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Some corporations want to lock up copyright even tighter. Some naive intellectuals want to abandon copyright altogether. Where is a "do-nothing" Congress now that we need one?

Article discusses implications of technology on the idea of copyright; doesn't attempt to provide answers as much as the questions {free registration required}

A straightforward list, but useful for those with no experience in this area.

The debate over the music-swapping firm Napster is actually part of a broader dispute over intellectual property. Proponents of the "it should all be free" school had better beware -- the internet might end up just like broadcast television and radio. That's what happens when audiences are sold to advertissers.

IT bristles as Washington tries to define its role in regulating the Internet and the technology industry

Article discusses the American Bar Association's opposition to any change in the rule of ethics that says lawyers can't practice in partnership with nonlawyers, such as accountants.

An author-publisher dispute about material posted online raises tough questions about Internet copyright law.

As IP has assumed greater strategic prominence in the boardroom, so has IP due diligence in funding and M&A activity. Part of managing diligence compliance is knowing what to expect. Cheaters ace the test by getting the questions in advance. In IP diligence, that's not cheating - just common sense. Funders and acquirers usually focus on three primary areas. [Hat tip to Themanager.org]

E-commerce is so new that lawyers (and the law) are having a tough time keeping up with it, but that doesn't get the manager off the hook if something that should have been thought about slips through the cracks. Here are a few simple points to keep in mind as you work on any e-commerce project.

Spring so far has been full of surprises, not the least of which is the SEC's relief for private companies with at least 500 option holders that, under Section 12(g) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, might have had to fulfill public company disclosure requirements, such as 10-Qs and 10-Ks. It could be extremely harmful for a private company to have to expose its books for anyone to see. The SEC's new and more flexible guidelines let companies seek relief for stock options that are immediately exercisable, as long as they are nontransferable in most cases.

A brief guide to getting started on patents, copyright, or trademarks.

"Consumer contracts in cyberspace often include terms that paper contracts would blush at. They may deprive users of intellectual property rights, exclude consumer warranties and severely limit liability . . . Merchants have all the power and consumers have little. Agreements can be changed without warning, and even without notification. Customers are supposed to keep checking back, on the off-chance that something has changed. Consumers are often deemed to have accepted the terms of such agreements, merely because they used the website; they are not required to have read the agreement to be bound by it. Sometimes consumers may not even know the agreement exists. Sometimes the terms and conditions are accessible only from a fine-print link at the bottom of the home page: their existence is scarcely advertised. And most agreements forbid alteration: there is no negotiation. This is one of those areas where our ethics have lagged behind our technology. From the point of view of contract law, cyberspace is still close to the state of nature."

Just when you thought that your company would be rolling in royalty payments, your patent attorneys tell you that you should have disclosed the patent application and it might now be impossible to enforce any resulting patent. How did this happen?

The legality of trademark protection in gray markets is determined by the principles of: universality, exhaustion and territoriality. Recent cases involving the Tariff, Lanham, and Copyright Acts have restricted the level of legal recourse where parallel imports jeopardize the trademark holder's investment and/or create confusion amongst the consumers. The landmark 1998 L'Anza Supreme Court decision clearly sends a message to trademark owners that legislative protection has been severely limited. The case opened the US market to greater importation of gray goods. This study also has important implications for marketing managers which include:

(1) competition from parallel imports will inevitably test trademarked products in profitable markets with "free-rider" potential;
(2) marketers understanding the law, and willing to devise proactive international strategy, may still find limited protection under the Tariff, Lanham and Copyright Act;
(3) a combination of legal and nonlegal measures may provide the best overall protection;
(4) failure to address gray market activities can erode trademark image and destroy marketing strategies.

Marketers may be best served by minimizing the conditions which create gray markets or looking for nonlegal response alternatives. Proactive strategies, such as the ones described in this article, to limit the opportunities for gray markets could prove the most viable alternatives for trademark protection.

