Author Question: Identify and briefly discuss three key advantages that trade secret law has over the use of patents ... (Read 89 times)

viki

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 525
Identify and briefly discuss three key advantages that trade secret law has over the use of patents and copyrights in protecting intellectual property. Are there any drawbacks with the use of trade secrets to protect intellectual property?

Question 2

Briefly discuss how the courts and USPTO have changed their opinions and attitudes toward the patenting of software over the years. Do you believe that software patents inhibit new software development? Why or why not?



nicoleclaire22

  • Sr. Member
  • ****
  • Posts: 318
Answer to Question 1

Trade secret law has several key advantages over the use of patents and copyrights in protecting companies from losing control of their intellectual property, as summarized in the following list:


  • There are no time limitations on the protection of trade secrets, as there are with patents and copyrights.

  • There is no need to file an application, make disclosures to any person or agency, or disclose a trade secret to outsiders to gain protection. (After the USPTO issues a patent, competitors can obtain a detailed description of it.)

  • Although patents can be ruled invalid by the courts, meaning that the affected inventions will no longer have patent protection, this risk does not exist for trade secrets.

  • No filing or application fees are required to protect a trade secret.




Drawbacks of using trade secrets to protect intellectual property: the trade secret laws vary greatly from country to countrythe Philippines provides no legal protection for trade secrets and many Asian countries require foreign countries operating there to transfer rights to their technology to locally controlled enterprises. Trade secrets can be lost and employees are the greatest threat to the loss of company trade secrets, whether by accident or theft.

Answer to Question 2

The introduction of Leahy-Smith America Invents Act (2011) and several cases of software patents have triggered change in the patenting of software over the years. In the 1981 Diamond v. Diehr case, the Supreme Court granted a patent to Diehr, who had developed a process control computer and sensors to monitor the temperature inside a rubber mold. The USPTO interpreted the courts reasoning to mean that just because an invention used software did not mean that the invention could not be patented. Based on this ruling, courts have slowly broadened the scope of protection for software-related inventions. As a result, during the 1980s and 1990s, the USPTO granted thousands of software-related patents per year.



Related Topics

Need homework help now?

Ask unlimited questions for free

Ask a Question
 

Did you know?

The use of salicylates dates back 2,500 years to Hippocrates's recommendation of willow bark (from which a salicylate is derived) as an aid to the pains of childbirth. However, overdosage of salicylates can harm body fluids, electrolytes, the CNS, the GI tract, the ears, the lungs, the blood, the liver, and the kidneys and cause coma or death.

Did you know?

Dogs have been used in studies to detect various cancers in human subjects. They have been trained to sniff breath samples from humans that were collected by having them breathe into special tubes. These people included 55 lung cancer patients, 31 breast cancer patients, and 83 cancer-free patients. The dogs detected 54 of the 55 lung cancer patients as having cancer, detected 28 of the 31 breast cancer patients, and gave only three false-positive results (detecting cancer in people who didn't have it).

Did you know?

The shortest mature adult human of whom there is independent evidence was Gul Mohammed in India. In 1990, he was measured in New Delhi and stood 22.5 inches tall.

Did you know?

During pregnancy, a woman is more likely to experience bleeding gums and nosebleeds caused by hormonal changes that increase blood flow to the mouth and nose.

Did you know?

About 3.2 billion people, nearly half the world population, are at risk for malaria. In 2015, there are about 214 million malaria cases and an estimated 438,000 malaria deaths.

For a complete list of videos, visit our video library