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Key Concepts:
  • The importance of protecting intellectual property
  • Legal ownership and its protection
  • Patents
  • Trademarks
  • Copyright

Legal Issues in Information Security

Intellectual Property Rights

Intellectual Property Rights
Introduction to Intellectual Property
Intellectual property is the area of law that protects a person's creative ideas, inventions, and innovations. Intellectual property law protects ideas once they take a physical form.

Think about answers to the following questions and then click each question to reveal its answer. Next, click the ACTIVITY button to attempt an exercise related to intellectual property.
  • What are trademarks and copyrights?
  • What is a patent? What rights does a patent grant?
  • What is the main difference between patents and trade secrets?
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A trademark is an intellectual property right issued by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. It is used to protect words, logos, and symbols that identify a service or a product. Trademarks can be a combination of letters, numerals, and words. A person should submit a trademark registration application to the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office to register a trademark. A trademark application should contain the following:

  • The name and contact information of the owner
  • A drawing of the trademark
  • A technical listing of the goods or services that the trademark represents with the filing fee

A copyright is also an intellectual property right, which was established in 1790. The owner of a copyright has the exclusive right to do anything with the copyrighted work. The owner can reproduce, perform, or sell that work.

A patent for an invention is a set of rights issued by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office for a specific time. It is used to protect a product or a process. In order to be patentable, an invention should be novel, useful, and nonobvious.

A patent owner has the right to exclude others from making, using, or selling the invention. The patent owner can give someone else permission to use the invention on mutually agreed terms. The owner can also sell the invention to another person, who will then become the new patent owner.

Click the thumbnail to view its enlarged image.

Both patents and trade secrets are intellectual property rights that are granted under federal law and provide exclusive rights to an inventor of an item for a specific time. However, the main difference between a patent and a trade secret is that the latter never allows an inventor to share an invention with the public, while the former allows an inventor to sell or make profits using an invention.

Patenting Process
To protect your invention, you need to file a patent for it. Patent filing is a six-step process that may vary depending on the nature of your invention. Position the mouse pointer over each step to learn more.
Step 1:Creating a disclosure of the invention
Step 2:Conducting a patentability search
Step 3:Preparing a patent application Implement
Step 4:Conducting a patent application review
Step 5:Addressing the patent application issues
Step 6:Issuing the patent
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First, you need to create in a written form a disclosure of the invention. Mention what your invention is, how it works, and how it will be used. It is a good practice to include two or three drawings of your invention.

After you file the application, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office in Washington, DC, will conduct a patentability search to check whether the invention is novel and whether anyone has already filed a similar patent.

The patent application preparation depends on the technical complexity of your invention and the type of description you provide. After you file the application, the patent’s status is pending.

A patent examiner reviews the application to determine whether the invention is useful, novel, and nonobvious.

If the patent examiner finds issues with the patent application, you need to file a response to the issues. The patent application prosecution will depend on the complexities of the issues, the queries of the patent examiner, and your comments addressing the queries.

If the results of the patent examination are favorable, a patent is granted. You should pay maintenance fees to keep the patent in action. If you do not maintain the patent, then other people can take advantage of it. Patent maintenance fees are due at 3.5, 7.5, and 11.5 years after the original patent issue date.

DMCA Titles
The DMCA is a federal law. It was established in 1998 to protect copyrights in the digital world. The DMCA provides a process for a copyright owner to give notification to an organization concerning alleged copyright infringement. The DMCA is divided into five titles. Click each title to learn about the purview of protection it provides to intellectual property. Then, click the ACTIVITY button to attempt an exercise.
  • Title
  • Title II
  • Title III
  • Title IV
  • Title V

This title contains provisions about technological measures used to protect electronic copyrighted works. These technological measures are divided into two parts:

  • Measures that prevent unauthorized access to copyrighted work
  • Measures that prevent unauthorized copying of copyrighted work

There are some exceptions to these anticircumvention measures:

  • A person may bypass protection to provide educational material access to minors.
  • A security specialist may bypass protection for testing the security of a computer or a network.

This title is also known as the Online Copyright Infringement Liability Limitation Act. It limits the liability of an online service provider (OSP) for copyright infringement by its customer. An OSP registers an official agent with the U.S. Copyright Office to be added to a publicly available database. The OSP is then notified when a user does a possible infringement. The DMCA provides the OSP limitations on liability if:

  • The OSP does not modify the copyrighted material as it passes through the system.
  • The receivers of the copyrighted material are selected by an automatic response to the user's request.

This title is also known as the Computer Maintenance Competition Assurance Act. It allows computer technicians to make a copy of computer software while repairing a computer. The copy is made only for repair work and is deleted when the work is completed.

This title contains miscellaneous provisions. It pertains mainly to broadcasting, education, libraries, and movie rights. It allows libraries to make copies of rare or deteriorating material for preservation purposes. These digital copies can be used only in the library premises.

