Bus_Law

Tangible property is property that can be seen and touched i.e., has a physical presence. Some typical examples of tangible property include buildings, furnishing, land, vehicles, computers and anything else of value to a company that have a physical presence. The industry our team chose was the pharmaceutical industry and many of the tangible assets they need to protect are buildings, land, cash, warehouses, research and development laboratories, as well as expensive lab equipment, materials and very importantly, the actual product itself. Ways to protect tangible property is to ensure you have adequate property protection insurance so that accidental damage to property arising out of ownership, operational activities or maintenance is paid out by the insurance company. In the pharmaceutical industry, the product and equipment used to perform research and development is extraordinarily expensive so the insurance protection to cover it should include replacement costs if damage is irreparable. Additionally managers should protect their offices and laboratories by employing security guards in their buildings so that break-ins and theft is deterred. One of the most expensive assets a pharmaceutical company can have in the buildings is the actual product itself and that has to be protected physically. If the product is not protected, the company expose themselves to huge risk of product loss as well as copyright loss. If stolen, the chemical makeup of the product could be uncovered. Outline on Information Technology Tangible & Intellectual Property issues The purpose of this outline is to identify and recognize the Tangible and Intellectual property rights significant to the Information Technology sector. The research should identify what the managers in that industry can do to protect the property rights of the organization, and what the managers in that industry should do to assure that the organization protects the intellectual property rights of others. This will require an understanding of tangible and intellectual property in general, plus research about the tangible and intellectual property issues in the selected industry. Tangible Properties that is significant in the Information Technology sector According to Webster and Dictionary.com Tangible is having actual physical existence, as real estate or chattels, and therefore capable of being assigned a value in monetary terms, capable of being touched, real or actual, rather than imaginary or visionary. According to LAW-531, rEsource Ch 16, Tangible property is the type of property we can see and touch. Delivery trucks, desks, computers, inventory, and the Building and land in which a business is located are all forms of tangible property. Information technology computer hardware includes computers components input keyboards, output screens or monitors, and peripherals including cables, scanners, surge protectors, optical drives, digital imaging equipment, printers, data processing equipment, Fax machines. The IT sector has much to offer in this category that includes Palm Pilots, Cell Phones with Internet Capabilities, Magellan Navigational devices, I-Pods and more. Tangible IT Properties is anything that assists in the possessing and exchanging or computing information on a computer system. Tangible Property in the IT sector can be very significant in a business and in a court of law when trying to establish, prove, or verify personal intent whether in good faith or malicious intent. Intellectual property rights that are significant to IT sector are as follows: Patents: Statutory protection of new products and processes. Several types of patents. Utility or functional patents and design patents. Patents protect inventors. Copyrights; A copyright protects the expression of ideas. It helps to misuse of original creative work. A copyright holder has control over the use of the created work. That control includes control over reproduction, distribution, public performances, derivative works, and public displays. Trademarks: Statutory protection for pictures, designs, or symbols. Which is use to identify and distinguishes a product or service Trade names; statutory protection for unique product labels and names .Use of a trade name without the registered owner’s permission is infringement. Trade dress; Trade dress consists of the colors, designs, and shapes associated with a product. If someone copies the color schemes and shapes that dilutes the value of the company’s goodwill and reputation. Trade secrets: Protect inventor from unauthorized transfer of advantageous formulas, devices, and information. High-tech infringement; Intellectual property protection for semiconductor chip. Chip piracy, which includes infringing the design of another’s chip. What Managers can do to protect Tangible & Intellectual Property rights of the organization' Protection for intangible property (patents, copyrights, trademarks, trade names, and trade dress) would include federal rights, international protections and common-law rights of action for the damage to or taking of these forms of intangible property. The protection tangible Property rights is also a business multiplier in this modern competitive world. Patent Infringement – is anyone who sells or uses a patented product or process without the consent of the patent holder. An infringement entitles the paten holder to a statutory action for damages. Statutory Protection A Patent in the US affords protection only in the US. If one wishes to international protection one must register the patent in each country where it will be selling the product or the idea. Copyright Infringement – is the use of selling of another’s books, magazine articles, play, movies etc. A copyright protects the expression of ideas. Damages for copyright infringement include the profits made by the infringer, actual costs, attorney fees and any other expenses associated with the infringement action. Civil suits can be brought for infringement and resulting damages to a business owner, there are federal criminal