The Institution of Engineering and Technology, 2005, -222 pp.
2nd Edition
Engineers are natural innovators, whether they are involved in the basic development of a completely new system, or in making an existing system work better. Engineers and scientists1 are frequently willing to share their skills and ideas with others. Unfortunately, they sometimes find that others are less than willing to give appropriate credit or share the profits that can be made from these skills and ideas. Having one’s idea stolen is an unhappy situation, but not an infrequent one. This is where the law comes in, like it or not – and many engineers do not like the concept of legal controls on ideas at all. But we all need salaries or consultancy fees. If our work does not result in saleable products or services, then we as engineers will suffer financially. Our employers and work-providers need to make profits, and legally protecting the innovative efforts of engineers is one way of assisting this. The innovator, be it individual or company, should benefit from the investment of time, effort and money.
What is good for the individual engineer and company is also good for the country as a whole. The value of innovation to the UK is often given an airing by politicians, and the latest financial support is set out in the Sainsbury Report of 2004, which provides information about a ?50 million grant programme for technological innovation. The law to protect such innovation is already in place and a basic knowledge can provide a good foundation for making sure that innovative effort is put to appropriate use.
Many engineers regard legal protection for innovation with misgivings. They may have tried to find out what is required and been tued off by the difficulty of finding explanations at the appropriate level. Legal text books are not easy reading, even for lawyers.
The aim of this book is to show that the relevant law is not as difficult as is sometimes imagined, certainly in its general application. The minutiae can be left to the legal professionals who love to analyse the fine detail. The knowledge of the overall principles an engineer needs in order to use intellectual property (IP) law need not be deep, and can even be limited to a recognition of when to seek legal advice. This book goes further than that step, although it is far from being a legal text book. It is written on the basis that engineers generally like to know the reason for doing something. It tries to explain the general principles of the law protecting innovation, without going into great detail or giving all the exceptions to a general rule. It quotes the law and legal cases only if the author thinks this will help to make a point clear. The book therefore gives only an outline and general guidance, and expert advice is still essential in many cases.
The general term for the legal rights protecting innovation is intellectual property rights (IPRs). The phrase has become better known in the last 10 years or so, as the value of IPRs is becoming recognised by management and writers on management, in addition to govement initiatives.
In the UK there are six basic IPRs – patents, copyright, registered designs, design right, trade marks and confidential information. Some of these terms, such as patents, copyright and trade marks, will be familiar, others less so: design right was introduced in August 1989, as was topography right, a special form of design right. Some types of rights have applications both to engineering and well beyond it, such as copyright and confidential information. Trade marks are somewhat peripheral to most engineering work, but are included because use of trade marks helps manufacturers to sell their products and service providers to attract customers. Throughout the book there will be brief references to non-engineering topics, such as music and film-making, but the explanations are largely based on technology.
The rights often overlap. A consumer product might be protected by all six rights at some stage in its design, manufacture and marketing. Different rights last for different lengths of time. Some of them are based on statute law, when reference can be made to the law for definitions, others on common law, based on judges’ decisions over years or decades, when a reference to case law is the only way to understand the principles.
This book is structured to explain the six rights in Chapters 2–6 (registered design, design right and topography rights are grouped together in Chapter 3), setting out what each right protects, how to ensure it applies and the extent to which it can be used to control the activities of other companies. Chapter 7 considers in depth who owns the rights and Chapter 8 looks at how their use is constrained by EU law. Chapter 9 covers licensing, that is, allowing others to use the right in retu for payment, and how to sue if necessary; litigation is rare in the IP field but always generates interest so it is included for completeness. The final chapter summarises various additional aspects, such as company policies on protection of innovation, and sets out a few situations when an engineering manager might need to make decisions about IPRs
Introduction
Copyright
Rights in designs
Patents
Confidential information
Trade marks
Ownership of intellectual property rights and rights of employees
Unfair competition
Licensing and litigation
Management of IPRs
2nd Edition
Engineers are natural innovators, whether they are involved in the basic development of a completely new system, or in making an existing system work better. Engineers and scientists1 are frequently willing to share their skills and ideas with others. Unfortunately, they sometimes find that others are less than willing to give appropriate credit or share the profits that can be made from these skills and ideas. Having one’s idea stolen is an unhappy situation, but not an infrequent one. This is where the law comes in, like it or not – and many engineers do not like the concept of legal controls on ideas at all. But we all need salaries or consultancy fees. If our work does not result in saleable products or services, then we as engineers will suffer financially. Our employers and work-providers need to make profits, and legally protecting the innovative efforts of engineers is one way of assisting this. The innovator, be it individual or company, should benefit from the investment of time, effort and money.
