Jebelle Anjelli Yap Barro

Gracelyn Baltazar
Geancie Torres
MANAGING INTELLECTUAL
PROPERTY
LETS START WITH A
BACKGROUND OF
INTELLECTUAL
RIGHTS
TO TRULLY
UNDERSTAND THE
TOPIC
Intellectual property (IP)
Intellectual property (IP) rights are the legally recognized
exclusive rights to creations of the mind. Under intellectual
property law, owners are granted certain exclusive rights to a
variety of intangible assets, such as musical, literary, and
artistic works; discoveries and inventions; and words,
phrases, symbols, and designs. Common types of intellectual
property rights include copyright, trademarks, patents,
industrial design rights, trade dress, and in some jurisdictions
trade secrets.
Although many of the legal principles governing intellectual
property rights have evolved over centuries, it was not until
the 19th century that the term intellectual property began to
be used, and not until the late 20th century that it became
commonplace in the majority of the world. The British Statute
of Anne (1710) and the Statute of Monopolies (1624) are now
seen as the origins of copyright and patent law respectively.
Types
Patents
A patent grants an inventor the right to exclude others from making, using, selling,
offering to sell, and importing an invention for a limited period of time, in exchange for
the public disclosure of the invention. An invention is a solution to a specific
technological problem, which may be a product or a process.

Copyright
A copyright gives the creator of an original work exclusive rights to it, usually for a limited
time. Copyright may apply to a wide range of creative, intellectual, or artistic forms, or
"works. Copyright does not cover ideas and information themselves, only the form or
manner in which they are expressed.

Industrial design right
An industrial design right protects the visual design of objects that are not purely
utilitarian. An industrial design consists of the creation of a shape, configuration or
composition of pattern or color, or combination of pattern and color in three-dimensional
form containing aesthetic value. An industrial design can be a two- or three-dimensional
pattern used to produce a product, industrial commodity or handicraft.
Types
Trademark
A trademark is a recognizable sign, design or expression which distinguishes products or
services of a particular trader from the similar products or services of other trader

Trade dress
Trade dress is a legal term of art that generally refers to characteristics of the visual
appearance of a product or its packaging (or even the design of a building) that signify the
source of the product to consumers

Trade secret
A trade secret is a formula, practice, process, design, instrument, pattern, or compilation of
information which is not generally known or reasonably ascertainable, by which a business
can obtain an economic advantage over competitors or customers. In the United States, trade
secret law is primarily handled at the state level under the Uniform Trade Secrets Act, which
most states have adopted, and a federal law, the Economic Espionage Act of 1996 (18 U.S.C.
18311839), which makes the theft or misappropriation of a trade secret a federal crime.
This law contains two provisions criminalizing two sorts of activity. The first, 18 U.S.C.
1831(a), criminalizes the theft of trade secrets to benefit foreign powers. The second, 18
U.S.C. 1832, criminalizes their theft for commercial or economic purposes. (The statutory
penalties are different for the two offenses.) Trade secret law varies from country to country.
Patent
A patent is a set of exclusive rights granted by a sovereign
state to an inventor or assignee for a limited period of time in
exchange for detailed public disclosure of an invention. An
invention is a solution to a specific technological problem and
is a product or a process. Patents are a form of intellectual
property.

Under the World Trade Organization's (WTO) Agreement on
Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights, patents
should be available in WTO member states for any invention,
in all fields of technology, and the term of protection available
should be a minimum of twenty years. Nevertheless, there
are variations on what is patentable subject matter from
country to country.

Particular species of patents for inventions include biological
patents, business method patents, chemical patents and
software patents.
Copyright
Copyright is a legal concept, enacted by most
governments, that grants the creator of an
original work exclusive rights to its use and
distribution, usually for a limited time, with the
intention of enabling the creator of intellectual
wealth (e.g. the photographer of a photograph
or the author of a book) to receive
compensation for their work and be able to
financially support themselves.