penalties as well. Statutory Protection The US was part of the Berne Convention agreement and made it part of the US copyright law through the Bern Convention Implementation Act of 1988 brought about the Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works which established international uniformity in the copyright protection. Music Producers and software developers added protection technology to their copyrighted products and lobbied for a change in copyright law, Digital Millennium Copyright Act. This act criminalizes the circumvention of protection technology in order to make copies of copyrighted material – for example Napster. Statutory Protection Computer Software Copyright Act of 1980 – all software can be copyrighted whether it is written in ordinary language or in machine language. Trademarks – after 5 years of the trademark being registered and it has not been challenged, the trademark becomes incontestable and is protected as long as its owner enforces it. Statutory Protection Much like a patent the trademark is only good in the us and must be registered in other countries. In some countries, known as common law countries, trademark protection is established through the use in that country and through the recognition by others of the use and distinction provided by the trademark. Several international registries attempt to offer international protection through the Madrid Agreement Concerning the International Registration of Trademarks provides a central form through the International Bureau which is part of the World Intellectual Property Organization. In 1996 the European Union Began its one-stop trademark registration Community Trademark. Trade Names – use of a trade name (product symbol) without the owner’s permission is infringement. The owner can recover all damages and attorneys’ fees. Statutory Protection Trade Dress – use of the colors, designs and shapes associated with the product. . Statutory Protection High-Tech Infringement – Semiconductor Chip Protection Act of 1984 provides intellectual property protection for semiconductor chips. The act permits civil recovery and penalties of $250,000 for chip piracy, which includes infringing the design of another’s chip during the ten-year period in which the chip design and manufacturing stencils enjoy exclusive protection under the federal law. . Statutory Protection Cybersquatting – is registering sites and domain names that are confusing similar to existing trademarks that belong to others. So we have the Federal Anticybersquatting Consumer Protection Act (AC)A) to prohibit cybersquatting. Remedies availing include injunctions to stop use of the name, forfeiture of the name, and recovery of money damages and cost of litigation. Trade Secret – is chemical formulas, procedure, customer list, data or device that only that business has. These types of secrets should be given a patent or copyright protection. Federal Statutory Protection - misappropriation What managers should do to assure that the organization protects the Intellectual and Tangible property rights. Managers today need to remain ever vigilant of issues affecting the workplace in order to protect the intellectual property created by a company. With the onslaught of modern technology, and the expanding technology of computer software, design and authorship, managers need to familiarize themselves with laws protecting copyright infringement of intellectual property. In the Information Technology (IT) field protection of software, original creative works, utility, design and computer information software to name a few has kept the courts active in determining what constitutes infringement. Chapter 16 discusses in detail types of intellectual property trademarks, copyright patents and trade secrets created to protect the ideas of others. Managers need to train employees on understanding fundamental laws protecting companies from infringement and educate one on subjects such as; what constitutes infringement; how to recognize piracy and what are the repercussions of these violations. Additionally, managers should draft policies, which focus on understanding tangible and intellectual property in general specific to that Industry. Taking a pro-active approach towards educating employees will strengthen the workplace and reduce potential for infringemen Understanding of Tangible & Intellectual property in general including common issues in this sector The main issues in this sector is the guideline of sharing information without infringement or the misuse of the content whether music, movies, or sensitive critical information sharing, security, and storage. According to www.idea-group.com the digital revolution has already thrown the music industry into chaos and the movie industry will probably be next. Both of these industries have been struggling with piracy, and peer-to-peer (P2P) networks, such as Gnutella, KaZaA, and Morpheus, are the primary obstacle in their efforts to thwart the illicit sharing of files. These P2P networks continue to proliferate, and users continue to download copyrighted music and movie files with relative impunity. Everyone knows, however, that the content industry will not sit idly by and lose its main source of revenues. It will fight back with legal weapons such as the Digital Millennium Copyright Act and technological weapons such as trusted systems. Of course, debates about intellectual property rights are not confined to digital music and movies. There is apprehension that the Internet itself will be swallowed up by proprietary technologies. Currently, developing countries argue that they can never surmount the digital divide if intellectual property rights remain so entrenched. Governments debate the pros and cons of Endorsing open source software as a means of overcoming the hegemony of Microsoft’s control of certain technologies. And some claim that the impending “Enclosure movement” of intellectual objects will stifle creativity. The result of these public and controversial squabbles is that the once Esoteric