Entre-2.0

Question 1

what are the legal IP strategies for protecting your idea?

Answer 1

• Patents – exclusive rights to use and sell an invention
• Trademarks – e.g., Starbucks, sensory expression e.g., sign, design and expression that are tied into the identity of the specific company/brand; makes it distinctive
• Design rights – e.g., Crocs, Apple design (containing the aesthetic and functional value)
• Copyright – e.g., painting, photograph, choreography, structure (original, creative literary, dramatic, artistic and other works e.g., ballet, dance).
• Trade secret – e.g. Coca Cola formula is unknown

Question 2

what are the non-IP protection strategues

Answer 2

• Complexity & “tacit” knowledge
• Speed to market / first-mover advantage
• Reducing an incentive to imitate

Question 3

why is IP important?

Answer 3

• Ideas and knowledge are becoming more important than ever
  
  • 80% of the market value of S&P 500 firms comes from ‘intangible assets’ – Ocean Tomo
• Provides a (temporal) monopoly to a creator
  
  • Facilitates the ex-ante incentive to create technology to creators
  • Motivates competitors to develop the technology further
• I.e., with IP, more innovative technologies are being developed in order to capture greater market val

Question 4

Social enterprises

Explain social enterprise

Answer 4

Realtively NEW and somewhere in the middles betwenn charity and traditonal business

There are many version but even the least finanical orientated one make 75% revenue

30% of rev from profit = charity
100%- business
>75% = social enterprise

They invest profit into charitable aspect, major difference b/w social and business are stakeholders

Question 5

Give examples of companies that carry out imapct investments

Answer 5

investment approach that intentionally seeks to create both financial and positive social or environmental impact that is actively measured.

E.g Acumen, Triodos, blueOrchard, vital

Question 6

what do impact investors invest and what do they expect

Answer 6

Most are not looking for unicrons , they are looking for risk adjusted market rate returns

Hence they look for smaller org that conduct business responsibly whilst still maintaining market rate returns

Question 7

How do you make a business model for social ventures

Answer 7

Change the following two aspects:

1. Economic actors involved
   - Enhancing customer awareness
   - Facilitating effective regulation
2. Technologies
   - Replacing a key resource with more
   sustainable one
   - Creating a new enabling technology, or
   repurposing the existing one

e.g freittag

Question 8

How to pursue a social venture

Answer 8

Define scope
- Discern minimum social and econ goals and give wieght to them.

Attend to socio-politics
- Address stakeholders and balance theirgoals

Use a lean approach
- Hypotheisis test
- Consider all stakeholders in value chain

Try to anticipate unintended consequences
- scope 1,2, 3 emmisions,etc

Question 9

IP

Outline all the pertinent features pf a patent

Answer 9

• A right to exclude others from making, using, and selling a product or a process based on the invention.
• IMPORTANT: The invention/innovation should be novel from the perspective of a person skilled in the relevant areas/experts
  
  • If you get a new way to get the similar effect with the patented innovation, you cannot patent it
  • If someone in the area can easily imagine it, then it is not patented
• 20 years (‘the term of a patent’)
• Territorial, application-based: need to fill in the application for a patent, need separate applications for different countries.
  
  • WIPO: World Intellectual Property Organisation – one of the specialised agencies of the UN which provides the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT). This provides a common procedure for filing patent applications across its contracting member countries.
  • If you filed a patent in any PCT-country, you have 12 months to file applications in other PCT-countries. But, need to pay translation and attorney fees.
• Application granted based on the originality of the ideas
  
  • Application document needs to cite previous granted patents whose technology is similar or incorporated into the focal idea – This is reviewed by ‘Examiners’ to ensure you are not missing anything
• Once granted, patent discloses ALL the details of your idea/technology to the public (e.g., how to make it so other specialised people can make it)
• Can be challenged at any time until it expires – so can actually backfire in a start-up company.
• Costs between £2,000-£6,000 for a single application.

