Page 181 - Business Principles and Management

Unit 2

FIGURE 7-3 Federal, state, and local governments grant special
property rights.

Intellectual Property

PATENTS COPYRIGHTS TRADEMARKS

Motors Software Names
Mousetraps Novels Symbols
Games Histories
Computers Poetry
Textbooks

patent is essentially unfair. Should doctors who develop a new method for heal-
ing people prohibit other doctors from using it or require them to pay a licensing
fee? Occasionally, the Patent and Trademark Office revokes or denies patents
that discourage desirable competition.
Unfortunately, stealing patents is an acceptable practice in some countries
that do not honor the U.S. patent law. As a result, American firms lose millions
of dollars. By tightening trade agreements with these countries, this great loss
to American firms may begin to decline. On the other hand, patent laws differ
worldwide. For example, Japan’s patents promote technology sharing, whereas
U.S. patents protect inventors.
What kinds of laws protect the
duplication and distribution of COPYRIGHTS
computer software?
A copyright is similar to a patent in that the federal government
gives an author the sole right to reproduce, publish, and sell literary
or artistic work for the life of the author, typically, plus 70 years.
No one may publish or reproduce copyrighted work without per-
mission of the copyright owner. However, the law permits occa-
sional photocopying of copyrighted material for fair use. Whereas
a teacher could copy a magazine article to distribute to students,
articles from the same magazine could not be copied and distributed
weekly throughout the school year without obtaining permission.
PHOTO: © GETTY IMAGES/PHOTODISC. video and audio tapes, and computer software programs, for
Copyright laws also cover electronic methods for distributing
creative work. Copyrights protect creators of CD games and music,

example. Duplicating CDs, tapes, disks, and software programs for
distribution to others is usually illegal. When an employee makes a
personal copy of a computer software program for use on a home
computer, the employee violates the copyright law. Furthermore, if
a warning is not publicized that copying creative work such as a

168 software program is illegal, the employer is also guilty.