/basis for licensing - you want to have something to bring to the table in partnerships and negotiations.
4 main challenges of IP protection in the digital innovation sphere:
- Technical character - not always obvious how you can argue for this
- Individualization - trend towards customization makes it harder to protect, cannot protect everything, not economically viable.
- Networked solutions - clouds, IoT etc makes it hard to decide who infringes and where to protect because everything is connected in large networks spanning across the globe.
- Ecosystem focus - we focus more on the broader ecosystem than the product itself which also makes it hard to find the core that should be protected.
What’s important when it comes to IP in agile developments?
Be early!! Cannot start filing for patents when the product is ready to be launched, must do it in earlier stages.
3 challenges of patenting AI
- Describing the classifies - training data or training process? level of detail?
- Designating the inventor - “AI-made inventions”.
- Lack of an established harmonized practice - territoriality of patent rights.
Open Source Software: challenges
Lot of software licenses. If not able to be used commercially, it falls.
- Should the entire source code be released?
- Risk of violations of the license
- No available enforcement mechanism that protects… only secrecy and in few cases patent
Never forget about FTO!! But what is FTO (freedom to operate)?
Generally, the ability to use or commercialize a product or process without infringing another party’s valid intellectual property (IP) rights, usually patents. You always need to check this before you go to market with something.
