Week 9: Intellectual Property, Data Protection, Tort Law Flashcards
What does IP law cover?
Trademarks, Copyright, Patents, Design Rights
What is tangible vs intangible property rights?
Copyright is considered to be intangible property, whereas the object in question is considered tangible property - owning a book doesn’t mean you own all copies of the book
What is the point of IP rights?
Too offer an incentive and a reward for innovation
What sits between innovation and reward?
Societal benefits
What sits between reward and incentive?
Private benefits
What act regulates trademarks?
The Trademark Act
What act regulates trademarks?
The Trademark Act
How can you infringe a TM?
If you use a TM in the course of trade without consent affecting the functions of a TM
What do TMs offer protection against?
Free-riding (unfair advantage) Against blurring (detriment to distinctive character) Against tarnishment (detriment to reputation/repute)
What can you trademark?
Anything graphical that can be distinguished from competitors
What cannot be trademarked or copyrighted?
Colours or shapes, or morally offensive terms
What does copyright need?
Artistic work Real author Sufficiently original Of the right type Fixed in a tangible medium
When has copyright been infringed?
When you copy all or a substantial amount of others work
When can you use others work?
When you use it fairly and with credit
What are patents?
These are the strongest form of protection that require you to invent something novel
What must something you want to patent be?
It must something new, with an inventive step and have an industrial application
How long do patents last?
20 years
What can you not patent?
Scientific theories, discoveries, mathematical methods
Literary, dramatic, musical, artistic work or any other aesthetic creation
A scheme, rule or method for performing a mental act
Presentation of information
What is the cost of a patent?
They are expensive!
$10,978 to maintain one in the US
What is a design right?
This offers protection for the visual appearance of an item or product that gives the holder exclusive rights for that appearance - Febreze cans for example
What are your IP rights if you are employed?
It is likely that your employer has the IP rights over anything you create
Sum up each of the IP rights
Copyrights - aesthetic subject manner
Patents - technical subject matter
Trademarks - commercial subject matter
Design rights - protecting confidentiality
What is personal information defined as?
Any information related to an identifiable natural subject - one who can be identified by reference to an identifier such as name, ID, location data…
What data is processing of prohibited unless agreed to?
Racial/ethnic origin, religious beliefs, union membership, sexual orientation or biometrics
What does data protection give individuals?
The power to manage their information in the public domain
What 4 areas does data protection refer to?
Consenting
Knowing
Objecting
Withdrawing
What and whom do you have control over in regards to data protection?
What refers to the use of the data (preprocessing) and whom refers to those who use the data (the controller)
What are the major data protection laws in the EU?
The General Data Protection Regulation
What are the data protection laws in the UK?
The UK-GDPR and the Data Protection Act of 2018
Why did the UK introduce the UK-GDPR?
As a result of Brexit
What does the Data Protection Act of 2018 do?
Supplements the GDPR by filling some gaps - lowers children’s age of consent from 16 to 13
What is the key theme of data protection?
That data protection must be by design and by default
From when should data protection be considered?
From the start - not as an after thought
What technologies are now legally mandated?
Privacy-enhancing technologies (PETs)
What is a potential penalty for non compliance of data protection laws?
€20M or 4% of annual turnover
What are the basic principles governing the use of personal data?
Lawfulness, fairness, transparency Purpose limitation Data minimisation Accuracy Storage limitation Integrity and confidentiality
Who is responsible for following the principles governing the use of personal data?
The controller
What is pseudonymisation?
It is the process of disguising identities, such that you can use data without needing to know the identity of the individuals in the data set
How can pseudonymisation be achieved?
Through the process of a hash map or a two way cryptography algorithm
What does the effectiveness of pseudonymisation algorithms depend on?
How easy it is to re-trace the data, size of population, whether you can link records back to the same person
How does the GDPR incentivise pseudonymisation?
By making this data subject to fewer restrictions
What is the strongest form of data protection?
Anonymisation
What is a drawback of anonymisation?
It reduces the ability one has to analyse the data
What is a tort?
This is a civil wrong against an entity or individual
What provides a remedy for torts?
The law
How can a remedy for a tort be enforced?
Through a civil suit brought by the wronged party
How can a remedy for a tort be enforced?
Through a civil suit brought by the wronged party
What must torts be distinguished from?
Criminal wrongs (crimes)
What is a claimant in a tort case?
The wronged party or the victim of the tort who can bring damages
What is the defendant in a tort case?
The alleged wrongdoer or injurer who is on the receiving end of the claim of the tort
What is important to note about the defendant in a tort case?
The defendant may not always be the person who committed the tort
What is important to note about the defendant in a tort case?
The defendant may not always be the person who committed the tort
What is an intentional tort?
A civil wrong resulting from a deliberate act on the part of the alleged wrongdoer - only the act needs to be intentional, no intent for harm is needed
What is a negligence tort?
This is a civil wrong that is suffered by someone at the hands of another who fell short of the expected degree of care of a reasonable person
What type of tort is a negligence tort?
Negligence is a damage-based tort and the claimant must show that the damage was caused by the defendant’s act
What is a strict liability tort?
It is a tort where you cannot find a fault of either negligence or intent
What does the claimant need to prove with strict liability?
That the tort occurred and that the defendant was responsible.
What is the purpose of strict liability torts?
To regulate activities that are acknowledged as necessary and useful to society but pose a high risk of danger to the public.