Tag Archives: ideas

“IP impacts everyone” – Two-minute video explains “why?”

April 15, 2019 by Bruce Berman 0 Comments

What is intellectual property? Why should I care?

These questions are frequently considered – if not asked – by a range of people of all ages, incomes and education levels.

Products of the mind (inventions, creative works, etc.) and the rights that protect them can be complex. But the answer to “why IP?” is simpler than many people would think – jobs, competition, prosperity, as well as culture and quality of life. IP helped to make American and other nations great and will continue to, if we permit it.

The Center for Intellectual Property Understanding (CIPU) recently produced a white board video that explains in a few words and images why and to whom IP is relevant. The video (below) is suitable for a wide range of audiences.

“Intellectual property is the foundation for the future,” said Bruce Berman, founder and chairman of CIPU, an independent non-profit focused on increasing awareness of IP rights and their impact on people’s’ lives. “IP rights are a bridge that enables freedom, as opposed to a legal requirement that inhibits it. Lack of understanding make it difficult for people to see it that way. Early awareness and education help. It is never too late, or early, for anyone to learn why IP maters.”

There are many animations available that explain IP’s importance to children, but employees, investors, teens, law enforcement professionals, parents and educators, too, need help understanding IP’s role and history.

 


IP is for Everyone

There are many animations available that explain IP’s importance to children, but employees, investors, teens, law enforcement professionals, parents and educators, too, need help understanding IP’s role and history. “What is intellectual property? Why should I care?” endeavors to help.

To learn more about IP or identify materials and activities right for different audiences, please contact CIPU at administration@understandingip.org

For a link to the the IP CloseUp YouTube Channel that can be shared, go here: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCZk165UL2V8fNiJjVcQtnmQ

 

 

Image source: understandingip.org; the Center for IP Understanding 

Litigation, News, People, Places, Research, Transactions, Uncategorized, Videos
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“Know-go” – negative know-how that can be protected as a trade secret is among IP’s most overlooked assets

December 13, 2018 by Bruce Berman 0 Comments

Thomas Edison famously said: “I have not failed. I have just found ten thousand ways that won’t work.”

After hundreds of experiments with different materials for a long-lasting light bulb filament, Edison, as much as businessman as an innovator, zeroed in on carbonized thread.

“At that point,” says James Pooley, author of SECRETS: Managing Information Assets in the Age of Cyberespionage, “Edison had two trade secrets: first, the identity of the best material. And, second, the identity of the materials he had tried.”

Negative Know-How

A business’ lack of success, a matter of specialized know-how more aptly called “know-go,” is protected under trade secret law because it is valuable not only to it but to a competitor who wishes to catch-up without spending as much time and money.

Know-how, sometimes known as show-how, is the “secret sauce” that can give an otherwise mundane invention meaning. But the value of negative experience — of what not to do; of repeated failures and near successes — should not be under estimated.

The Intangible Investor in the December IAM magazine looks at “Failure – IP’s most underrated asset.” The full piece can be found here.

Costly Mistakes

A popular television series, “What Not to Wear,” has run for 345 episodes over ten years. The show advises women and men about how to spare themselves the cost, time and embarrassment of fashion faux pas. The value, the show’s loyal followers reason, is not only in identifying the right clothes choices, but in avoiding the more costly mistakes.

Information, data or experience that spares businesses time, cost and potential embarrassment is an asset, often an invaluable one, especially to large, risk-adverse businesses where R&D is at a premium.

Know-go is also attractive to potential acquirers who need to know how far towards a solution a target may have progressed.

Closely related to the concept of negative information is the idea that you can be guilty of trade secret theft (“indirect misappropriation”) even though your product looks very different, or significant investments have been made in your own research.

“Intangible assets of this nature that serve to avoid failure,” says Pooley, former Deputy Director of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), “can be more valuable than knowledge that enables success.”