Exclusive rights
Several exclusive rights typically attach to the holder of a copyright:
to produce copies or reproductions of the work and to sell those
copies (including, typically, electronic copies)
to import or export the work
to create derivative works (works that adapt the original work)
to perform or display the work publicly
to sell or cede these rights to others
to transmit or display by radio or video.

The phrase "exclusive right" means that only the copyright holder is
free to exercise those rights, and others are prohibited from using
the work without the holder's permission. Copyright is sometimes
called a "negative right", as it serves to prohibit certain people (e.g.,
readers, viewers, or listeners, and primarily publishers and would be
publishers) from doing something they would otherwise be able to
do, rather than permitting people (e.g., authors) to do something
they would otherwise be unable to do.

World Intellectual Property
Organization
www.wipo.int
What is Intellectual Property?
Intellectual property (IP) refers to creations of the
mind, such as inventions; literary and artistic
works; designs; and symbols, names and images
used in commerce.
IP is protected in law by, for
example, patents, copyright and trademarks,
which enable people to earn recognition or
financial benefit from what they invent or create.
By striking the right balance between the interests
of innovators and the wider public interest, the IP
system aims to foster an environment in which
creativity and innovation can flourish.

Why is intellectual property
important?
Intellectual property protection is critical to
fostering innovation. Without protection of
ideas, businesses and individuals would not
reap the full benefits of their inventions and
would focus less on research and
development. Similarly, artists would not be
fully compensated for their creations and
cultural vitality would suffer as a result.
Why is Intellectual Property
Relevant to Your SME?
Along with human creativity and inventiveness, intellectual property
is all around us. Every product or service that we use in our daily
lives is the result of a long chain of big or small innovations, such as
changes in designs, or improvements that make a product look or
function the way it does today. Take a simple product. For example,
a pen. Ladislao Biros famous patent on ballpoint pens was in many
ways a breakthrough. But, like him, many others have improved the
product and its designs and legally protected their improvements
through the acquisition of IP rights. The trademark on your pen is
also intellectual property, and it helps the producer to market the
product and develop a loyal clientele.
And this would be the case with almost any product or service in the
marketplace. Take a CD player. Patent protection is likely to have
been obtained for various technical parts of a CD player. Its design
may be protected by industrial design rights. The brand name is
most probably protected by a trademark and the music played in the
CD player is (or has been) protected by copyright.

So, How Does this Affect Your
Business?
Regardless of what product your enterprise makes or what service it
provides, it is likely that it is regularly using and creating a great deal of
intellectual property. This being the case, (1) you should systematically
consider the steps required for protecting, managing and enforcing it, so as
to get the best possible commercial results from its ownership. (2) If you
are using intellectual property that belongs to others, then you should
consider buying it or acquiring the rights to use it by taking a license in
order to avoid a dispute and consequent expensive litigation.
Almost every SME has a trade name or one or more trademarks and
should consider protecting them. Most SMEs will have valuable confidential
business information, from customers' lists to sales tactics that they may
wish to protect. A large number would have developed creative original
designs. Many would have produced, or assisted in the publication,
dissemination or retailing of a copyrighted work. Some may have invented
or improved a product or service.
In all such cases, your SME should consider how best to use the IP system
to its own benefit. (3) Remember that IP may assist your SME in almost
every aspect of your business development and competitive strategy: from
product development to product design, from service delivery to marketing,
and from raising financial resources to exporting or expanding your
business abroad through licensing or franchising.

Managing the Intellectual Property
Assets of Your SME
Managing an enterprise's IP assets is more than just acquiring the
formal IP rights through the national IP office. Patent or trademark
rights are not worth much unless they are adequately exploited.
Moreover, part of a company's valuable IP may not require formal
registration but may call for other measures of protection (e.g.
confidentiality agreements). Enterprises willing to extract full value
from their know-how and creativity should take adequate steps to
develop an IP strategy for their business and seek to integrate it
within their overall business strategy. * This implies including IP
considerations when drafting business plans and marketing
strategies. A basic IP strategy would include at least the following:

A Policy on IP Acquisition
A Policy on IP Exploitation
A Policy on IP Monitoring
A Policy on IP Enforcement



Policy
a definite course of action adopted for the sake
of expediency, facility, etc.: We have a new co
mpanypolicy.
a course of action adopted and pursued by a g
overnment, ruler, political party, etc.: our nation
'sforeign policy.

