Module 7: Key IP Issues

Question 1

To steal and pass off (the ideas or words of another) as one’s own, to use (another production) without crediting the source, to commit literary theft or to present as new and original an idea or product derived from an existing source.

Answer 1

Plagiarism

Question 2

Supreme Court Resolution on Plagiarism

Answer 2

There is no commonly-used dictionary that embraces in the meaning of plagiarism errors in attribution by mere accident or in good faith.

Plagiarism is identified not through intent but through the act itself.

Question 3

The process of taking something apart in order to understand it, build a copy of it, or improve it.

Originally applied to computer hardware but is now commonly applied to software.

Answer 3

Reverse Engineering

Question 4

A type of reverse engineering that involves analyzing it to create a new representation of the system in a different form or at a higher level of abstraction.

Answer 4

Software Reverse Engineering

Question 5

Reverse engineering software usually begins by doing what?

Answer 5

Extracting design-stage details from program code, which are more conceptual and less defined than the program code.

Question 6

The process that takes the design of an existing software and produce code in a new database programming language using code-generation tools.

Answer 6

Forward Engineering.

Question 7

Issues on Reverse Engineering

Answer 7

Reverse engineering on a purchased software application developed and licensed by outside parties.

Use of Decompilers and other reverse-engineering techniques to reveal a competitor’s program code, which can then be used to develop a new program that either duplicates the original or interfaces with the program.

Question 8

Any program whose source code is made available for use or modification, as users or other developers see fit.

The basic premise behind this is that when many programmers can read, redistribute, and modify a program’s code, the software improves

Answer 8

Open source code

Question 9

Two frequently cited reasons for using open source software

Answer 9

It provides a better solution to a specific business problem

It costs less

Question 10

How can a software developer attempt to make a program open source?

Answer 10

By putting a program into the public domain with no copyright.

Question 11

Legally obtained information that is gathered to help a company gain an advantage over its rivals

Requires the continual gathering, analysis, and evaluation of data with controlled dissemination of useful information to decision makers

Answer 11

Competitive intelligence

Question 12

The use of illegal means to obtain business information not available to the general public.

Answer 12

Industrial espionage

Question 13

Almost all the data needed for competitive intelligence can be collected from what?

Answer 13

Examining published information

Analytical tools and industry expertise

Question 14

The unauthorized use in commerce of a registered trademark or a copy or colorable imitation thereof, which results in the likelihood of confusion among the consuming public.

Answer 14

Trademark infringement

Question 15

The elements of trademark infringement

Answer 15

1.) A registered trademark in the Philippines

2.) Plaintiff’s ownership of said mark

3.) Use of the trademark or imitation thereof by a third person, which results in likelihood of confusion.

Question 16

A form of copying and making false statements by one who passes off his own goods for those of another that has an established goodwill

Answer 16

Unfair competition

Question 17

The elements of unfair competition

Answer 17

1.) Confusing similarity in the appearance of the goods involved

2.) Intent to deceive the public and defraud a competitor

Question 18

The Philippines applies what kind of trade mark registration system?

Answer 18

First-to-file

Question 19

What enforcement actions are available to intellectual property owners whose rights are being infringed in the Philippine market?

Answer 19

The IP owner may work with government agencies to conduct a raid action pursuant to a valid search warrant or a visit/inspection pursuant to some of the government agencies’ visitorial powers.

Raid action should be done if the owner wants to seize a huge inventory of counterfeit items

A visit/inspection by the IP Enforcement Office or Optical Media Board should be done if the aim is to deter continuing infringing acts done in a small scale.

Question 20

Registering domain names for famous trademarks or company names to which a third-party had no connection, with the hope that the trademark’s owner would eventually buy the domain name for a large sum of money.

Answer 20

Cybersquatting

Question 21

Exist where a third party (not the legitimate owner of the mark) first registers the mark in the Philippines, thereby preventing the legitimate owner from registering it in the country.

Answer 21

Bad-faith registration