Image source: rundlesafety.co.za; wikipedia.org;

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USPTO Director Iancu, top-ten inventor Jay Walker and IBM’s patent chief + surprises set for IP Awareness Summit this week

November 26, 2018 by Bruce Berman 1 Comment

The IP Awareness Summit 2018 – IP literacy matters

The second annual Intellectual Property Awareness Summit is being held at Columbia University in New York this Thursday, November 29.

The Summit is being held by the Center for IP Understanding (CIPU), an independent non-profit. This year year’s theme is IP literacy in a digital world.

Featured speakers at IPAS 2018 include United States Undersecretary of Commerce and Patent and Trademark Office Director Andrei Iancu, whose recent remarks in favor of more certain patents and less rhetoric about patent licensing have been favorably received by IP owners.

Jay Walker one of the most prolific American inventors, curator of TEDMED and founder of Priceline.com will follow Director Iancu. Leading the group of featured speakers is Manny Schecter, IBM Chief Patent Counsel and a proponent of a clearer and more consistent definition of what is patentable.

Scholar and proponent of IP rights as property, Adam Mossoff, Executive Director of the Center for the Protection of Intellectual Property (CPIP), will round out the line-up of featured speakers.

A representative from the International Trademark Association (INTA) will speak about the growing problem of counterfeits and ways of addressing it through public awareness.

A few registrations are still available, here. 

Other Speakers & Panelists

Speakers from the International Trademark Association, Bloomberg Law, the Kellogg School fo Business, the Center for the Protection of Intellectual Property, the Global Innovation Policy Center (United States Chamber of Commerce), the rock band Cracker and other organizations from the US and Europe will be speaking and networking.

For the program, presenters and partners go here:

IPPro recently spoke with CIPU about IPAS 2018 and why today more than ever audiences need to understand the purpose and impact of IP rights. Excerpts follow (the entire article, “IPAS 2018: Why IP literacy matters,” is available, here).

What is the Intellectual Property Awareness Summit?

IPAS is an annual gathering of IP organizations, holders, educators and thought-leaders who believe that IP rights are frequently misunderstood and have come to be seen by many as unfair and unnecessary. IPAS 2018 is open to any interested party.

What is the goal of IPAS 2018?

At IPAS 2017 in Chicago, participants identified that there is a significant disconnect between how people see and use intellectual property. The problem is a result of confusion about why IP rights exist and who they benefit. A combination of inaccurate media coverage and vested interests are responsible for this false impression.

At IPAS 2018 we will “dig down” and start to identify whether or not there needs to be a set of basic standards for IP awareness for various audiences. What are the basics? How are they best communicated?The theme of IPAS 2018 is “IP literacy in a digital world.”

Information moves so much faster today. It is more accessible than anyone would have believed twenty years ago. Many businesses and individuals believe that basically “everything” accessible is available, and ideas are there for the taking.

Some U.S. lawmakers and courts have over-reacted to patent and other patent holders who wish to license their rights or enforce them, rendering many patents valueless. Some even believe that infringing IP causes no major harm and is a part of modern life.

A basic awareness of what IP rights are and do, and what is appropriate IP behavior, is something everyone needs – and it should come from a trusted source.

Why is IP awareness important?

The lines of IP ownership are sometimes poorly drawn and frequently misunderstood.

We need to start with IP professionals. They must recognize there is a problem outside of the IP community and even within it. There are intelligent people who believe that IP theft is not stealing.

Then, we need to identify the key audiences for better IP understanding: college students, educators, business schools, lawmakers, K-12 teachers, parents, investors, journalists.

What three or four basic IP principles do they need to know? Why? When should they be imparted? How?

It is no accident that the U.S. is the greatest nation when it comes to innovation, technology and authorship, including films and music. But that is changing.

The fast pace of communication and easy access to data do not let users off the hook when it comes to acknowledging IP rights. Respecting IP rights today may be more inconvenient for some than others, but it should not be more acceptable.

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For more information about IPAS 2018, including registration information, please visit www.ipawarenesssummit.com.

To learn more about the Center for IP Understanding, go www.understandingip.org.

Image source: CIPU; understandingip.org

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