CS 404: Dr. Knutson's lecture on technology and law

1. Technology and Law
CS 404 – Computers and Society
Charles D. Knutson

2. Intellectual Property
• The other "IP"
• A legally granted monopoly
– Why should the government grant a monopoly to
someone for some technology?
– What are the advantages and disadvantages?

3. Intellectual Property
• Fundamental motivation…
• Provide a limited monopoly to the inventor
– Reward innovation and creativity
– Protect the rights of the creator
– Foster future innovation and creativity

4. Intellectual Property
• Fundamental problems…
• Patent holder may not be the inventor
• Patent portfolio holding companies where the
focus is on litigation
• Burgeoning patent system in which everything
has to be patented in order to not lose the
company in some lawsuit

5. Intellectual Property
• Patents
• Copyrights
• Trademarks
• Trade Secrets
• Employment Agreements
• Intellectual Property Rights
• Non-Compete Clause
• Non-Disclosure Agreements

6. Patents
• A set of exclusive rights (limited monopoly)
– Limited time period
– Right to exclude others from practicing the claims
• Must be new, inventive, useful or industrially
applicable
• Must be non-obvious to one of ordinary skill
in the art at the time of the invention

7. Patents
• Prosecution
– Process of applying and following through the
process of patent approval
– "patent pending"
• Patent format:
– Written description
• Modes or embodiments
– Claims
• Independent and dependent claims

8. Patent Infringement
• Using the invention without permission of the
patent holder
– Must practice all the limitations of one claim
• Direct infringement
– A party manufacturers, imports, sells, or offers for
sale technology that practices the patent
• Indirect infringement
– Induced infringement
– Contributory infringement

9. Copyrights
• Exclusive rights to the author or creator of an
original work
– Right to copy, distribute and adapt the work
– Limited time, then "public domain"
• Almost any creative work can be copyrighted
• Automatically obtained without registering

10. Copyrights
• Fair use
– Limited use of copyrighted material without
permission
– Commentary, criticism, news reporting, research,
teaching, scholarship

11. Copyright Laws
• Audio Home Recording Act (1992)
– Prohibits action against consumers making
noncommercial recordings of music
– Royalties paid on media and devices
• Digital Millennium Copyright Act (1998)
– Prohibits use of devices whose intended use (or
sole significant use) is to bypass an access or copy
control put in place by the copyright holder
– Criminalizes production and use of devices
– Unanimously approved by the US Senate

12. Trademarks
• Distinctive sign or indicator by a legal entity to
identify products or services to consumers
– Mark, brand, logo
• Trademark ™
– Common law trademark rights
• Registered Trademark ®
– Offers a set of exclusive rights to the registered
owner

13. Trade Secrets
• Formula, practice, process, design,
instrument, pattern or compilation of
information which is not generally known or
reasonably ascertainable by which a business
may obtain an economic advantage over
competitors
– Recipe for Coca-Cola
• Protection never expires
• Enforced by non-disclosure agreements
• No protection against independently
duplicating the secret

14. Employment Agreements
• Typically two choices
– Sign the document
– Look for work elsewhere
• Company seeks to preserve its competitive
advantage
– All forms of Intellectual property
– Investment in the individual
• Recognizes the creative nature of engineering

15. Intellectual Property Rights
• Company generally owns whatever you create
• Engineering work is creative
– Flashes of inspiration can occur anywhere
• Typical limitations on nature of the work
• Company generally gets the right of first
refusal, after which the inventor can go and do
• Company may or may not want the spin-off

16. Non-Compete Clause
• Says you won't leave the company, take what
you learn and go compete with it
• Protects the company's investment in you
• More restrictive clause should be
accompanied by suitable compensation
• Restrictions should not be overly vague

17. Non-Disclosure Agreement
• Commonly referred to as an "NDA"
• Standard business practice when engaging in
business negotiations
– Contracts, sales, mergers, partnerships, etc.
• Typically standard boilerplate
• Ultimately still relies on good faith of the
participants
– Never enter into an NDA with someone you don't
already trust