Intellectual Property n n n Copyrights Patents Trade

Intellectual Property n n n Copyrights Patents Trade Secrets Piracy Licenses International Issues

(1) Copyrights Speaker: Andrew Modansky

What are copyrights? • A form of protection for authors. What can be copyrighted? • Anything that can be put on a tangible medium. • Some examples are Books, Computer Software, Movies, etc. • Some things that cannot be copyrighted are names, slogans and “common property” like calendars and tape measures.

A Brief History Copyright law originally developed in England after the introduction of the printing press. US Constitution says that copyrights should promote science, learning and the arts. Changes made, mainly due to new technologies. • Movies • Live television broadcasts The copyright act of 1976 was the last major change. • First specific mention of computer programs.

Computers and Copyrights An amendment was made to the Copyright Act in 1980: • Programs are “… a set of statements or instructions to be used directly or indirectly in a computer in order to bring about a certain result. Broderbund Software, Inc v. Unison World, Inc 1984 • Parts of “Printshop” program was copied to make “Printmaster”. • Set some precedents for “look and feel”

DMCA Digital Millennium Copyright Act 1998 • World Intellectual Property Organization • Illegal to break anti-theft encryption. (DVD’s, software cracks) • De. CSS broke content scrambling system • Ethics?

Ethics and Future MPAA and RIAA are suing people copying movies and music. Computers have made it very simple obtain pirated works. • CD burners • High speed networks • Internet and file sharing programs Everyone does it but it does not make it right, but a person should be free to privately do whatever they want with legally obtained works. The future will probably see more laws favoring corporations: • Moving further from promoting learning and science • Copyrights will be more like any other form of property

(2) Patents Speaker: Richard Pantoliano

What Are Patents? n Definition: n n "an exclusive right granted for an invention, which is a product or a process that provides a new way of doing something, or offers a new technical solution to a problem" Inventor owns the right to an invention

Types of Patents n Three different types of patents: n Plant Patents n "characteristics of a new plant that has been asexually reproduced" n n Design Patents n No utilitarian value n Deals entirely with aesthetics Utility Patents n Most common n Most relevant to technology

Utility Patents n Four requirements: n n Statutory n "processes, machines, articles of manufacture, and compositions of matter" New n Defined by what is not considered new n Differs in other countries Useful n Must solve the problem that it was designed to solve Nonobvious n Most difficult requirement to meet n Must not be an obvious extension to previous design

Rights of Patent Holder n n Right to exclude n Can decide who can use invention n License agreements Protection from infringement n can sue anyone that uses design without permission n must file a civil suit n responsible for protecting this right

Why Have Patents? n n Foster innovation n No point in inventing if others can gain more profit from your design n Profit as incentive Allow industry to develop n Invention made public n Time limit on rights of patent holder

Problems With Patents Abroad n n Patents only valid within the country filed n Cannot impose local laws on another nation n Can lead to invention being patented by people in different countries Patent requirements different between different nations n Time requirement

Some Solutions To Patent Issue Abroad n WIPO and other IP organizations n Nations agree to recognize patents filed with these organizations n Like filing for patent in each member nation n Saves trouble of having to try to meet requirements of all nations at the same time n Problem: not binding for non-member nations

Patent Issues in the U. S. n n Prior Art n Extensive search required to see if invention was actually invented earlier n May not find instance, even if it does exist n Leads to a patent being issued for an old invention Enforcement n Left solely up to patent holder n May be beyond means of patent holder to defend n Enforcement may be detrimental

Example of Patent Issue #1: Patents in Medicine n n Drugs n Patents allow companies to charge a premium for medicine n Prevent generic alternatives from being produced Human Genome n Upon analyzing a specific gene and its role in the human body, can be patented n Patent holder must be compensated for any drugs or treatment dealing with that specific gene

Example#2: Software Patents n n Law dealing with software patents n Cannot directly patent a program n Can patent how a piece of data can be proceed August 10, 2004 n Microsoft granted patent to allow user to "initiate a particular administrative function that the process would not otherwise be able to initiate by requesting that the administrative security process initiate the function" n Sudo (superuser do) n First produced @ 1980 at SUNY Buffalo

(3) Trade Secrets Speaker: Aaron Perlstein

Trade Secret Intellectual property that derives its value from being secret n Formula n Program n Process

Patents vs. Trade Secrets Patent - Public declaration of property More legal rights Trade Secret - Unavailable to public No defined expiration

Legislation n n Uniform Trade Secrets Act Drafted 1970, Amended 1985 Economic Espionage Act of 1996

The Future n n Higher Risk of Information Leak Better access to helpful resources

(4) Software Piracy Speaker: Tim Petitte

The Sky Is Falling n n The Government, news media, corporations estimate yearly losses in billions of dollars The BSA’s audit tool

Is it really? Op. Buccaneer (2001)

How? Where? Who? n n Professionally run servers USA suppliers “Asian silvers” only a side effect RIAA’s suits naïve and useless

How good are they?

Oh, The Irony n n Storing all of this drives the Hard Drive, CD -R, DVD-R industries Demand for broadband

The Future n n n Operation Fastlink (2004) If you kill me, two more will take my place People sure do love free stuff

(5) Software Licenses & more Patents Speaker: Stephen Safranek

-Licensing of software -open source software -use of source code -build on it -regular software -use of product -cannot alter code

-Consumer issues with licensing -licensee has virtually no rights -license provides consumer with privilege of use -no standard of quality -must strictly adhere to license agreement

-UCITA -updated version of the UCC -enables: -remote system invasion -”shrink wrap” licensing -legal actions from licensors

-Patents -patents vs. copyrights -Richard Stallman -inability to research patents process Rich Stallman – Foundation for Information Policy -speed of patent application

-Types of patents -patents owned by licensor -patents owned by third party -patents owned by licensee

-How do you get caught? -BSA -random audits -consequences

-Conclusion -future -USPTO -AIPLA

(6) Transnational Issues Speaker: Priyal Shah

Why do issues arise? n n IP is a collage of intersecting multilateral and bilateral agreements and their resulting harmonization of national laws. Increasingly important and frequently litigated area, particularly in the patent, copyright, and trademark arenas.

Administration WIPO – World Intellectual Property Organization (1974) • Preceded by BIRPO (1891) - United International Bureau for the Protection of Intellectual Property • Administers Treaties • 172 member countries WTO – World Trade Organization (1995) • Preceded by GATT – General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (1946). • Enforces Treaty Compliance • 150 member countries

Application n How are International Intellectual Property Laws Applied? Principle of National Treatment Imported and locally produced goods should be treated equally. The same should apply to foreign and domestic services, as well as to foreign and local trademarks, copyrights and patents.

Cybersquatting n n Conflict of laws: If a user accesses works located on a server in another country where these actions are considered infringements, which country’s law controls the resolution of the infringement dispute? Reciprocity: Some countries maintain that they should only extend the courtesy of their national IP laws if the other country does the same in return.

Harmonization Good points: n Protection for the creator Problems: n Ideal patent system does not exist n Too rigid n Forcing uniform regulation upon every country is inefficient

Conclusion International Intellectual property laws are very controversial, due to the fact that it connects between culture, business, communication technology and community values. New issues arise, but organizations like WIPO and WTO continually work to solve them.

(7) Software Patents and the EEC Speaker: Xiu Xiao

The EEC n n Creation and background Present day relevancy

Grand Finale n It’s the end of the world as we know it, and I feel fine