issue of intellectual property rights has now taken center stage in Courses and books on cyber law and cyber ethics. The economic and social Stakes are quite high in these disputes, so they should not be regarded in a Cavalier manner or dismissed as inconsequential. The centrality of the property Issue becomes especially apparent when one realizes that other social issues in Cyberspace (such as speech and privacy) are often closely connected to the Proper scope of intellectual property rights. For example, Diebold Election Systems, a manufacturer of voting machines, has pursued college students for Posting on the Internet copies of internal communications, including 15,000 email Messages and other memoranda, discussing flaws in Diebold’s software. The company claims that this information is proprietary and that these students Are violating its intellectual property rights, while the students say that their free Speech rights are being unjustly circumscribed. They contend that copyright law Is being abused to stifle free speech. References The University of Phoenix, rEsource Library, LAW-531, Business Law, Chapters 3, 4, 16, extracted November 12, 2007. Jennings, M. M. (2006). Business: Its legal, ethical, and global environment (7th ed.) INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY - Property that can be protected under federal law, including copyrightable works, ideas, discoveries, and inventions. Such property would include novels, sound recordings, a new type of mousetrap, or a cure for a disease. INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY – Property that can be protected under federal law, including copyrightable works, ideas, discoveries, and inventions. Such property would include novels, sound recordings, a new type of mousetrap, or a cure for a disease. PROPERTY – Not only money and other tangible things of value, but also includes any intangible right considered as a source or element of income or wealth. The right and interest which a man has in lands and chattels to the exclusion of others. It is the right to enjoy and to dispose of certain things in the most absolute manner as he pleases, provided he makes no use of them prohibited by law. All things are not the subject of property – the sea, the air, and the like, cannot be appropriated; every one may enjoy them, but he has no exclusive right in them. When things are fully our own, or when all others are excluded from meddling with them, or from interfering about them, it is plain that no person besides the proprietor, who has this exclusive right, can have any claim either to use them, or to hinder him from disposing of them as he pleases; so that property, considered as an exclusive right to things, contains not only a right to use those things, but a right to dispose of them, either by exchanging them for other things, or by giving them away to any other person, without any consideration, or even throwing them away. Property is divided into real property, and personal property. Property is also divided, when it consists of goods and chattels, into absolute and qualified. Absolute property is that which is our own, without any qualification whatever; as when a man is the owner of a watch, a book, or other inanimate thing: or of a horse, a sheep, or other animal, which never had its natural liberty in a wild state. Qualified property consists in the right which men have over wild animals which they have redueed to their own possession, and which are kept subject to their power; as a deer, a buffalo, and the like, which are his own while he has possession of them, but as soon as his possession is lost, his property is gone, unless the animals, go animo revertendi. But property in personal goods may be absolute or qualified without ally relation to the nature of the subject-matter, but simply because more persons than one have an interest in it, or because the right of property is separated from the possession. A bailee of goods, though not the owner, has a qualified property in them; while the owner has the absolute property. Personal property is further divided into property in possession, and property or choses in action. Property is again divided into corporeal and incorporeal. The former comprehends such property as is perceptible to the senses, as lands, houses, goods, merchandise and the like; the latter consists in legal rights, as choses in action, easements, and the like. Property is lost, in general, in three ways, by the act of man, by the act of law, and by the act of God. It is lost by the act of man by, 1st. Alienation; but in order to do this, the owner must have a legal capacity to make a contract. 2d. By the voluntary abandonment of the thing; but unless the abandonment be purely voluntary, the title to the property is not lost; as, if things be thrown into the sea to save the ship, the right is not lost. Poth. h. t., n. 270; 3 Toull. ii. 346. But even a voluntary abandonment does not deprive the former owner from taking possessiou of the thing abandoned, at any time before another takes possession of it. The title to property is lost by operation of law. 1st. By the forced sale, under a lawful process, of the property of a debtor to satisfy a judgment, sentence, or decree rendered against him, to compel him to fulfil his obligations. 2d. By confiscation, or sentence of a criminal court. 3d. By prescription. 4th. By civil death. 6th. By capture of a public enemy. The title to property is lost by the act of God, as in the case of the death of slaves or animals, or in the total destruction of a thing; for example, if a house be swallowed up by an opening in the earth during an earthquake. It is proper to observe that in some cases, the moment that the owner loses his possession, he also loses his property or right in the thing: animals ferae naturae, as mentioned above, belong to the owner only while he retains the possession of them. But, in general,’ the loss of possession does not impair the right of property, for the owner may recover it within a certain time allowed by law.