A Policy on IP Acquisition
A single product or service may be protected by
various forms of IP rights covering different
aspects of that product or service. (1) SMEs must
consider the best protection package and make
sure that all the formal rights are acquired as early
as possible. SMEs should also bear in mind that
creating a comprehensive IP portfolio may be a
considerable investment. This is particularly the
case for patents. SMEs must therefore carefully
assess the costs and benefits of patenting on a
case by case basis and develop a strategy/policy
on patent acquisitions which is appropriate given
their budget and market opportunities (for an
overview of patent strategies
see WIPO/IPR/MCT/99/5.A [PDF].)

How can Your SME Acquire and
Maintain Intellectual Property
Protection?
Before your SME can take advantage of intellectual property (IP) assets it
has to (1) acquire IP rights. A number of IP rights need to be granted or
registered. (2) At the national level, IP offices of the respective countries
are the only institutions entrusted with granting or registering IP rights. The
procedure for their acquisition and maintenance may differ from country to
country, but the basic principles and features of these procedures are
common to most countries. One should also note that IP rights could also,
where certain conditions are met, be acquired at a regional or international
level (see "Protecting the Intellectual Property Rights of Your SME
Abroad.")
(3) Before seeking IP protection for your SME in a particular country, you
are advised to study the countrys legal system that governs IP issues.
There are various sources of information on IP legislation. Probably the
best place to start would be the national or regional IP office or copyright
office to obtain the details of IP protection in your country. It is often
advisable to seek guidance from an IP agent or attorney particularly when
the relevant IP laws require that an applicant who is not residing in the
country be represented by an agent or attorney entitled to practice in that
country. (4) The IP office or IP agent/attorney should be able to advise you
as to whether special incentives, in terms of reduced fees, are available to
SMEs for IP acquisition and maintenance.

Intellectual Property Office of the
Philippines
www.ipophil.gov.ph
Challenges in Intellectual Property
Acquisition
Challenges that most SMEs face in acquiring IP protection include the
following:
inadequate manpower to undertake the necessary groundwork
needed for IP acquisition, for example, initial searches and other
pre-filing procedures;
high costs involved, particularly, in the patenting process which may
go hand in hand with expenses for the translation of documents and
fees for IP agents or attorneys;
inadequate in-houseknowledge of IP rights and procedures for their
protection.
To some extent, the burdens associated with IP acquisition may be
diminished if you have a greater understanding of how the IP
system can be used effectively. SMEs may also reduce the
workload and costs of acquiring IP by applying for IP protection
through regional or international arrangements when seeking IP
protection abroad, making use of special incentives offered to
SMEs, wherever available, or opting for lower levels of protection as
in the case of utility model protection, where the legislation of the
country or countries in question allow such forms of protection.
Exploit
to utilize, especially for profit; turn to practical a
ccount: to exploit a business opportunity.
A Policy on IP Exploitation
IP assets may be exploited in a variety of
ways. These may include the
commercialization of IP-protected products
and services; the entering into licensing or
franchising agreements; the sale of IP assets
to other firms; the creation of joint ventures;
the use of IP to obtain access to other
companies' technology through cross-licensing
agreements; or the use of IP to obtain
business finance. Enterprises should decide in
each case how they may best exploit their IP
assets both domestically and internationally.

A Policy on IP Monitoring
(1) Consulting patent and trademark
databases regularly is important in order to
find out about recent technical developments
and new technologies, identify new licensing
partners or suppliers, new market
opportunities, monitor activities of competitors,
identify possible infringers, and avoid infringing
competitors' rights. See also "Using Patent
Information for the Benefit of Your SME" and
"Conducting Trademark Searches."

