Regulations, Requirements & responsibilities Flashcards
Within an Engineering context, what areas of law might apply?
- Employment Equality
- Environmental
- Financial
- Consumer Protection
- Health & Safety
- Competition & Marketing Contract
- Data Protection
- Immigration / Visa
- Intellectual property
- Libel
Types of laws and penalties?
Criminal law
* Prosecuted by police / government
* Applies to individuals and organisations
* Can lead to custodial sentences
* In UK – needs proving “beyond reasonable doubt”
* Ignorance is not a valid defence!
Civil action
* Legal cases brought by one party against another
* Assessed in the courts
* Can lead to fines / imposed conditions
* In UK – needs proving “in the balance of probability”
* “Class Action” – brought by a large number of individuals collectively
Regulatory action
* Sector regulations often apply to ability to operate in a sector
* Permissions / licences / approvals can be withdrawn
* Assessed within the regulator, not in courts
In a large company, a sales employee racially abuses a customer during a sales presentation. What may be the consequences?
- Both the company and the employee have responsibilities
- Company needs to make clear to all employees what is acceptable behaviour
- May involve mandatory training
- If training and clear guidance has been provided – it is likely to then mainly fall on the employee
- Company may still face a civil action
A small Engineering Company is installing IT equipment for a
large construction company. The large company wishes to pay in cash
- Cash payments are legal
- But may be part of money laundering
- Companies have a legal requirement to seek to identify and report this
small Engineering Company is installing IT equipment for a
large construction company. The small company wishes to be paid in cash
- Cash payments are legal
- Small company may be trying to avoid tax
- No requirement for large company to report them, but best to refuse to pay cash
What is intellectual properties?
- Ideas a bit vague?
- Inventions
- Artistic creations music / writing / images / videos
- Processes eg manufacturing methods
- Software
- Know-how eg optimised settings on a process
- Design eg bottle shape, logo, CAD
What are the types of intellectual properties protection
- Patents
- Copyrights
- Registered Trademarks
- Registered Designs
- Know-how and trade secrets – not really protection
- Non-disclosure agreements – ways to try and protect knowhow and trade secrets 41
What is a patent?
[What it can be]
- Must be new
- Must include an innovative aspect that isn’t obvious to others with knowledge of the subject
- Isn’t already in the public domain
- Is capable of being produced / implemented
[What it can’t be]
- Can’t be a method of doing something (business method,
some software) - Can’t be a scientific / mathematical discovery
- Can’t be a plant / animal
- Can’t be illegal, amoral, against public good
How to defend a patent
- Entirely a civil matter
- Would need legal action to be taken against any company infringing the patent
- Can be expensive (especially upfront)
- Difficult in different countries
How to make money from a Patent
- Produce and sell your product
- Sub-contract manufacture
- Licence the production / selling to other companies
- Sell the patent to another company
- Sell the company including the IPR
What is a copyright
- Protection for “the expression of an idea in a material form”
- written material, music, images, video, games, software
- Granted automatically as long as you can show you are the creator
- Lasts a lot longer
- 75 years after death of creator
- Protection would need civil legal action
- Can be sold / given (often to publishers)
- Can be given up “creative commons” or similar
What is a Trademarks
- Designs associated with a product / brand
- Registered in similar but simpler way to patents
- More linked to marketing than function
- Can be shapes, logos, pictures
- Attempts made to cover words / colours
What is a Registered Designs
- Some overlap with copyright and trademarks
- A bit more robust and applies to things that can’t be patented
- Can include Engineering Designs
- CAD drawings, electronic circuits, aircraft component designs
- Registered in a similar to trademarks
What is a “Just keep it a secret”
- Trade secrets / know-how
- Can be knowledge of how to do something
- Optimised production methods
- Material composition
- Inventions that might otherwise be patented
- Can be attractive for small companies (no cost and less need to defend)
- But always risk of being released
- Someone else might patent and then you could no longer use it!
What are Non-disclosure agreements
- Legal agreements made between companies / individuals to protect confidential information
- Will define what is background knowledge (already known to the other party) – not covered
- What is in the public domain – not covered
- Will prevent disclosure of confidential information
- Unless legally required
- May require specific security of storage / destruction
- May prevent any “reverse engineering”