When it comes to foreign trade, U.S. businesses are famous advocates for strong, consistently applied intellectual property rights. Drug companies worry about weak patent law in India and software companies complain about the Chinese approach to property law. But what about the application of intellectual property laws at home? Are many firms more concerned with securing competitive advantage than with ensuring impartial laws?

Europe's tighter privacy laws present challenges and risks for U.S. companies.

As more companies outsource non-core activities and enter into alliances to extend their competitive reach, the risk that someone - a potential partner or vendor - could poach their intellectual property is increasing. While the risk of such theft is hardly new, it is rapidly becoming a serious problem in today's post-industrial, information-driven society. Wharton's Eric K. Clemons and Lorin M. Hitt have been studying the issue. Clemons presented the major elements of this research at a recent conference..

Product liability prevention focus is more than just a hazards analysis and warning label effort, although they are part of the big picture. It is also more than just an "Engineering" concern, and instead involves the entire organization. The fact that it involves so many areas of management is why the focus needs to be incorporated into the existing Total Quality program. The Corporate Quality Program is typically the only fully documented system of comprehensive controls and procedures within most corporations.

The Internet's ability to span borders, destroy distance and unite the world's computer networks into a seamless whole looks wonderfully elegant to engineers, but awfully messy to lawyers. Previously cut-and-dried questions of legal jurisdiction—such as what country a particular transaction took place in - have now become horribly murky. Buy something in a shop, and you are clearly bound by the laws of the country where the shop is physically situated. But make a purchase from the same shop over the Internet from a foreign country, and it is not at all clear whose laws apply. Untangling this legal Gordian knot is the unenviable goal of a proposed treaty called the Hague Convention on Jurisdiction and Foreign Judgments.

In many industries, firms eager to capture gains from their innovations are filing patent applications at an unprecedented rate. At the same time they are struggling to keep up with accelerating development cycles, shrinking lead times and changing legal interpretations. A recent Wharton conference on "Managing Knowledge Assets: Changing Rules and Emerging Strategies," addressed some of these issues and asked the key question: What are firms doing to protect their knowledge assets?

"To hear some people tell it, corporate liability for failed information security is the coming apocalypse. Several experts predict a flurry of personal injury lawsuits filed by customers whose personal information has been disclosed, corporate lawsuits based on damage caused by security breaches at business partners and class-action lawsuits filed on behalf of irate stockholders…experts say it's only a matter of time before judges and juries have to decide whether companies that are victims of a security breach can be held liable for having inadequate security."

Companies create intellectual property daily, and the ability to protect it directly affects its value. There are four main types of intellectual property to consider protecting:
- trademarks and service marks,
- copyrights,
- patents, and
- trade secrets.

This article discusses these as well as contractual protections that apply to employing IT staffers, consultants, and subcontractors.

It's even worse than you think. Out-of-control lawsuits are shutting down medical practices, killing businesses and costing the economy $200 billion a year.

Want to know where to go for images, how to find and download them, and the copyright issues involved? Then focus in on this descriptive article by Nick Tomaiuolo and you'll get the picture!

If you thought inventing something was hard, just wait till you try to protect the invention in markets across the globe.

Note: Darwin Magazine is now dead. Some articles are moving to CIO. I will try to update the links when I have time...

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IBM rakes in more than $1 billion in licensing revenue. A top-notch patent management program can benefit your bottom line, too, and bring in income in unexpected ways.

Note: Business 2.0 is now part of CNNmoney and some older articles are no longer available

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Historically, the courts have refused to let copyrights block technology.

Using the Internet can save you money and time when doing preliminary research on patents, trademarks, and copyrights. Here are some resources to consider.

During litigation proceedings, all documents, including electronic documents such as e-mails, can be subject to scrutiny. Now is the time to make sure everyone in your company is not using e-mail in a way that could backfire down the road.

Security requires a process, people, policies, education, and technologies to work together.