INTELLECTUAL

PROPERTY
CCS 4204:PROFESSION A L ISSUES A N D ETHICS IN IC T
Objectives’
What does the term intellectual property encompass, and
what measures can organizations take to protect their
intellectual property?

 What are some of the current issues associated with the

protection of intellectual property?
Introduction’
The Apple sued Samsung in April 2011 for alleged
infringement of various Apple design patents.

These patents covered the black rectangle shape and

rounded corners, the bezel, and the graphical layout of
icons on the iPhone.

February 2012, Apple accused Samsung of infringing

additional different patents on newer Samsung smartphones
I.P’
Intellectual property
is a term used to describe works of the mind—such as art, books,
films, formulas, inventions, music, and processes—that are distinct
and owned or created by a single person or group. It is protected
through copyright, patent, and trade secret laws

copyright, patent, and trade secret laws form a complex body of law
that addresses the ownership of intellectual property.
Introduction’
Copyright law protects authored works, such as art, books,
film, and music;

patent law protects inventions; and

trade secret law helps safeguard information that is critical

to an organization’s success
Issues’
These Laws present potential ethical problems for IT
companies and users
Some innovators believe that copyrights, patents, and trade secrets
stifle creativity by making it harder to build on the ideas of others.

The owners of intellectual property want to control and receive

compensation for the use of their intellectual property
Software Issue’
Difficult to protect software
Software has sometimes been treated as the expression of an idea,
which can be protected under copyright law

software has been treated as a process for changing a computer’s

internal structure, making it eligible for protection under patent law.
Copyrights’
A copyright
is the exclusive right to distribute, display, perform, or reproduce an
original work in copies or to prepare derivative works based on the work

Copyright infringement
is a violation of the rights secured by the owner of a copyright.
Infringement occurs when someone copies a substantial and material part
of another’s copyrighted work without permission

Copyright infringement lawsuits are common in the world of

music,
Copyright Law’
It guarantees developers the rights to their works for a
certain amount of time

Items to be copyrighted
architecture, art,

audiovisual works,

choreography,

drama,

graphics, sculptures, sound recordings

literature, motion pictures, music, pictures

Copyright Law’
It tries to strike a balance between protecting an author’s
rights and enabling public access to copyrighted works

Factors that can allow fair use

The purpose and character of the use (such as commercial use or
nonprofit, educational purposes)

The nature of the copyrighted work

The portion of the copyrighted work used in relation to the work as

a whole

The effect of the use on the value of the copyrighted work

NB’
An idea cannot be copyrighted but the expression of an
idea can be.

there is no copyright infringement if two parties

independently develop a similar or even identical work
Software Copyright Protection’
a software manufacturer can observe the operation of a
competitor’s copyrighted program and then create a
program that accomplishes the same result
To prove infringement, the copyright holder must show a
striking resemblance between its software and the new
software that could be explained only by copying
if the new software’s manufacturer can establish that it
developed the program on its own, without any knowledge
of the existing program, there is no infringement.
Task’
The process of registering a copyright for a software
program
Patents’
is a grant of a property right
permits its owner to exclude the public from making, using, or
selling a protected invention, and it allows for legal action
against violators
Unlike a copyright, a patent prevents independent creation as
well as copying.
Even if someone else invents the same item independently and
with no prior knowledge of the patent holder’s invention, the
second inventor is excluded from using the patented device
without permission of the original patent holder
Types of Patents’
A utility patent
“issued for the invention of a new and useful process, machine,
manufacture, or composition of matter, or a new and useful
improvement thereof, it generally permits its owner to exclude
others from making, using, or selling the invention for a period of up
to twenty years from the date of patent application filing, subject to
the payment of maintenance fees
Types of Patents’’
A design patent
issued for a new, original, and ornamental design embodied in or
applied to an article of manufacture,” permits its owner to exclude
others from making, using, or selling the design in question
Software Patent’
A software patent claims as its invention some feature or
process embodied in instructions executed by a computer.

Some software experts think that too many software

patents are being granted, and they believe that this inhibits
new software development

Thus, the courts have become more restrictive on the

granting of software patents
T R A D E S E C R E T S’
Is business information that represents something of
economic value, has required effort or cost to develop, has
some degree of uniqueness or novelty, is generally
unknown to the public, and is kept confidential.

Trade secret law protects only against the misappropriation

of trade secrets

The law doesn’t prevent someone from using the same idea
if it was developed independently
 Objectives’

CURRENTINTELLECTUAL PROPERTY
ISSUES
IP Issues’-ASSIGNMENT
IMPACT OF ICT TO SOCIETY
introduction’
Advances in artificial intelligence, machine learning,
robotics, and natural language processing are fundamentally
changing the way work gets done and have the potential to
affect the tasks, roles, and responsibilities of most workers
Computers and robots can
perform a wide range of routine physical work activities better, cheaper, faster,
and more safely than humans

capable of accomplishing activities once considered impossible to automate

successfully,
A.I’
Computers were originally designed to perform simple
mathematical operations, using fixed programmed rules and
eventually operating at millions of computations per second

However, computers still have trouble recognizing patterns,

adapting to new situations, and drawing conclusions when
not provided complete information
A.I’
include the people, procedures, hardware, software, data,
and knowledge needed to develop computer systems and
machines that can simulate human intelligence processes,
including
learning (the acquisition of information and rules for using the
information),

reasoning (using rules to reach conclusions), and

self-correction (using the outcome from one scenario to improve its

performance on future scenarios).
Impact of IT in Healthcare’
An electronic medical record (EMR) is a collection of
health-related information on an individual that is created,
managed, and consulted by authorized clinicians and staff
within a single healthcare organization.

Health information exchange (HIE) is the process of

sharing patient-level electronic health information between
different organizations
Impact of IT in Healthcare’’
A personal health record (PHR) includes those portions
of the EHR that are routinely shared with the patient—
such as personal identifiers, contact information, health
provider information, problem list, medication history,
allergies, immunizations, and lab and test results.
Impact of IT in Healthcare’’
Clinical decision support (CDS) is a process and a set of
tools designed to enhance healthcare-related decision
making through the use of clinical knowledge and patient-
specific information to improve healthcare delivery.
Allergy alert during drug prescription

computerized provider order entry (CPOE) system

enables physicians to place orders (for drugs, laboratory
tests, radiology, physical therapy) electronically, with the
orders transmitted directly to the recipient
Impact of IT in Healthcare’’
Telehealth employs electronic information processing and
telecommunications to support at-a-distance health care,
provide professional and patient health-related training, and
support healthcare administration.

Telemedicine is the component of telehealth that provides

medical care to people at a location different from the
healthcare providers
Telemedicine
includes
Impact of IT in Healthcare’’
Remote monitoring (also called home monitoring) involves
the regular, ongoing, accurate measurement of an
individual’s vital signs (temperature, blood pressure, heart
rate, and breathing rate) and other health measures (for
example, glucose levels for a diabetic) and the transmission
of this data to a healthcare provider.
Telemedicine
includes
 CAT 1 AND 2(ONLINE)-
COMBINED

ASSIGNMENT-TO BE SENT
TODAY

LAST CLASS
NEXT WEEK
END OF SESSION