Management Intellectual Property

Before proceeding to explore the best way to go about carrying out an intellectual property investigation, it may be a good idea to mention something with regard to when such an investigation would be justified. Now the need for you to carry out an intellectual property investigation would arise where you feel that someone could have breached your intellectual property rights. It could be, for instance, where you have filed a patent for a particular product and where, rather ‘coincidentally,’ you come across someone selling a suspiciously similar product.

It could also be where you, as a creative worker (say a writer, a film maker, a singer or anything along those lines) come across bootleg copies of your work, and where you are keen on knowing who is infringing on your intellectual-property rights. Or it could be where you feel that you are not getting enough money out of your intellectual-property and where you come to develop a suspicion that the other people with whom you co-own the intellectual property are short-changing you.

In all these situations, the intellectual-property investigation would have a number of objectives. Firstly, it would be aimed at identifying the source of the intellectual property infringement. This would be important because as it often turns out in these kinds of situations, the source of property rights infringement you most strongly suspect can be the most innocent person, whilst the person you least suspect turns out to be the real culprit. So the first objective would be to identify the actual source of the infringement. The second objective of the intellectual property investigation would be to establish the motives of the infringement. Sometimes, the motives for property rights infringement go beyond a desire to illegally benefit from the intellectual property. Sometimes, it turns out to be a case of malice, or a case of sabotage by a competitor, and these would be important things for you to establish properly. Finally, the intellectual property investigation would be aimed at building up a water-tight case that can carry the day in a court of justice, leading to restitution on your part, and punishment for the perpetrator of the intellectual property infringement. Read the rest of this entry »

In Panama, differing from other jurisdictions where cases of industrial property are of administrative nature, since 1997, the IP jurisdiction has been removed from the Ministry of Commerce and Industry and given to special courts with exclusive competence to handle IP conflicts (ie, oppositions, cancellations, infringement of trademarks and copyrights, etc). Also, the District Attorneys’ office is specialized in the prosecution of IP rights. Since the creation of this specialized jurisdiction within the court system, the proceedings regarding these subjects have been more expedite and owners are allowed to get a better protection of their IP rights in Panama.

The creation of specialized prosecutors for intellectual property-related cases has strengthened the protection and enforcement of intellectual property rights (IPR) in Panama.

Panamanian Intellectual Property Law also includes criminal enforcement and criminal penalties such as prison, which are the most effective methods and procedures in the fight against infringement of intellectual property rights.

Another major difference from foreign jurisdictions is that in Panama custom authorities and administrative authorities from the Colon Free Zone, which have their own special brand register, are empowered by law to retain, inspect and even seize counterfeit goods; in some cases, these institutions may proceed even without the need of a claim or process in case of suspicion of counterfeited goods. Read the rest of this entry »

In Robin Ray v Classic FM, the English High Court held that a contractor providing services owns the intellectual property in the materials created for the client. The decision is a useful guide to contractors as it is one of the leading cases in determining the whether a commissioner of intellectual property may use intellectual property for purposes not expressly contemplated by a written agreement.

Background

Mr Ray was a highly respected expert in classical music in England , reputed to have an encyclopaedic knowledge of classical music. He was engaged by Classic FM in the United Kingdom in 1991 to compile the radio station’s repertoire, compile playlists, categorising tracks for play lists, and rate their popularity under each of the categories. The contract did not deal with intellectual property rights. The consultancy agreement was originally for 11 months, however the work of Mr Ray proved beneficial for Classic FM, and his services were extended until 1997. Some 50,000 tracks were eventually categorised. The results of the work were incorporated into a database that was used to select music on a rotational basis, and prevent overplaying.

The project was success. After internal use for about 5 years, Classic FM proposed to licence the database to overseas companies. Mr Ray objected and commenced proceedings to prevent Classic FM licensing the use outside the UK without his permission, on the basis that he was the author of documents that were incorporated into the database. Read the rest of this entry »