Print this page Protecting Technology
Tracy P. Jong, Esq., Patent and
Trademark Attorney
Cheng-Ning Jong, P.E., B.S., M.S.,
Registered Patent Agent
Course Outline
The know-how to
produce a product or a service in a manner that sets a company apart from its
competitors is a proprietary advantage that must be protected for continued
success. In this three-hour course, you will learn how to protect the technology
that you develop. This course will cover basic corporate intellectual property
programs, the use of confidentiality agreements, considerations in determining
whether to patent or maintain technology as a trade secret, protection of trade
secrets, and proper record keeping for inventors. You will also learn key concepts
about patents, including how to identify potentially patentable assets, impediments
to obtaining patent protection and key aspects about patent ownership and exploitation.
This course includes
a multiple choice quiz at the end,
Learning Objective
This course teaches the following specific knowledge and skills:
- Corporate intellectual property protection programs;
- How to identify potentially patentable assets;
- Considerations in determining whether to patent or maintain technology as a trade secret;
- What a patent will and won't do for you;
- Inventor's record keeping;
- Corporate security considerations in maintaining trade secrets;
- Important bars to patentability;
- Key aspects of patent ownership for the employer;
- The use of confidentiality agreements; and
- Patent ownership,
licensing and assignments.
Intended Audience
This course is intended for engineers, corporate management and private practice.
Benefit to Attendees
Attendee for this course will be learn about basic corporate intellectual property programs, the use of confidentiality agreements, considerations in determining whether to patent or maintain technology as a trade secret, protection of trade secrets, proper record keeping for inventors, key concepts about patents, including how to identify potentially patentable assets, impediments to obtaining patent protection and key aspects about patent ownership and exploitation.
Course
Introduction
In this course,
you will learn how to protect the technology that you develop. If you own your
own company or work in management, you will learn how to protect the technology
developed by employees and consultants. This course will cover basic corporate
intellectual property programs, the use of confidentiality agreements, considerations
in determining whether to patent or maintain technology as a trade secret, protection
of trade secrets and proper record keeping for inventors. This course will also
discuss key concepts about patents including how to identify potentially patentable
assets, bars to obtaining patent protection and key aspects about patent ownership
and exploitation.
Course Content
In this lesson, you are required to download and study the following course content in PDF format:
Please click on the above underlined hypertext to view, download or print the document for your study. Because of the large file size, we recommend that you first save the file to your computer by right clicking the mouse and choosing "Save Target As ...", and then open the file in Adobe Acrobat Reader. If you still experience any difficulty in downloading or opening this file, you may need to close some applications or reboot your computer to free up some memory.
Course Summary
We have introduced many concepts about technology protection and ownership. With this knowledge, you will be able to make more informed decisions about your technology assets. Inaction can have detrimental and costly consequences. Identify your commercially sensitive information. Then, implement reasonable policies and procedures to protect that information. Special consideration should be given to the use of nondisclosure agreements, employment agreements and invention notebooks.
Identify your potentially patentable assets on a case-by-case basis. Consider the advantages of patent protection. Consider whether trade secret protection may be available and if so, whether it would be advantageous.
You will undoubtedly decrease the risk of losing valuable intellectual property rights and assets through inattention and apathy.
Technology adds value to a business. Product designs, trade dress, brand names make a product attractive and appealing to customers. Novel features add value. Manufacturing costs may enhance competitiveness. So protecting valuable technology should be a crucial part of the business strategy of any business.
By protecting trade secrets and patentable know - how, the owner of the technology obtains the exclusive right to prevent its unauthorized copying or imitation by others. This makes business sense as it improves the competitiveness of a business and often brings in additional revenue in one or more of the following ways:
- You are able to prevent it from being copied and imitated by competitors, and thereby strengthen your competitive position.
- Protection contributes to obtaining a fair return on investment made in creating and marketing the relevant product, and thereby improves your profits.
- Technology assets can increase the commercial value of a company and its products.
- Protected technology may also be licensed (or sold) to others for a fee. By licensing it, you may be able to enter markets that you are otherwise unable to serve.
- Registration of product designs encourages fair competition and honest trade practices, which, in turn, promote the production of diverse products.
Decisions on how, when and where to protect a company's technology may have an important impact on other areas of management. It is crucial therefore to integrate issues of technology protection into the broader business strategy. For example, the type of protection, the costs, the effectiveness of protection and issues of ownership of technology, may be important considerations when deciding:
- Whether to undertake technology development in - house or to commission an outside consultant;
- The timing of the initial use of a new technology in advertising, marketing or public display in an exhibition;
- Which export markets to target;
- If, when and how to license or assign a technology to be commercially exploited by other companies in return for economic remuneration.
A proactive plan
and its implementation will give your business the tools it needs to be competitive
and succeed in today's global marketplace.
Quiz
Once you finish studying the above course content, you need to take a quiz to obtain the PDH credits.
DISCLAIMER: The materials contained in the online course are not intended as a representation or warranty on the part of PDH Center or any other person/organization named herein. The materials are for general information only. They are not a substitute for competent professional advice. Application of this information to a specific project should be reviewed by a registered architect and/or professional engineer/surveyor. Anyone making use of the information set forth herein does so at their own risk and assumes any and all resulting liability arising therefrom.
