Intellectual Property is a term used for an area of the law dealing with creations of the mind and the corresponding property rights to these creations. Copyrights, trademarks, patents and trade secrets are all types of intellectual property (IP). Intellectual Property is a knowledge, creative ideas, or expressions of human mind that have commercial value and are protectable under copyright, patent, servicemark, trademark, or trade secret laws from imitation, infringement, and dilution. Intellectual property includes brand names, discoveries, formulas, inventions, knowledge, registered designs, software, and works of artistic, literary, or musical nature. It is one of the most readily tradable properties in the digital marketplace.

What is a Trademark?

Basically, a trademark is your company’s brand . In more technical terms, a trademark is a word, name, symbol or device that is used in commerce with a product to indicate the source of the product and to distinguist it from the products of others. While trademark is the most commonly used term, there is a distinction made for words, names, symbols or devices used in trade to indicate commonly used term, there is a distinction made for words, names, symbols or devices used in trade to indicate the source of a service, rather than a product, and these are called service trademarks. A trade name is the term used to refer to a business name Trade dress refers tp the appearance of a product or its packaging when that appearance indicates the source of the product.

What is a Copyright?

            Copyright deal with the rights of an author or creator of an original work. Copyright does not protect many of the thing people think it does. Copyright does not protect ideas, concepts, facts, names, titles, slogans, procedures, or methods. Copyright only protects original works of authorship fixed in a tangible medium of expression.

            Copyright protection starts as soon as the author or creator’s original work is fixed in one of the above tangible medioms of expression, and the author or creator then begins establishing common law rights.

What is a Patent?

            A patent is a set of rights given to an inventor for a certain period of time. In order to receive this protection, the inventor mush show that the invention is new, non-obvious and useful or industrially applicable. In order to receive protection, the invention must be publicly disclosed, through registration with the United States Patend and Trademark Office.

            Unlike with copyright and trademark, there are no common law rights for patents, and registration with the USPTO is a necessity from the outset to establish protection for the invention

What is a Trade Secret?

            A trade secret is basically your business confidential information. In most states, this includes any formula, pattern, practice, physical device, design, idea, process or compilation of information that 1. Provides the owner of the information with competitive advantage in the marketplace, and 2. Is treated in a way that can reasonably be expected to prevent the public or competitors from learning about it, absent improper acquistion or theft. Trade secrets can be very important to your business, but are often overlooked or abused. You cannot register your trade secrets the same way you can a trademark, copyright or patent. Instead, your rights and protection relate specifically to your ability to keep your secrets secret.

Plagiarism - theft and passing off of someone’s ideas or words as one’s own, many students do not understand what constitutes plagiarism; believe that all electronic content is in the public domain. Plagiarism detection systems check submitted material against databases of electronic content

Steps of combat student plagiarism

–        Help students understand what constitutes plagiarism

–        Show students how to document Web pages

–        Schedule major writing assignments in portions

–        Tell students that you know about Internet paper mills

–         Educate students about plagiarism detection services

Reverse Engineering - process of taking something apart in order to understand it, build a copy of it and improve it. It also applied to computer hardware and software. Convert program code to a higher level design; convert an application that ran on one vendor’s database to run on another. Compiler is a language translator, converts computer program statements expressed in a source language to machine language. Software manufacturer provides software in machine language form. De compiler reads machine language, produces source code. Open Source code – program source code made available for use or modification as users or other developers see fit. Basic premise software improves, can be adapted to meet new needs, bugs rapidly identified and fixed. Competitive Intelligence – gathering of legally obtainable information to help the company gain an advantage over rivals. Often integrated into a company’s strategic plans and decision making. Not industrial espionage.

            Trademark is anything that enables a consumer to differentiate one company’s products from another. It may be Logo, Package design, Phrase, Sound and or a word. Trademark law says that trademarks owner’s has the right to prevent others from using the same mark or confusing similar mark. Cyber squatters registered domain names for famous trademarks or company names.

Reference: www.Google.com

            Social Networking web site is a site whose purpose is to create an online community of Internet users that enables members to break down barriers created by time, distance, and cultural differences. Social Networking websites allow people to interact with others online by sharing opinions, insights information, interests, and experiences. Members of online social network may use the site to interact with friends, family members, and colleagues – people they already know – but they may also wish to develop new personal and professional relationships. With over 1.6 billion Internet users, there are endless range of interests represented online, and a correspondingly wide range of social networking websites catering to those interests.

List of Most Popular Social Networking Web Sites

            Facebook.com – largest social networking website based on the number of unique visitors per month.

            MySpace.com – general social networking website used by teenagers and adults worldwide.

            Classmates.com – networking site designed to help members find and keep in touch with people they knew in grade school, high school, college, and the military.

            Reunion.com – Site that helps members find and keep in touch with old friends, relatives, and loved ones.

            Imeem.com – business oriented web site used for professional networking.

            Flixster – networking site geared toward people interested on discussing movies and actors with other members.

            Twitter.com – service for friends, family members, and co-workers looking to stay connected through the frequent, quick exchange of messages that are maximum of 140 characters

            Social shopping Web site brings shoppers and sellers together in a social networking environment in which members can share information and make recommendations while shopping online. Thus these sites combine two highly popular online activities – shopping and social networking.

Sample of Social shopping Web site

            Buzzillions – Product review Web site that collects thousand of products reviews from the Web sites of various retailers.

            Crowdstorm – Shopping resource that aggregates product information from various  online buyers guides, reviews, and blog postings.

            Kaboodle – Site where members discover and recommend new products, get discounts; locate bargains.

            OSOYOU – UK-base social shopping site for women with an interest in fashion and beauty products.

ZEBO – Site that allows members to create a personal profile about what they own, want, and love to shop for.

Social Networking Ethical Issues

            Some of common ethical issues that arise for members of social networking Web sites are cyberbullying, cyberstalking, encounters with sexual predators, and the uploading of inappropriate material.

            Cyberbullying – is the harassment, torments, humiliation, or threatening of one minor by another minor or group of minors via Internet or cell phone. Cyberbullying has sometimes become so intense that some children have committed suicide. Because cyberbullying can take many forms, it can be difficult to identify and stop. Ideally, minors would inform their parents if they became a victim of cyberbullying. Unfortunately, this often does not happen.

            Cyberstalking – is threatening behavior or unwanted advances directed at an adult using the Internet or other forms of online and electronic communications; it is the adults version of cyberbullying,

Crime in Virtual Worlds

            Virtual worlds raise many interesting questions regarding what is a criminal act and whether law enforcement – real or virtual – should get involved in acts that occur in virtual worlds. Some virtual activities are clear violations of the law – for example, trafficking in actual drugs or stolen credit cards. Other virtual activities, such as online muggings and sex crimes, can cause real life anguish for the human owners of the avatars involved but may not rise to the level of a real crime.

Thank you for spending your time reading my blogs, I hope you get something from this.