|
What's the difference between copyright, trademark,
trade secret and patent?
Copyright The very concept of copyright is unusual
because it gives the owner a means of preventing others from copying their
work. Here "copying" also includes selling, performing, and displaying".
Copyright only prevents copying - if someone creates a similar worth without
copying, that does not breach copyright. Copyright is automatic in the sense
you get it one you create an original work. If you copy someone's work but
attribute it to them, you are not guilty of plagiarism, you may be guilty of
copyright violation.
Trademark A trademark
is a symbol, word or image that is used to identify the source of goods. The
world's most successful trademark is probably the McDonald's logo. A
trademark must be registered to provide it with legal protection. You can't
trademark descriptive words - the best trademark is "made up". Registering a
trademark give you the right to use it.
Trade secrets A trade
secret is a process or formula or algorithm that is used to make money. It
is secret because the "owner" doesn't want competitors to use the knowledge.
Sometimes people sign NDAs (non-disclosure agreements) to promise they will
not reveal trade secrets. In the USA trade secrets are protected by law. If you do reveal a trade secret you may be
prosecuted or sued.
Patent A patent is an
agreement between an inventor and society. The inventor agrees to teach the
invention in exchange for ownership and exclusive rights to exploit the
invention for 20 years. You have to apply for a patent for a process or
invention. Once granted, you can license others to use your patent and you
can sue those who make use of ti without your permission. Patent law is very
complex.
|
Of all the professional, ethical or legal dilemmas that might affect the
working life of a computer scientist, those involving intellectual property
rights (or IP) are probably the most common. Anyone who copies a program
or music from a CD, uses a photocopier, downloads material from the
internet, designs programs, constructs web pages, or designs hardware had to
understand the concept of intellectual property rights and their
relationship to the laws affecting copyright, trademarks, trade secrets and
patents.
If you wish to look more closely into the issues of patents and copyright
click on the buttons below.
|
|
