ECE 362 Principles of Design Intellectual Property Session

ECE 362 Principles of Design Intellectual Property Session 7 Page 1 1

Product Development Stage 1 – Product Idea, Product Specifications, & Test Plan Stage 2 – Intellectual Property, Technical & Business Models Stage 3 – Mkt Analysis, Project Management, & Scheduling Stage 4 – Budget, Social Impact & Proposal Completion Product Idea Product Specifications Test Plan Intellectual Property Technical Model Business Model Market Analysis Project Management Scheduling Budget & Resources Social Impact Personnel Qualifications Development Grant = $$$ Session 7 Page 2 2

Intellectual Property • RHIT Intellectual Property Agreement • Patents, Trademarks, and Copyrights • Trade Secrets Session 7 Page 3 3

RHIT IP Policy • RHIT makes no claim on IP generated by student projects for courses conducted as part of a course. • RHIT resources used outside of class work may give RHIT IP claim. • RHIT employees and students agree to IP policy by virtue of employment and enrollment. Session 7 Page 4 4

Patents • • • Intended to provide incentive for effort and expense of invention. In exchange for public disclosure, the U. S. Patent and Trademark Office grants an exclusive rights to an inventor for a period of 17 years. Patented inventions can be used by others through licensing and royalty arrangements. Session 7 Page 5 5

Patents • • • New, non-obvious, and useful. Specifications (including claims and drawings as needed) and an oath. First to invent, not first to file. Patent searches automated over web. Patent regulations differ throughout the world. No world-wide, universal patent. Session 7 Page 6 6

To Patent or not to Patent? • Patents offer IP protection through the legal system. • Attorneys are needed to defend a patent. • A large corporation can out-maneuver a small company and tie up decisions in litigation for many years. • Patents may not be useful for product with short life < time for patent grant. Session 7 Page 7 7

Poor Folk’s Patents • Inventor’s Notebook - Document the details of your idea, date, sign, and witnessed. • Send a copy of product technical description, date, signed and witnessed to yourself in order to have the official postmark to verify the date. Session 7 Page 8 8

Trade Secrets • Patent may be too time consuming considering the product life time • No protection offered by legal system • Corporate security • Corporate espionage/Reverse engineering • Non-disclosure agreements Session 7 Page 9 9

Copyrights • Artistic Expression • Written articles, recorded music, software • Recent legislation and judicial decisions put into a state of “chaos” • DMCA • Anti-DMCA • Fair Use Session 7 Page 10 10

Assignments TEAM ASSIGNMENT - Draft 1 – HLD and PDS of Potential Project due on Friday, December 12. INDIVIDUAL ASSIGNMENT – CPR on Intellectual Property begins on Friday, Dec 12, Complete by Monday, December 15. TEAM ASSIGNMENT – 2 nd Draft PDS of Team Project due Tuesday, December 16. TEAM ASSIGNMENT – Annotated IP search for Team Project due Friday, December 19. Session 7 Page 11 11