Question 10

what are the additional criteria to be a patent or NOT

Answer 10

To be:
- novelty
- inventive
- Capable of industrial application

NOT to be:
- Discoveries, researchetc
- rules
- promotes antisocial behaviour

Question 11

Outline difference between nations in relation to patents

Answer 11

• Biggest IP nations: China, US, Korea, India and European markets
• Specificity in the US application: FIRST-TO-INVENT vs. FIRST-TO-FILE
  
  • First-to-invent (US) –
  • First-to-file (EU and most of other countries) –
  • Usually, it takes ~3 years in UK, in Europe: 22.1 months, in US: 23.8 months, in Brazil: 95.1 months.
  Thus, need to be careful with the market you wish to file the patent, and you need to strategically time the release of the technology/application

Question 12

Outline all the pertinent information around copyright

Answer 12

• Protects original literary, dramatic, artistic, and other works.
  
  • Software (e.g., games), photographs, manuals, broadcasts, recordings, and public performance.
• Protect only original expression of ideas (typically recorded); not ideas themselves.
  
  • E.g., two different films based on the same ideas but expressed in substantially different ways then it is not a breach of copyright.
  • Rule of “the substantial similarity” – An ordinary person would conclude the amounts of copy of expression (not an expert).
  • However, names or titles CANNOT be copyrighted as they may be duplicated coincidentally.
• Arises automatically – Need not be asserted or declared.
  
  • Thus, is free and will apply regardless of a copyright notice or not.
  • The © symbol is optional
• Usage is allowed for private, research or educational purposes, criticism, news reporting, parody, and helping ‘disabled’ people.
• Need good records of creation date and author
  
  • Otherwise there can be some discrepancies on when something was created or written.
  • Use © symbol to get a better legal protection during infringement suits (as signifies a clear commitment to protection, can also deter infringement)
  • “Poor man’s copyright”: You may post the work to yourself, a bank or solicitor by special delivery post using the postmark to establish the date
    
    • You must NOT open the envelope until the moment you are required to prove your authorship
    • Yet still with limited effectiveness (esp. in the US)
  • Otherwise, register your copyright
• Duration of protection:
  
  • Author’s life +50 ~ 100 years (I.e., lasts longer than the patent)
  • 50 years after its creation (for performances or music)

Question 13

what are the main differences between patent and copyright?

Answer 13

Question 14

Outline all the pertinent details about trademark

Answer 14

• A protection of the distinctive sign (sensory image)
  
  • Enables customers to identify and distinguish goods or services of a firm from those of others
• Must not conflict with existing registrations for similar goods or services
  
  • E.g., EA and Energy Armor – EA filled a lawsuit in 2011 which resolved by negotiation
• Must be applied and registered in different countries
• Duration of protection – Indefinite, yet subject to renewal at 10 year intervals
• Different type of trademarks:
  
  • House mark: About the company e.g., Toyota
  • Product mark: About the brand e.g., Lexus
  • Quality marks e.g., Soil Association Organic Standard
  • Shape/packaging of products
  • Sound-based trademarks e.g., potato sound for Harley Davidson motorcycles, the roar in the MGM title card
  • E.g., the company ICI have a house mark but a product mark on Dulux

Question 15

Outline all the pertinent information about Design rights

Answer 15

• Protects appearance of products (aesthetic value)
  
  • Shape, colour, texture materials, ornamentation etc., or a combination of pattern and colour
  • Designs must be “new and of individual character”
  • Can be a part or the whole design
• Arises automatically; no need for declaration
  
  • Yet, when registered, protected longer and stronger (esp., during the lawsuits)
• In Europe and US, application can be filed within a year after first marketed (publicly available)
  
  • c.f. no such restriction on filing a trademark application
• Protects an invention that offers a new technical solution to a problem BUT does NOT protect the technical or functional features of the product
• Excluded from protection:
  
