Intellectual Property Rights (IPRs) can help us to protect (“own”) new technology and innovation. It’s not really ownership in the same way as ownership of physical goods, but IPRs do give their holders exclusive rights. All fine and dandy, but there’s also tremendous value in data. So what about data? Who owns them? Is it Read more …
News
Is copyright registration the elephant in the room?
I’m at a seminar on how technology impacts IP rights, and the way they work in business. When people talk about copyright, I see a lot of instances where copyright becomes more and more dependent upon registration. Examples are the proposals to set up exchange fora (like a marketplace) for stuff that’s under copyright. Basically, Read more …
Intellectuele eigendom en technologie – Infosessie
Samen met time-to-learn organiseer ik een ontbijtseminarie over intellectuele eigendom en de invloed van technologie. Voor wie is dit bestemd? Elke KMO die zich de vraag stelt of technologie een invloed heeft op de Intellectuele Rechten die hij gebruikt om zijn innovatie te beschermen en te beheren. We beantwoorden vragen zoals: Hoe weet je of/wanneer Read more …
How will Technology affect IPRs? – 3D printing
Have you also noticed how new technologies seem to spring up all around us? In a series of blogs, I’m going to look at how they could affect Intellectual Property Rights, and how this, in turn impacts business models around innovation. Today, I’ll write about 3D-printing. What is 3D-printing? It is a process of manufacturing Read more …
So who decided to privatize IPRs?
Facebook was already problematic, as I’ve written before. When you post your IPR on Facebook (your logo, trademark, music, etc.), Facebook has effectively an unlimited right to do with your IPR whatever they want. For free. But there is more: Facebook has asked trademark owners to register their trademark with Facebook. What does that mean? Read more …
No copyright on “interface” – that’s GUI for you!
Yesterday, 22 December 2010, the European Court of Justice ruled on a very interesting question: does software protection apply to the graphical user interface (GUI)? The answer was no. This may not surprise lawyers, but my guess is it would surprise IT people. IT lawyers know that in the EU, software protection (a specific form Read more …
Social Media & IPR – Damned if you do, damned if you don’t.
Among Intellectual Property professionals, it’s a surefire hit: “have you read Facebook’s IP terms”? Tone is important – think of a TV preacher asking: “have you been tempted by Satan!?”. Poor Facebook. Don’t blame them, blame the fact that it’s still so difficult to set up your own website, so most people prefer the easy Read more …
Lego builds new Intellectual Capital
It is probably fair to say that most people know Lego, the little building block toys. Most of us played with them as children. I remember that I didn’t actually like to construct the things Lego wanted me to make. Rather, I used to come up with the most bizarre and absurd constructions. My father, Read more …
Google apps ownership in datanews
Here’s the link to the article published by Datanews on the issue (in Dutch).
Cooking is like software – no copyright in the menu
Interesting decision from a first instance court in Liège, Belgium. Cooking recipes are not covered by copyright. As such, that may not be such a shock. Imagine having to pay a royalty to the earl of Sandwich every time you reproduce the recipe of .. a sandwich (or worse, every time you make one), or Read more …