I’m currently taking CPSC 430 and one of the requirements is to keep a journal throughout the term. I will be blogging here my class notes, thoughts, and links as they come up that are relevant to the course material. Also, see the other posts in the CPSC 430 category.
- Creative Commons
- Intellectual Property in International Context
- WIPO – World Intellectual Property Organization
- TRIPS – agreement
- Berne Convention – 1886 international agreement regarding copyright
- Levy on blank media
- $0.21 per blank CD, $2-25 for MP3 players
- Specified personal use only
- Open Source
- Commercialization vs distribution
- Poor Man’s copyright
- Mail to self
- Problems – pre-sending
- Copyright is $50/$65
- Patent is $5000-$10000 not including legal fees
- Violates Kantianism – exploiting individuals as means to end
- Inhibits innovation
- Right of first refusal
- Courier companies may have agreement not to use as a timestamp
- Submarine patent
- Patent intentionally delayed
- E.g., GIF/LZW
Today in our group activity we learned about two types of patent systems: The first was first-to-invent, and the second was first-to-file. As you can imagine, the former method allows true inventors to contest patents if they can prove they invented it before the patent’s invention date, the latter method is a simpler system which grants patents to the first applicant. The first-to-file system is used in Canada and the EU, while the first-to-invent system is used in the U.S. and Philippines. Although the first-to-invent system is fairer, it costs a lot of money and resources to determine the true inventor, sometimes it is even impossible. On the other hand, the inventor’s rights to patent cannot be guaranteed in the first-to-file system, and often the quality of patents is much lower with this system. We didn’t come up with a conclusion for the best system because both have their advantages and disadvantages.