The intellectual property

Intellectual Property and Patents

Intellectual property is a product of the mind over which a legal monopoly is granted to specified owners. That would also be a legal monopoly since a patent is a privilege for an inventor’s inventiveness and innovation, allowing for a legal monopoly. A patent grants the author the privilege to exclude anyone from making, using, offering for sale, using, or inventing the alleged invention, resulting in a meaningful exclusionary right. Patent holders may benefit from their patents by starting their own businesses or selling the use of their patents to other businesses.

Counterfeiting and Intellectual Property Security

Intellectual property security acts as a deterrent against counterfeiting. Counterfeiting is a federal and state crime that involves the distribution and production of goods under another person’s name, without his or her consent or permission from the owner. Protection helps deter counterfeiting work as well stop the counterfeited product at the border by means of effective customs legal actions based on those original intellectual property rights (Bhat, 2017).

The Case of Napster and Copyright Infringement

In 1999, Shawn Fanning, an 18-year-old understudy seeking after software engineering at Northeastern University imagined Napster. Evidently, the main role of this product was to encourage efficient sharing of music among peers. Also, it enabled individuals to download MP3 melodies without an expense. This development was impeding to the accomplishment of numerous artists in recording marks over the world that was committed to creating income from the offer of music collections. A&M Records, a noteworthy player in the music business, worked together with different entities in the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) to sue Napster Inc. The United States Districts Court ruled against Napster and blamed the firm for copyright encroachment. In the long run, the organization was shut in 2002. Subsequently, the Supreme Court connected a similar administering in different cases associated with music sharing destinations and programming.

Competitive Advantage through Intellectual Property

Through intellectual property, competitive advantage can be achieved. This involves knowing how confidential information and trade secrets fall into a category of intellectual property called trade secrets. Every business with employees is at risk of trade-secret theft. From trade secrets and patents, a company become enormously valuable because they give the company a leg up over the competition (Bhat, 2017).

Trademarks, Trade Dress, and Trade Secrets

A trademark is a recognizable sign, design or expression which distinguishes products or services of a particular trader from the similar products or services of other traders. Trade dress is a legal term of art that generally refers to characteristics of the visual and aesthetic appearance of a product or its packaging that signify the source of the product to consumers. Trade secrets is a formula, practice, process, design, instrument, pattern, or compilation of information which is not generally known or reasonably ascertainable by which a business can obtain an economic advantage over competitors and customers (Lichtenthaler, 2010).

Intellectual Property Types - Patents, Copyright, Trademarks, and Industrial Design Rights

Through a patent, which is a form of the right granted by the government to an inventor, giving the owner the right to exclude others from making, using, selling, offering to sell and importing an invention for a limited period of time in exchange for the public disclosure of the invention. By use of copyright, the creator is given original work exclusive rights, usually for a limited time. Copyright does not cover information and ideas themselves, only the manner in which they are presented. A trademark which is an acceptable sign, design or expression which distinguishes products or services of a particular trader from similar products or services of other traders. By using industrial design rights, intellectual property is protected. Industrial design rights consist of the creation of a shape, configuration or composition of pattern or even color, or combination of pattern and color in a three-dimensional form that has aesthetic importance.

The Balance of Intellectual Property Rights

Intellectual protections have gone too far since software is becoming the most valuable part of many physical goods. For instance, these days vehicles and airplanes depend as much on their software as on their steel. Due to that, companies have pushed for ever-greater protections. Intellectual property laws are supposed to promote experimentation, not hold it back. A similar problem in 17th-century England led to the precursor of our own system of patent and copyright. In those days British monarchs often granted monopolies to countries in exchange for money or political support. The holder had exclusive right to sell a product, anything from playing cards to French perfumes. In addition, it has gone too far since ownership ought to mean something. For instance, when you buy a smartphone or an automobile, it should be yours, and companies shouldn’t be able to leverage their intellectual property rights in software to keep you from unlocking, repairing, modifying, or reselling it as you see fit. Intellectual property is a good thing, all right. But it turns out that too much of it isn’t wonderful at all. Content producers are the people involved in developing and creating visual or written assets, such as videos, eBooks, blog posts, whitepapers, or infographics.

The Importance of Proper Balance

Besides this, a proper balance should exist between content makers and people in general. In the event that granted the scholarly securities, it is essential for content makers to create productive merchandise that lifts the welfare of the general population individuals. For example, in the music business, it is illicit for a name, in spite of the fact that possessing copyrights and licenses, to deliver unsafe music and recordings that depict sex, medications, and brutality. In this way, accomplishing a proper balance between content makers and the general population good is fundamental towards guaranteeing scholarly assurances don’t overstretch their limits (Lichtenthaler, 2010).

Conclusion

In summary, intellectual property is important for protecting people’s ventures hence promoting their business. It gives the ventures brand recognition and competitive advantage to the owner. In addition, the property of the owner is protected from being used by a different person. Intellectual property sometimes hinders people from more ventures, for this reason, there should be a proper balance between the content producers and public goods.

References

Lichtenthaler, U. (2010). Intellectual property and open innovation: An empirical analysis. International Journal of Technology Management, 52(3/4), 372-391.

Bhat, M. G. (2017). Trade related intellectual property rights for genetic resources: Implications for developing countries.