Introduction

Use of the Internet is free, right? Think again. Either you or someone on your behalf is paying for the access given by the Internet service provider. The browser — whether Netscape Navigator or Microsoft Internet Explorer — is also underwritten and developed by large corporations.

Once a person gains access to the Internet, and the World Wide Web, there is a wealth of intellectual material available. That material, or "intellectual property," needs to be protected so that authors, publishers and the like can make a living and otherwise protect their assets and reputation. There needs to be a legal recourse for that protection.

Why is this important to you? If you create technical articles or presentations, you need to understand who controls the rights to reproduce, distribute and expand on that work. With worldwide access to information growing each day via the Internet, you should be familiar with ways to protect your intellectual property.

Protecting Intellectual Property

Intellectual property (IP) as a phrase is an umbrella term used to capture: copyright; patents; trademarks; trade secrets and other intangible assets. In more recent years, with the advent of computer software and now the Internet/Web environment, IP plays a more central role for its constituent parts.

A primary reason is the new age we are in — the Information Age. New structures are being developed to protect "owners" of their intellectual property, whether the owner is a writer, publisher, conference sponsor, inventor, or a company. The structures are being implemented through the legal systems, not only for the United States, but around the world. WIPO, the World Intellectual Property Organization, plays a key role in the development of treaties and laws governing various aspects of IP. WIPO, started in 1974, is a specialized agency of the United Nations.

What Is Intellectual Property?

IP is about creativity and ownership of it. As such, it is imbedded in the legal system to determine contractual arrangements regarding IP’s creation, ownership and use. It is intrinsically related to the innovative expression, protection, and redistribution of such items as books, articles, musical scores, and industrial property — primarily trademarks and patents.

Stephen Elias’ book, "Patent, Copyright and Trademark: a desk reference to intellectual property law," shows a chart (pages 10-12) illustrating over 100 forms of creative works and how IP can be legally protected under one or more of five rights. An additional sixth column labeled "No Rights" identifies: book design; characters in books; characters on television or movies; and facts and "creative products" that are not protected.

"Pirated copies" refers to any activity directed toward the improper acquisition of someone’s IP. The result typically is a lack of compensation to the IP owner. This compensation may take the form of just acknowledging the source, to paying large sums of money (royalties) for the use of IP.

Intellectual capital, another related term, is emerging from recent literature related to corporate efforts to assess intangible wealth — previously not identified or well measured, and typically not stated on a company’s balance sheet.

Who Owns Intellectual Property?

In your professional life, have you presented a paper at a conference, or had an article published in a magazine? You created that item, but who do you think "owns" the copyright? More than likely it is the conference sponsor, like the Pressure Vessels and Piping Conference sponsored by the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME); or the publisher of the magazine, such as Mechanical Engineering, published by ASME.

If ASME does not own it, probably your company does. If your paper, presented or published, was done in the course of your employment, it would be known as a "work made for hire." If it was commissioned, then there is a written, signed agreement and the rights go to the party commissioning the work. The third and last possibility is if you sell the copyright to someone else, the one purchasing then owns the copyright.

Why Is It Important To You?

The ownership of IP determines the rights to reproduction, display, redistribution, and the development of derivative works, and who receives the royalties. ASME, in this example, should be notified any time someone wants to reproduce that conference paper or magazine article. Another central point in obtaining rights for reproduction and redistribution is the Copyright Clearance Center (CCC) in Massachusetts.

The CCC was mandated by federal legislation to act on behalf of copyright owners to collect copyright payments and reimburse owners of copyrights. A large number of publishers, including ASME, are "members" of CCC to facilitate that process. Publishers, up to this point, have always acted as a convenient forum to present a message to a large audience, primarily in print. But a new forum — the Internet with its Web appearance — provides an alternate environment with an even wider audience than before.

Controlling The Use Of Intellectual Property

You can act as your own author, publisher and distributor all at once. Personal Web sites can very effectively act as a distribution point. But how can one person hope to control the subsequent use of personally created IP by Internet users? How does one person receive royalties from someone else’s use of his or her material?

Commercial publishers have the resources, money and personnel to exercise a greater degree of control of future use of copyrighted IP material. It has followed that publishers in the last few years have moved rapidly to re-establish their role on the Internet regarding IP and redistribution control for their companies and their contributing authors.

Monitoring for copyright violations is a continuous effort. Once a paper is written or otherwise made into tangible form, it is then protected by copyright. Whether the typical small letter c in a circle is present makes no difference to be protected by copyright. The (c) more clearly indicates the moment of copyright inception and who is the owner of the copyright. And an actual registered copyright with the Copyright Office in the Library of Congress garners more legal strength for any subsequent legal entanglements.

Patents For Intellectual Property

If you have an inventive mind and create new tools, or modify old tools, these are candidates for patents. As such, they can be registered with the Patent & Trademark Office in Washington, D.C., if you are a U.S. resident. That can protect your idea (IP) should you want to commercialize it. But don’t think that is the end of the process. It, too, is on-going.

Once a patent is registered, it must be renewed periodically or it will wind up in the "public domain" and another company can use it to its benefit. For example, a drug company may research and develop a new drug. Patents will be filed, the drug will go through a battery of animal and human tests before it ever gets on the commercial market. That investment in the process needs to be protected.

Trademarks also can slip into general use. An example of a trademark case is when Xerox Corporation first manufactured photocopiers. The word "xeroxing" was soon being used by the public and press to refer to photocopying in general. Xerox attorneys began scanning the literature to make sure the reference was replaced by the word "photocopying." Through vigilance, Xerox succeeded in maintaining its IP rights to its corporate identity.

Where Can You Find Out More About IP?

Stop at your local public library. With all their magazine subscriptions and indexes for them, you will find many articles about IP referenced in the trade magazines and the popular press. For example, "Best’s Review — Property/Casualty Edition" August 1997 issue has a cover story on IP. The New York Times May 19, 1996, issue on page 6 had an article entitled: "This One Just Might Be A Real Trade War (Chinese pirating of U.S. intellectual property)." If you have access to the Web, use your favorite search engine and type in "intellectual property" for Web sites covering IP. You will be amazed at the results.

Web Sites Of Interest:

World Intellectual Property Organization: http://www.wipo.org

United States Copyright Office: http://lcweb.loc.gov/copyright

United States Patent & Trademark Office: http://www.uspto.gov

Copyright Clearance Center Online: http://www.copyright.com

Intellectual Property Owners: http://www.ipo.org

Peter S. Moon is Manager of the Technical Resource Center in the Technology Division of Hartford Steam Boiler. He earned his bachelor of science degree and master’s degree in library science (M.L.S.) from Syracuse University. Over the past 25 years, Peter has worked in a variety of information environments with HSB, the Countway Medical Library of Harvard University, the New England Journal of Medicine, and as an information broker.

4. "Intellectual Property and the National Information Infrastructure — the report of the Working Group on Intellectual Property Rights," Bruce A. Lehman, assistant secretary of commerce and commissioner of patents and trademarks chair (Sept. 1995).

Executive Summary