Week 3/4 Intellectual Property

Question 1

What is intellectual property (IP)?

Answer 1

It is the name given to legal rights that protect creative works, inventions and commercial goodwill

Question 2

What is included in the Intellectual Property Rights (IPR)?

Answer 2

• copyright
• patents
• trademarks
• law of confidence
• passing off
• design rights
  semiconductor regulation

Question 3

What is copyright?

Answer 3

Copyright protects the expression of an idea, not the idea itself. Copyright is a benefit granted by statute and it protects literary, artistic and musical works.

Question 4

What rights does copyright provide the owner with?

Answer 4

Copyright provides the owner with exclusive rights to:
- publish
- perform
- broadcast
- adapt
- copy

Question 5

What is the duration of copyright?

Answer 5

It exists for
- 70 years after the author’s death or
- 50 years after the creation of the work

Question 6

What is the law of confidence?

Answer 6

It protects ideas before they are sufficiently developed to enable copyrighting or patenting. It is based on the common law so it is flexible and can keep pace with advancing technology.

Question 7

What is the limitation of the law of confidence?

Answer 7

The limitation is that the information must be confidential and not in the public domain.

Question 8

What are the laws relating to designs?

Answer 8

• Ergonomic mouse
• Silicon chips

Question 9

What is a trade mark?

Answer 9

It is a sign which is capable of distinguishing the goods or services of one undertaking from those of other undertakings. It consist of words, numerals, colors, sounds or the shape of goods.

Question 10

What is patent law?

Answer 10

It gives the owner the exclusive right in an invention.

Question 11

How can one acquire a patent?

Answer 11

Applications are handled by the Intellectual Property Office. If a patent is granted, it can be held by 20 years.

Question 12

What can be patented?

Answer 12

The invention must be new, involve an inventive step and must be capable of industrial application.

Question 13

What cannot be patented?

Answer 13

Things that are directly protected by copyright are excluded from patentability.

Question 14

What are Non-fungible tokens (NFTs)?

Answer 14

They are digital certificates stored in a centralized ledger (blockchain)

Question 15

What is fungibility?

Answer 15

It is a legal concept relating to the ability of an asset to be exchanged with another asset of the same type

Question 16

What does the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 (CDPA) protect?

Answer 16

It provides copyright for the following:
- original literary, dramatic, musical or artistic works
- sound recordings, films, broadcasts, cable programmes
- the typographical arrangement of published editions
- later additions

Question 17

What exclusive rights does the CDPA give to the owner of the copyrighted work?

Answer 17

• To copy the work
• To issue copies of the work to the public
• To perform, show or play the work in public
• To broadcast the work or include it in a cable program service
• To make an adaptation of the work

Question 18

What is infringement of copyright?

Answer 18

A person infringes copyright if they do a restricted act or authorize another to do a restricted act without the permission of the copyright owner.

Question 19

What are the remedies for copyright infringement?

Answer 19

Injunction
- a court order requiring the defendant to do something or refrain from doing something
______________________
Damages
- copyright damages are assessed as the estimated loss resulting from the infringement
______________________
Additional damages
- when the copyright owner has suffered damage to reputation or feelings as well as financial loss
______________________
Criminal penalties for ‘secondary infringements’

Question 20

What is a computer generated work?

Answer 20

It is ‘generated by a computer in circumstances such that there is no human author’

Question 21

What is the requirement of a computer program for it to be copyrighted?

Answer 21

The CDPA states that a computer program must be original and recorded.
Original: The program should be the result of a modest amount of skill, labour or effort and that it originates from the author.

Question 22

What are restricted acts for computer programs?

Answer 22

• Copying
• Issuing copies to the public, including rentall
• making an adaptation

Question 23

What is copying?

Answer 23

It means reproducing the work in any material form, including electronic storage.

Question 24

What is making an adaptation of a work?

Answer 24

It includes translating it and aims to control the decompilation and disassembly of computer programs.

Question 25

What does the Copyright Regulations 1992 grant?

Answer 25

They grant - the right to decompile - the right to make back-up copies - the right to copy or adapt for purposes of error correction

Question 26

How are computer programs decompiled?

Answer 26

A lawful user of a program may decompile a program if necessary to obtain the information necessary to achieve the interoperability of an independently created program with the decompiled program

Question 27

What is Free Software Foundation (FSF)?

Answer 27

It allows rights to use, modify, and redistribute the program's code or any program derived from it.

Question 28

What are the requirements for a patent to be granted?

Answer 28

1. The invention is new 2. It involves an inventive step 3. It is capable of industrial application

Question 29

How can computer programs be protected by patent?

Answer 29

They can be protected by patent indirectly if they are part of an application which includes other elements patentable in their own right.

Question 30

What are the requirements for breach of confidence?

Answer 30

1. The information must have the necessary quality of confidence about it. 2. The information must have an obligation of confidence 3. There must be an unauthorized use of that information to the detriment

Question 31

What are the four elements that are necessary in testing for quality of confidence?

Answer 31

1. Release of the information would injure the owner 2. The owner must believe the information to be secret 3. The owner's belief in 1 and 2 must be reasonable 4. The information must be judged in the light of usages

Question 32

What are some examples of information which has quality confidence?

Answer 32

1. Ideas for a new or improved computer system, hardware or software 2. List of customers and associated information 3. The information stored on computer databases 4. A company's strategy for future research and development

Question 33

What is obligation of confidence?

Answer 33

A person who is given information but is unaware of its confidential nature will be able to use it freely.

Question 34

What is the major weakness of the law of confidence?

Answer 34

It is ineffective against innocent third-party recipients of the information.

Question 35

What is Free Software Foundation (FSF)?

Answer 35

It allows rights to use, modify and redistribute the program's code or any program derived from it but only if the distribution terms are unchanged. - Freedom to run the program, for any purpose - Freedom to study how the program works, and adapt it to your needs - Freedom to redistribute copies so you can help your neighbour - Freedom to improve the program, and release your improvements to the public

Question 36

How can a computer program be patented indirectly?

Answer 36

It can be protected by patent indirectly if they are part of an application which includes other elements patentable in their own right.

Question 37

What is the Law of Confidence?

Answer 37

It protects ideas.

Question 38

What is quality of Confidence?

Answer 38

1. Release of the information would injure the owner of the information or benefit others. 2. The owner must believe the information to be secret and not already in the public domain. 3. The owner's belief in 1 and 2 must be reasonable. 4. The information must be judged in the light of usage or practices of the particular trade or industry.

Question 39

Give some examples of information which has a quality of confidence.

Answer 39

1. Ideas for a new or improved computer system, hardware or software. 2. List of customers and associated information. 3. A company's strategy for future research

Question 40

What is the major weakness of Law of Confidence?

Answer 40

A person who is given information but is unaware of its confidential nature will be able to use it freely. So, it is ineffective against innocent third party recipients of the information.