Intellectual
property is intangible personal property
that can be characterized as invention, discovery,
know-how, technological development, computer
software, or even trade secret. It
is protected by copyrights, trademarks and
patents and is an asset to
its owner. If protected adequately,
intellectual property can be managed to benefit
the owners and inventors as well as the public
interest.
Patent
Basics
A
patent is a grant of the right to exclude
others from making, using, or selling an
invention and includes a right to license
that invention to others to make, use, or
sell it. Patent
protection lasts for twenty years from the
earliest filing.
Copyright
Basics
Copyright
is a form of protection provided to the authors
of
“original works of authorship,” including
literary, dramatic, musical, artistic, and certain
other intellectual works. This protection is
available to both published and unpublished works
Public
Disclosure- Timing is Everything!
Public
disclosure is a key event in the patentability
of an invention. Any
presentation, publication, poster session,
web posting, seminar, thesis defense or other
dissemination of the enabling technology
embodied in the invention is considered a
public disclosure and starts the patent clock
ticking. Once
a public disclosure has been made, the ability
to file foreign patents is lost and a one
year period begins for filing patents in
the
US
.
Inventorship
vs. Authorship
The
difference between authorship and inventorship
is an important distinction. Authorship on
a manuscript follows traditional academic
practice in recognizing various contributions
to the preparation of the paper. However,
an inventor is a person who contributes substantively
to the conception or reduction to practice
of an invention. A
final determination of inventorship typically
is made by a patent counsel once the patent
application is prepared. Inventorship
and authorship are not equivalent, and incorrect
inventorship can lead to the invalidation
of a patent.