This title is called the Vessel Hull Design Protection Act. It creates a new system for protecting original designs of specific useful articles that make the articles attractive or distinctive in appearance. A design is protected under the Vessel Hull Design Protection Act as soon as an article embodying the design is made public or registration for the design is published. After the article is registered, protection continues for 10 years from the date the protection starts.

Patent vs. Copyright
Although there are some similarities between patents and copyrights, they are different and serve different purposes. Let us review the types of information they protect. Then, click the ACTIVITY button to attempt an exercise.

Patent

A patent is associated with inventions, such as machines, processes, and designs, that are deemed useful and new.

In the United States, patents are granted for 17 years, and in some countries, particularly Japan, the duration is 20 years.

Copyright

A copyright applies to expressive works, such as art, music, videos, books, photography, and computer programs.

A copyright lasts for the length of the creator's life plus 70 years after the creator's death.

Importance of Protecting Intellectual Property
Innovative Design Inc. is using a new design theory to win over its competitors. Richard, an ex-employee of the organization, has recently started his own venture and is using the same design theory.

This situation is a perfect example of intellectual property infringement. This situation could have been avoided had Innovative Design already obtained a patent on the design. Review the following information to learn about the importance of protecting intellectual property.

Innovative ideas are essential for the success of any organization. Improvements in computer and communications networks offer intellectual-property owners new ways to create, share, and sell their property, which may lead to the threat of piracy. Therefore, understanding the opportunities provided by a computer and communications network and its impact on the intellectual property is essential.

Being aware of the intellectual property system empowers organizations to profit from their innovative creations. Intellectual property registration not only protects ownership but also provides exclusive legal rights to the owner to use the product to its maximum commercial potential.

In this section, you will have an opportunity to practice the concepts and processes that you have explored in this lesson.

The Hands-On Lab provides you with an engaging learning experience that is diagnostic and flexible. Following the instructions provided in the Lab Manual, you will be able to practice the steps IT Security Specialists perform on a daily basis and develop the skills required for effective execution and management of IT Security operations.

In this section, you will have an opportunity to apply what you've learned in this lesson in the context of analyzing a business situation. Although simplified, a problem scenario provided here depicts the challenges often faced by professionals in the workplace.

In this interactive case study, you will explore a business situation, review critical information related to the problem discussed in the case, decide on the course of action, and receive a decision analysis summary that discusses the implications of your decision. Once you analyze the impact of your decision, explore alternative solutions to learn about other potential ways to address the issue in the case. Complete your work on the case by submitting the graded assignment that will reflect on your process of analyzing the business situation and defining an appropriate course of action.

You are the original composer and performing artist of a hot, new pop song. You are excited about the song's popularity and sent an email to your sales manager, Robin, about projected income. Click the image of the email icon to read Robin's reply.

After you have gone through the challenge, navigate to Contributing Factors from the panel at the top of your screen.
Hi,

Congratulations on the success of your song—everyone is so happy for you! Unfortunately, although we all felt you would generate significant revenue, your composition has been illegally distributed among a large audience of music lovers and the expected revenue projections won't be achieved.

Many people use peer-to-peer (P2P) networks—a form of social networking—to share MP3 music. It might or might not be possible to take legal action against the P2P host, but it's worth a try. To begin, please research and describe specific intellectual property laws that were violated and propose remedies the law provides for the listed violations.

Regards,
Robin
Sales Manager

Contributing Factors
From where do you think you can gather information on this case? Let's find out by clicking each contributing factor. After you have gone through the contributing factors, navigate to Course of Action from the panel at the top of your screen.

Review Critical Considerations

Select the icons from the top to receive additional
information related to the situation

You recently held a press conference with your sales manager in which you explored violation of your copyright privileges, and enabled your case as a consideration in the purview of "fair use" under the law. Take all of that information into account for this assignment.

Refer to the course textbook, Chapter 10: Intellectual Property Law, for information on copyright violation.

Course of Action
Use the following checklist as a guide to complete this assignment. Note that the tasks that you have completed are already checked in the list.

Tasks

  • Discuss the issue with the sales manager.
  • Consider all the factors that contribute to the challenge.
  • Identify the intellectual property laws that were violated.
  • List the specific rights that were violated.
  • Identify remedies for the listed violations.
  • Write your final recommendations.
  • Conduct a self-review of the summary with respect to the evaluation criteria mentioned in the assignment requirements.
  • Submit the assignment to the instructor.
At the end of this lesson, you should be able to:
  • Differentiate between patents, copyrights, and trademarks.
  • Identify the patenting process.
  • Explain the Digital Millennium Copyrights Act (DMCA) and its titles.
  • Differentiate between patents and trade secrets.
In this lesson, you will learn about the importance of protecting intellectual property. You will be introduced to patents, trademarks, and copyrights. You will also differentiate between patents and trade secrets. In addition, you will discuss the patenting process and the DMCA and its five titles.