  • Methods or principles of construction
  • Features without any design element
• Duration of protection:
  
  • Minimum: 10 yrs. from date of first sale or 15 yrs. from the date of creation
  • 25 years from date of application
    
    • Need to renew every 5 years (before its expiration after 25 years)
  • Example of lawsuit: Dyson suing Vax over vacuum design

Question 16

Outline all the features of Trade secret

Answer 16

An idea is the best protected as long as it remains secret (i.e. keeping it to yourself)

• Formula, practice, process, design, instrument, pattern, commercial method, or compilation of information
• Not generally known or reasonably ascertainable by others, by which a business can obtain an economic advantage over competitors or customers
• Devices to protect secrecy:
  
  • Confidentiality agreement for employees
  • Non-Disclosure Agreements (NDAs) with manufacturers or investors
  • Lock your cabinets or passwords on computers (better electronic protection)
  • Accompany office visitors

Question 17

in terms of IP what should entrepreneurs bear in mind?

Answer 17

• At the end of the day, there is no perfect way to protect your idea!
• You should be ready to keep moving forward
• Be careful for claiming the possibility of IP rights
• Also, you may be targeted by patent trolls

Question 18

what are the pros and cons of IP

Answer 18

Question 19

Explain the features and benefits of Open Source Strategy

Answer 19

They will not pursue any infringement lawsuits and will allow people to use their technology in good faith. Why?

• To grow the entire market at the expense of substitutes – grow the pie before you cut it so every goes home with a bigger slice.
• To drive down costs from suppliers – competitors can build up on Tesla’s tech through manufacturing which will aid faster tech development.
• Allows your product to become the industry standard and gain market share.
• To get a positive publicity – e.g., Tesla was spoken about positively by Obama

Question 20

what should an entrepreneu consider if they want to go for OpenSource?

Answer 20

• If you’re developing a totally new and valuable product AND you’re not confident to be a leader – Consider IP
  
  • Tesla once focused on IPs
• Once you become the market standard (or are likely to be), open your technology
• Again, no perfect way to protect your idea!

Question 21

Non-IP strat

Outline and explain the features of Complexity/Tacit

Answer 21

• Make the technology complicated so harder to understand and copy.
• Based on complexity of ideas themselves or of relationship between components/technologies.
• Consists of interrelated parts of specialist knowledge held by different people/groups.
  
  • I.e., no one single employee knows how the technology works – so even if your competitors hire them, they cannot copy your ideas.
• Depends on highly developed processes and/or key implementation skills of employees
• Requires a lot of resources, time and talents to re-create or imitate
  
  • So not best strategy for start-up

Question 22

Non-IP STRAT

Explain first mover advantage and merits and probelms

Answer 22

• Capture attention and market share before your competitors can react
• Be aggressive to be the first one in a market to build brand loyalty or technological leadership
• • Requires lots of resources to reach required speed, before resource-rich incumbents can imitate you.
    
    • So again, not the best strategy for start-up

Question 23

Explain how you could reduce incentive to imitate

Answer 23

Show QUICK and fiere retaliation

Co-work with others! – especially when you have traction.

• Set up joint venture – especially for international expansion
• Sell some part of your technology/knowhow
  
  • May sell other components essential for using it (more on the session on business model)

If your competitors hold many IPs

• Control complementary assets/resources that are essential for using the IPs so that you become valuable to them as well
• Even though this is a non-IP strategy, it works better if you have IP
• E.g., Samsung and Apple even though they are always suing each other!
• Search Results
• Mutual Forbearance: a reduction of the intensity of the competition through familiarity and deterrence. Trying to avoid a price war. Competitors, particularly if they have asymmetric positions, can have interests to slow down their commercial behaviour on each other’s market.

Question 24

give me pros and cons of :
- secrecy
- complexity
- speed

Answer 24

Question 25

Give me pros and cons of IP and secrecy

Answer 25