Economic and Intellectual Property

IPR Case Study

2006-08-21T19:43:00.000+08:00

Electric company battle Guangzhou Intermediate People's Court has made the decision of Property Preservation and Evidence Preservation in a patent infringement case between two electric companies. As a result, defendant Leviton Electric (Dongguan) Co Ltd has been prohibited from selling 50,000 products. In June, General Protecht Group Inc, a manufacturer of Ground Fault Circuit Interrupters (GFCI

Using Patent Information for the Benefit of Your SME

2006-07-24T02:08:00.000+08:00

What is “Patent Information”? “Patent information” is the technical and legal information contained in patent documents that are published periodically by patent offices. A patent document includes the full description of how a patented invention works and the claims which determine the scope of protection as well as details on who patented the invention, when it was patented and reference to

Managing the Intellectual Property Assets of Your SME

2006-07-11T02:06:00.000+08:00

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

Protecting Innovations by Utility Models

2006-07-01T01:58:00.000+08:00

What is a Utility Model? A utility model is an exclusive right granted for an invention, which allows the right holder to prevent others from commercially using the protected invention, without his authorization, for a limited period of time. In its basic definition, which may vary from one country (where such protection is available) to another, a utility model is similar to a patent. In fact,

How can Your SME Benefit From Copyright?

2006-07-01T01:55:00.000+08:00

Is your enterprise involved in the creation, recording, publication, dissemination, distribution or retailing of artistic, musical or literary works? Does your company have a website, a brochure, a corporate video, or does it advertise on newspapers or TV? Is your SME using music, pictures, or software products owned by others in any of its publications, brochures, databases or websites? Does

How can collective marks, certification marks and geographical indications be useful for SMEs?

2006-06-13T01:56:00.000+08:00

For a small and medium-sized enterprise (SME), obtaining consumer recognition and customer loyalty is an arduous task. Regardless of the quality of the goods, gaining access to retail stores, local markets and distribution networks and making products known among consumers requires a significant investment that may exceed the budget of many firms. Given the small scale of production, many SMEs

黑客執意破解 X360 是微軟挑釁的結果 ?

2006-06-05T13:27:00.000+08:00

微軟的 Xbox 360 自從去年 11 月上市以來，立刻成為了眾多黑客組織爭相挑戰的「珠穆朗瑪峰」。然而，根據美國《華爾街日報》近日的一篇報導，造成這種現象的原因不僅僅是因為微軟的 Xbox 360 是目前最新的也是防盜性能最好的電子產品，而同時在很大程度上是微軟挑釁的結果。「我必須面對微軟發出的挑戰！」著名美籍華裔黑客黃欣國（Andrew「Bunnie」Huang）對《華爾街日報》的記者透露，他執意要破解 Xbox 360 的原因是由於微軟的挑釁。微軟

Interview: Hal Abelson, "Intellectual Property, Copyrights, and Universities"

2006-05-06T20:23:00.000+08:00

Hal Abelson, Electrical Engineering and Computer Science MIT (Portrait by Phillip Greenspun) Technology has a way of exposing our social and political institutions. It often provides us new capabilities that clash or conflict with these timeworn, comfortable agreements. What we once took for granted is now cast in an entirely new light. The Internet is a good

Protecting the Trade Secrets of Your SME

2006-04-21T01:51:00.000+08:00

What is a Trade Secret? Broadly speaking, any confidential business information which provides an enterprise a competitive edge may be considered a trade secret. Trade secrets encompass manufacturing or industrial secrets and commercial secrets. The unauthorized use of such information by persons other than the holder is regarded as an unfair practice and a violation of the trade secret.

Why are Trademarks Relevant to the Success of Your SME?

2006-03-10T01:49:00.000+08:00

Your trademarks are in many ways the face of your business. They allow your customers to distinguish your products or services from those of your competitors, giving your SME the possibility to better market its goods or services. But trademarks are not just used as identifiers. They are also seen as a guarantee of consistent quality. A customer who is pleased with the quality of your product or

Protecting the Intellectual Property Rights of Your SME Abroad

2006-02-26T01:46:00.000+08:00

Why Should Your SME Protect its IP Abroad? Sooner or later, many small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) operate in more than one market selling their products or services or licensing/franchising their intellectual property (IP) rights and know-how beyond their national borders. IP rights, however, are territorial, implying that they are usually only protected in the home country or region

How can Your SME Acquire and Maintain Intellectual Property Protection?

2006-02-04T01:40:00.000+08:00

Before your SME can take advantage of intellectual property (IP) assets it has to acquire IP rights. A number of IP rights need to be granted or registered. 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

How can Intellectual Property Enhance the Export Opportunities of Your SME?

