Patent Reform
Protection of intellectual property are investments based on acquired knowledge, thought and effort by one or multiple individuals on behalf of themselves, the business they work for when the property is created, and a financial investment. Each of these – acquired knowledge, thought, physical effort, financial investment – have a value that can be attached as it relates the usefulness or importance of the resulting product. That value will have a level of importance to the individual(s) creating the product and if applicable, the investor providing the funds in support of the creation.
Business demands a return on its research and development effort to be successful and repay those investors of time or money thus
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Protection through copyright is immediate and based on the author appending the copyright symbol to the documented work. Unlike copyrights and patents, trademarks and trade secrets are protected forever and not subject to the “limited time” restriction of the Constitution (Lau & Johnson, 2013).
While a trademark cannot be infringed upon at any time, if a trade secret is obtained through legal means it is no longer protected from use. With a patent, third parties are prevented from making, using or selling the invention thus protecting the funds used in the research and development (R & D)effort. This initial investment can be recovered and if the product is desirable, business success is realized for the property owner.
Modernizing Intellectual Property
Although the need to protect R & D investment is recognized, there appears to be a need to modernize the laws around intellectual property. What if the original patent owner is unable to continue development in a timely fashion, or chooses to withhold development of a product? Should the patent remain with the owner for the full amount of time if they are unable or choose not to produce an item that has a significant potential to improve lives, public safety or advance technology? What about
Article I, Section 8 of the U.S. Constitution provides the federal government with the power to issue patents and copyrights in order “to promote the Progress of Science and useful Arts, by securing for limited Times to Authors and Inventors the exclusive Right to their respective Writings and Discoveries” (U.S. Const. art. I, § 8). A patent provides the inventor with an exclusive right to “use, license or sell and invention,” (U.S. Const. art. I, § 8), as such the product, service, process or design becomes the personal property of the inventor(s).
Innovation of research for diseases is a key part to their treatment, and Crichton and Calfee disagree whether patents barrier this research. When an item or idea is patented it means it's owned; therefore no one else can use it without the owner's permission. Michael Crichton discusses how patents are
My goal is to make sure that clients who have an acceptable idea or invention that deserves to be protected should have that idea patented by the federal government. I have the expertise and knowledge to take you through the entire process step by step and achieve the best result for you.
Under 15 U.S. Code § 1127, a trademark protection is granted on words, symbols, or
A patent is a legal document giving inventors the property right to their own invention. A patent didn’t always mean the rights to an invention though. A patent used to mean a special privilege or favor. It also could be used to acquire more land or obtain rights to explore a new land. Presently the patent is used only for the rights to your invention. Virginia Alexandrea from The United States Patent and Trademark Office wrote the article “General Information Concerning Patents” where she described what Patent rights include.
A patent is an exclusive right granted for an invention, product or process that provides a new way of doing something, or that offers a new technical solution to a problem. An invention in general must fulfill certain criteria in order to be protected by a patent. For example, the Patents Act, 1970 in S. 2(1) (j) defines invention as a new product or process involving an inventive step and capable of industrial application. In other words, an invention in order to be patentable must show an element of novelty, must show “an inventive step”, and must be of practical use. Particularly, the Patents Act, 1970 defines “inventive step” as a feature of an invention that involves technical advance as compared to the existing knowledge or having economic significance or both and that makes the invention not obvious to a person skilled in the art. In other words, patent rights are not available for new advances that are merely obvious extensions or modifications of prior designs. Besides, the requirement of difference over prior art, there is a requirement to establish the extent of common general knowledge that exists while
The U.S. constitution gave Congress the power to “ promote the devellopment of the useful arts” by granting exclusive rights to inventers for a limited period of time. The purpose of a patent was to assurre the rights of the creators in exchange for not keeping these inventions secret, thus overall knowledge base grows.
