The term «intellectual property», «intellectual property law», its subjects, objects etc.

[1] See, especially, Theodore M. Drange, Nonbelief and Evil: Two Arguments for the Nonexistence of God

[2] Following tradition, and for simplicity, I use the male personal pronoun for God. My apologies to anyone who finds that linguistic practice offensive.

[3] This obstacle applies to any version of the Ontological Argument.

[4] See, especially, Richard M. Gale, On the Nature and Existence of God (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1991), chapter 2. The versions of the argument discussed by Gale are different from the one taken up in the present essay.

[5] Gale, On the Nature and Existence of God, chapter 3.

[6] Kai Nielsen, An Introduction to the Philosophy of Religion (New York: St. Martin's Press, 1982), p. 36.

[7] See J. L. Mackie, The Miracle of Theism (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1982), pp. 1-2.

[8] For reasons that support the incoherence of "disembodied persons," see Nonbelief and Evil, appendix E, section 2.

[9] See his Web essay "The Freewill Argument for the Nonexistence of God" at the following address: <http://www.ffrf.org/fttoday/august97/barker.html>.

[10] For a long list of biblical references to God's knowledge of the future free actions of humans, see Nonbelief and Evil, appendix B, section 2.

The term «intellectual property», «intellectual property law», its subjects, objects etc.

The term "intellectual property" refers to a loose cluster of legal doctrines that regulate the uses of different sorts of ideas and insignia. The law of copyright protects various “original forms of expression,” including novels, movies, musical compositions, and computer software programs. Patent law protects inventions and some kinds of discoveries. Trademark law protects words and symbols that identify for consumers the goods and services manufactured or supplied by particular persons or firms. Trade-secret law protects commercially valuable information (soft-drink formulas, confidential marketing strategies, etc.) that companies attempt to conceal from their competitors. The “right of publicity” protects celebrities’ interests in their images and identities.

Intellectual property law deals with the rules for securing and enforcing legal rights to inventions, designs, and artistic works. Just as the law protects ownership of personal property and real estate, so too does it protect the exclusive control of intangible assets. The purpose of these laws is to give an incentive for people to develop creative works that benefit society, by ensuring they can profit from their works without fear of misappropriation by others.

Subjects:

The subjects of intellectual property are: creator (creators) of intellectual property rights (the author, artist, inventor, etc.) and other persons who possess intellectual property rights under contracts or wills.

The subjects of rights to inventions, utility models, industrial designs are authors and natural or legal persons who are entitled to such rights under contracts or wills.

Subjects of trademark rights, indication of origin of goods might be legal entities and individuals, if they carry out business activities.

Subject of legal relations arising from the creation and use of plant varieties can be any legal or natural person.

The subject of rights to a rationalization proposal, is the innovator.

Based on the fact that a trade secret, pursuant to applicable law, includes mainly information relating to business activities, subjects of right to trade secrets (know-how) are the persons engaged in entrepreneurial activities.

Objects

· Industrial Property Rights (Patents, Trademarks, Industrial designs, Utility Models, Topography of integrated circuits and Geographical Indications);

· Copyright (Literary and artistic works);

· Protection of New Varieties of Plants.

The Convention Establishing the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), concluded

in Stockholm on July 14, 1967 (Article 2(viii)) provides that “intellectual property shall include rights relating to:

- literary, artistic and scientific works,

- performances of performing artists, phonograms and broadcasts,

- inventions in all fields of human endeavor,

- scientific discoveries,

- industrial designs,

- trademarks, service marks and commercial names and designations,

- protection against unfair competition,

and all other rights resulting from intellectual activity in the industrial, scientific, literary or artistic fields.”

The areas mentioned as literary, artistic and scientific works belong to the copyright branch

of intellectual property. The areas mentioned as performances of performing artists, phonograms

and broadcasts are usually called “related rights,” that is, rights related to copyright. The areas

mentioned as inventions, industrial designs, trademarks, service marks and commercial names and designations constitute the industrial property branch of intellectual property. The area mentioned as protection against unfair competition may also be considered as belonging to that branch, the more so as Article 1(2) of the Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property (the “Paris Convention”) includes “the repression of unfair competition” among the

areas of “the protection of industrial property”; the said Convention states that “any act of

competition contrary to honest practices in industrial and commercial matters constitutes

an act of unfair competition” (Article 10bis(2)).

The expression “industrial property” covers inventions and industrial designs. Simply stated,

inventions are new solutions to technical problems and industrial designs are aesthetic creations

determining the appearance of industrial products. In addition, industrial property includes

trademarks, service marks, commercial names and designations, including indications of source and appellations of origin, and protection against unfair competition. Here, the aspect of intellectual creations—although existent—is less prominent, but what counts here is that the object of 4 WIPO Intellectual Property Handbook: Policy, Law and Use industrial property typically consists of signs transmitting information to consumers, in particular as

regards products and services offered on the market, and that the protection is directed against

unauthorized use of such signs which is likely to mislead consumers, and misleading practices in

general.

Scientific discoveries, the remaining area mentioned in the WIPO Convention, are not the

same as inventions. The Geneva Treaty on the International Recording of Scientific Discoveries

(1978) defines a scientific discovery as “the recognition of phenomena, properties or laws of the

material universe not hitherto recognized and capable of verification” (Article 1(1)(i)). Inventions are new solutions to specific technical problems. Such solutions must, naturally, rely on the properties or laws of the material universe (otherwise they could not be materially or “technically” applied), but those properties or laws need not be properties or laws “not hitherto recognized.” An invention puts to new use, to new technical use, the said properties or laws, whether they are recognized (“discovered”) simultaneously with the making of the invention or whether they were already recognized (“discovered”) before, and independently of, the invention.

Date: 2014-12-22; view: 1456