ETH321T WK 4 Discussion
Uploaded by
Danny TutorETH321T WK 4 Discussion
Uploaded by
Danny TutorRespond to the following in a minimum of 175 words:
Identify the intellectual property of a company you are familiar with
or by an internet search.
Explain why protecting their intellectual property is important to the
company.
Patent
A patent is used to prevent an invention from being created, sold, or used by another
party without permission. Patents are the most common type of intellectual property
rights that come to people’s minds when they think of intellectual property rights
protection. A Patent Owner has every right to commercialize his/her/its patent,
including buying and selling the patent or granting a license to the invention to any
third party under mutually agreed terms.
There are three different categories that patents can fall under:
Utility: A utility patent protects the creation of a new or improved product, process,
composition of matter, or machine that is useful.
An example of utility patent: Method for a driver assistance system of a vehicle
US9772626B2
Design: A design patent protects the ornamental design on a useful item.
An example of design patent: Electric bicycle USD845178S1
Plant: A plant patent protects new kinds of plants produced by cuttings or other
nonsexual means.
An example of plant patent: Crapemyrtle plant named ‘JM1’ USPP31585P2
Trademarks are another familiar type of intellectual property rights protection. A
trademark is a distinctive sign which allows consumers to easily identify the
particular goods or services that a company provides. Some examples include
McDonald’s golden arch, the Facebook logo, and so on. A trademark can come in the
form of text, a phrase, symbol, sound, smell, and/or color scheme. Unlike patents, a
trademark can protect a set or class of products or services, instead of just one
product or process.
Copyright
Copyright does not protect ideas. Rather, it only covers “tangible” forms of creations
and original work–for example, art, music, architectural drawings, or even software
codes. The copyright owner has the exclusive right to sell, publish, and/or reproduce
any literary, musical, dramatic, artistic, or architectural work created by the author.
Trade Secret
Trade secrets are the secrets of a business. They are proprietary systems, formulas,
strategies, or other information that is confidential and is not meant for unauthorized
commercial use by others. This is a critical form of protection that can help
businesses to gain a competitive advantage.
Although intellectual property rights protection may seem to provide a minimum
amount of protection, when they are utilized wisely, they can maximize the benefit
and value of a creation and enable world-changing technology to be developed,
protected, and monetized.