What is good for the individual engineer and company is also good for the country as a whole. The value of innovation to the UK is often given an airing by politicians, and the latest financial support is set out in the Sainsbury Report of 2004, which provides information about a ?50 million grant programme for technological innovation. The law to protect such innovation is already in place and a basic knowledge can provide a good foundation for making sure that innovative effort is put to appropriate use.
Many engineers regard legal protection for innovation with misgivings. They may have tried to find out what is required and been tued off by the difficulty of finding explanations at the appropriate level. Legal text books are not easy reading, even for lawyers.
The aim of this book is to show that the relevant law is not as difficult as is sometimes imagined, certainly in its general application. The minutiae can be left to the legal professionals who love to analyse the fine detail. The knowledge of the overall principles an engineer needs in order to use intellectual property (IP) law need not be deep, and can even be limited to a recognition of when to seek legal advice. This book goes further than that step, although it is far from being a legal text book. It is written on the basis that engineers generally like to know the reason for doing something. It tries to explain the general principles of the law protecting innovation, without going into great detail or giving all the exceptions to a general rule. It quotes the law and legal cases only if the author thinks this will help to make a point clear. The book therefore gives only an outline and general guidance, and expert advice is still essential in many cases.
The general term for the legal rights protecting innovation is intellectual property rights (IPRs). The phrase has become better known in the last 10 years or so, as the value of IPRs is becoming recognised by management and writers on management, in addition to govement initiatives.
In the UK there are six basic IPRs – patents, copyright, registered designs, design right, trade marks and confidential information. Some of these terms, such as patents, copyright and trade marks, will be familiar, others less so: design right was introduced in August 1989, as was topography right, a special form of design right. Some types of rights have applications both to engineering and well beyond it, such as copyright and confidential information. Trade marks are somewhat peripheral to most engineering work, but are included because use of trade marks helps manufacturers to sell their products and service providers to attract customers. Throughout the book there will be brief references to non-engineering topics, such as music and film-making, but the explanations are largely based on technology.
The rights often overlap. A consumer product might be protected by all six rights at some stage in its design, manufacture and marketing. Different rights last for different lengths of time. Some of them are based on statute law, when reference can be made to the law for definitions, others on common law, based on judges’ decisions over years or decades, when a reference to case law is the only way to understand the principles.
This book is structured to explain the six rights in Chapters 2–6 (registered design, design right and topography rights are grouped together in Chapter 3), setting out what each right protects, how to ensure it applies and the extent to which it can be used to control the activities of other companies. Chapter 7 considers in depth who owns the rights and Chapter 8 looks at how their use is constrained by EU law. Chapter 9 covers licensing, that is, allowing others to use the right in retu for payment, and how to sue if necessary; litigation is rare in the IP field but always generates interest so it is included for completeness. The final chapter summarises various additional aspects, such as company policies on protection of innovation, and sets out a few situations when an engineering manager might need to make decisions about IPRs
Introduction
Copyright
Rights in designs
Patents
Confidential information
Trade marks
Ownership of intellectual property rights and rights of employees
Unfair competition
Licensing and litigation
Management of IPRs