2006-01-07T01:36:00.000+08:00

Before embarking on an export operation, enterprises go through a series of crucial steps which range from identifying an appropriate export market and estimating demand, to finding channels of distribution, estimating costs and obtaining funds. Here we seek to outline the main reasons why you should also take intellectual property (IP) issues into account while planning your export strategy, and

專訪張平“ 我為什麼對 DVD 專利提出無效申請 ”

2005-12-10T01:02:00.000+08:00

眾所周知，以 DVD 為代表的高昂專利許可費，制約了我國相關高技術產業的發展，已成為國人的心頭之痛。我國雖然是 DVD 鐳射視盤機生產大國，但每出口一臺價格 40 美元的 DVD 視盤機，就要向外國公司交納 13 至 20 美元的專利使用費，國內公司艱難獲取的一點利潤都將化為烏有。人們都在為我們缺少自主知識產權的核心技術而悲哀。張平教授此時提出的無效請求，無疑向人們提醒：這一高昂的專利許可費是否合理！國際巨頭是否存在將缺少

Who should own what?

2005-12-09T00:41:00.000+08:00

An interview with Lawrence Lessig on Patents and the InternetLAWRENCE LESSIG knows how to stir things up. A professor at the Stanford Law School, he is also the founder of the Stanford Center for Internet and Society. His latest book, The Future of Ideas: The Fate of the Commons in a Connected World, published in 2001, details Lessig's view that commercial forces

What is a trademark?

2005-11-05T19:20:00.000+08:00

A trademark is a sign that distinguishes the goods and services of one trader from those of others. Typically a trademark can be words (including personal names), indications, designs, letters, characters, numerals, figurative elements, colours, sounds, smells, the shape of the goods or their packaging or any combination of these. A sign must be capable of being represented graphically in order

Difference between Trademark Registration and Company Registration

2005-10-12T19:29:00.000+08:00

Separate laws and systems regulate the registration of company names, business names and trademarks in Hong Kong. A company name registration at the Companies Registry or a business name registration at the Business Registration Office (Inland Revenue Department) is not the same as a trademark registration at the Trade Marks Registry. A business or company name registration is not an indication

Why is Intellectual Property Crucial for Marketing the Products or Services of Your SME?

2005-10-11T00:29:00.000+08:00

For most small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), marketing products or services is a major challenge. A marketing strategy should establish a clear link between your products or services and your SME, as the producer or provider of such products or services. That is to say, customers should be able to distinguish, at a glance, between your products or services and those of your competitors and

How can Intellectual Property Enhance the Market Value of Your SME?

2005-09-10T23:51:00.000+08:00

The value of intellectual property (IP) is often not adequately appreciated and its potential for providing opportunities for future profit is widely underestimated by SMEs. However, when IP is legally protected and there is demand for the IP-protected products and/or services in the marketplace, IP can become a valuable business asset. IP may generate an income for your SME through the licensing

How do you Turn Inventions Into Profit-making Assets of Your SME?

2005-08-30T23:58:00.000+08:00

Innovative and creative ideas are at the heart of most successful businesses. Ideas by themselves, however, have little value. They need to be developed, turned into innovative products or services and commercialized successfully so as to enable your SME to reap the benefits of your innovation and creativity. Intellectual Property (IP), patents in particular, can be crucial for turning

Changing Copyright

2005-08-19T19:50:00.000+08:00

In an attempt to suggest a culturally sane solution to the continuing legal confrontations between owners of copyrighted cultural material and others who collage such material into new creations, we advocate a broadening of the copyright concept of Fair Use. We want the Fair Use statutes within copyright law to allow for a much broader variety of free, creative reuses of existing work whenever

Why is Intellectual Property Relevant to Your SME?

2005-07-07T23:44:00.000+08:00

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 Biro’s famous patent on ballpoint pens

Moral Rights

2005-07-04T19:57:00.000+08:00

The moral rights of Australian creators are now protected under the Copyright Act , following passage of the Copyright Amendment (Moral Rights) Act 2000 by Parliament on 7 December 2000. The legislation received the Governor General's assent on 21 December 2000 and came into effect from that time. The rights Under the Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works, the main

What is a patent

2005-06-29T18:42:00.000+08:00

A patent is a right granted for any device, substance, method or process which is new, inventive and useful.A patent is legally enforceable and gives the owner the exclusive right to commercially exploit the invention for the life of the patent. This is not automatic-you must apply for a patent to obtain exclusive rights to exploit your invention.. Kambrook learned this the hard way.There are two

專訪 Xbox 破解者：挑戰微軟與版權尺度極限

2005-06-11T13:23:00.000+08:00

雖然為了趕博士論文而忙得天昏地暗，麻省理工學院研究生 " 小兔 " 黃欣國 (Andrew Huang) 決定忙裡偷閒，抽空研究一下微軟 Xbox 遊戲機的安全系統。不過稍微動了一點腦筋，再加上精準的焊接技術，黃欣國很快就隔離了主要的安全公鑰。雖然 " 依法 " 黃欣國不得公開對外分享這些信息，但他卻在一篇廣為流傳的研究報告中詳細描述他使用的手法，這也間接衍生出後來的 Xbox 版 Linux ，以及其它許多使用者自行開發出來的軟件。黃欣國去年自 MIT 畢