A copyright gives the originator of literary, artistic, or music works the right to perform, publish, record, or print them. This can include sound recordings, paintings, photographs, films, melodies, television, radio broadcasts, cable programs, performances, and even codes to computer programs (Legal Information Institute). Since copyrights cover several different types of materials, the duration varies depending on what work is being protected. According to the Copyright Act of 1976, musical, artistic, and literary works created after January 1, 1978 have copyrights that last 70 years after the author has passed away, 95 years after publication, or 120 years from creation, whichever expires first (United States Copyright Office, 2011). However, the published editions of these works have copyrights that last 25 years after being first published. Broadcast and cable programs, on the other hand, have a copyright duration of 50 years after being created
Let me make it clear, there is no doubt that property rights are a necessary feature of a successful economy. This certainly includes intellectual property rights, which ensure quality and consistency for buyers, and secure incentives for continued production by the sellers. However, intellectual property rights are inherently more abstract than rights concerning physical property, and there has always been a legally interpreted grey area concerning intellectual property.
To summarize, a copyright protects a particular piece of software, and a patent protects the idea embodied in the software.
In the business world, being able to compete in the marketplace is critical to a company 's success. One of the ways organizations are able to improve the likelihood for success is by patenting their intellectual property (IP). Intellectual property is defined by Google (n.d.) as, "a work or invention that is the result of creativity, such as a manuscript or a design, to which one has rights and for which one may apply for a patent, copyright, trademark" (para. 1). When a company or individual is granted a patent, it is given exclusive rights to the invention 's use for a specific period. Lau and Johnson note that permission must be granted by the patent-holding company, also known as the patentee, to be able to make, use, or sell the patented product and failure to obtain permission is an infringement on the patent owner 's rights (2014). Infringement is an actionable offense, and it is up to the patentee to defend it. One example of patent infringement is the case involving Retractable Technologies, Inc. v. Becton, Dickinson and Co., (2013). This case demonstrates the importance of intellectual property, how it can be protected, if protections go too far, and consider the balance between the content producers and that of the public good.
Trademark: Trademark recognizable features, expression, or other symbol that indicates a particular product or service, and legally it apart from all other products. It also serves to only identify the product or service from a particular company, and the recognition of ownership of the company brand. The protected products are generally considered to be a form of property. Most countries have agencies through which companies can have their products with trademarks. One of the main goals of a product is protected to protect the product from used without the permission of the original society. Most countries have patent laws that are designed to defend against patent breach. International regulation of copyright is much more complex, because there is no universally recognized Patent Office
A patent is the grant from the government for the limited span of time for making, selling and marketing the product for which a patent is granted. Patent Act1970, rules, 1972, and amendments act 2005 protects the product of the creative mind. This is a grant for 20 years. This act ensures that drug should be available at reasonable price to the consumers. There is also some provision to meet the public health emergency. Revocation of patent for the public interest is also on the security side.
Considering the monopoly problems stated above, do patens truly encourage or hinder the innovations? This is a controversial issue that has received the significant attention from academic community, innovators and law makers. Is a patent an intellectual property or monopoly? Finding the answer to this question could never end due to the current patent laws. Intellectual property encourages “innovations by increasing the rewards of discovery, but it does so my granting a monopoly in the event of discovery” (Lakdawalla & Philipson, 2012, p. 151). It is safe to say that awarding someone the exclusive right to ownership of something is giving an individual a coin that has property and monopoly on either of its sides.
Imagine what the future may be like in fifty years with continual technological advances and the possibility of creating intelligent machines that can construct roads, plant and produce foods, and even build homes. Eventually, individuals will have little to no contribution in these processes. These technologies will eventually appear as perpetual motion because individuals will receive something for spending little to no time or energy. If all of our wants and needs were readily available, we would then start to question the use of a monetary exchange system. Now, what would the incentive be for protecting intellectual property rights? There most likely wouldn’t be one and every inventor will create for the sole purpose of creating. This possible, future, scenario is exactly where we are headed regarding intellectual property rights. Everybody wants to make the