Conducting Trademark
Searches
(1) As a first step to protecting trademarks, you are advised to conduct a trademark
search to make sure that the mark in question is not already in use by another
enterprise in the target market(s). Trademark offices in many countries register
marks without comparing them with existing trademark registrations and applications
received earlier, but leave it to your future competitors to give notice of opposition
once the mark or the application has been published/registered. (2) Therefore,
obtaining trademark registration in such countries is no guarantee that the trademark
will not be infringing on the rights of others. It is therefore important, wherever
possible, to search national trademark databases prior to using a trademark for your
export operations.
(3) Trademark searches may be conducted through online databases (though few
countries currently offer such services), specialized firms, or at the national
trademark registry. It is important to bear in mind that, while trademarks which are
identical to your own mark can be easily identified, confusingly similar trademarks
that conflict with your own will be more difficult to spot. Depending on the merits of
the case, it may be advisable to use the services of a competent trademark agent or
attorney for a trademark search for your SME.
Since most trademarks (with the exception of well-known marks) only protect the
goods or services for which they are registered as well as those goods or services
that are similar to those for which the trademark is registered, your registered
trademark may be lawfully used by others for marketing goods or services that are
unrelated to those of your SME.

A Policy on IP Enforcement
A clear policy on IP enforcement is crucial due to
the losses that may be incurred by the existence
of counterfeited goods in the market and the high
costs involved in some IP disputes. See "What
Should Your SME do to Resolve Disputes Related
to Intellectual Property?"
A description of how different companies with
different levels of technological capacity may
develop an IP strategy to suit their own needs is
contained in a WIPO paper on "The Management
of Intellectual Property Rights by Small and
Medium Sized Enterprises"
(see WIPO/ACAD/E/93/12 available in PDF).*

What Should Your SME do to Resolve
Disputes Related to Intellectual
Property?
(1) The more valuable the intellectual property assets of your SME, the greater the possibility that
others would want to make use of them, if possible, without having to pay for them. Do you have
a strategy to prevent this? If despite your best efforts, someone is imitating, copying or infringing
the intellectual property rights of your SME without your authorization, then what should you do?
What are your options? How do you weigh the costs and benefits of various alternatives? Or
would you simply rush to court?
(2) You have the option to "ignore" the violation of the IP rights of your SME if the loss of income,
sales or profits appears to be negligible from your point of view. If the scale of violation is already
significant or will soon be so, then you must find out, as soon as possible, the culprits and deal
with them expeditiously but methodically. At other times, however, you may be accused of
stealing or infringing the IP rights of someone else intentionally or unknowingly.
In those situations where there is an alleged infringement or a dispute, before taking any formal
action, (3) it would be prudent to seek legal counsel from a competent IP professional to more
accurately assess the likelihood of a favorable outcome for your SME, at the lowest possible cost.
The cost could be calculated in terms of the time that may be taken to obtain such a decision, the
fees that you would have to pay to the court(s) and to your attorney(s), and the direct and indirect
costs of alternatives that you would have to explore and follow in the event of a negative decision.
You also have to assess the chances of winning your case, the amount of compensation and
damages that you can reasonably expect to get from the infringing party as well as the likelihood
and extent of reimbursement of attorney's fees in case the final decision is in your favor.
(4) It is obvious that dealing with these kinds of situations requires a careful weighing of the pros
and cons of different alternatives.

FOR MORE
INFORMATION PLEASE
VISIT WWW.WIPO.INT
IT CONTAINS LOTS OF
VALUABLE AND
USEFUL INFORMATION
ABOUT INTELLECTUAL
PROPERTY
Jebelle Anjelli Yap Barro
Gracelyn Baltazar
Geancie Torres
MANAGING INTELLECTUAL
PROPERTY