Rights and Responsibilities

Intellectual Property

Mechanical Engineering Dept. CEME NUST 1

 INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY

Intellectual Property (IP) is the terminology attributed to intangible

assets having commercial value, and arising from human
intelligence, creativity, and imagination, but typically lacking
physical form

Mechanical Engineering Dept. CEME NUST 2

 MAJOR TYPES OF IP
1. Trademarks: A trademark is a sign that suitably
differentiates the owner’s goods or services from
those of others.
2. Patents: A patent is a legal record that bestows the
holder the exclusive right over an invention as per the
claims, in a limited geographical domain and for a
limited duration by thwarting possible interested
parties from any form of manufacture, use or sale of
the product or outcome of the invention. In theory,
the applicant (or inventor) can draft a patent
application but given the technical and procedural
complexity, in practice, patent lawyers and
researchers collaboratively write such applications. 3
Mechanical Engineering Dept. CEME NUST
 MAJOR TYPES OF IP

3. Industrial Designs: An industrial design protection is

related to certain specific ornamental shapes
associated with products whose duplication the
owner may wish to thwart

4. Copyright: Copyright is the right bestowed on the

owner or creator in relation to publication, and
distribution of a piece of writing, music, picture or
related works. Copyright also applies to technical
contents such as software, datasheets, and related
documents.

Mechanical Engineering Dept. CEME NUST 4

 Patents: Subject and Importance

• A patent is an exclusive right of exclusion of others, barring the

licensee, to manufacture, use, sell or import an invention
• The patent must generally be technical in nature and be meant
for an invention that works
• The invention can be a product, a composition, a method, a
process, or an improvement of any/all of these
• Patents contain solutions to technical problems, reveal the
current state-of-the-art, and provide vital information for
decision making on new research projects and business
opportunities
• A granted patent is presumed valid until a successful challenge,
and can be invalidated by the existence of a prior art discovery

Mechanical Engineering Dept. CEME NUST 5

 REQUIREMENTS FOR PATENTABILITY

1. Novelty
• Is a critical requirement which is central to the patent system
• In most countries, no public disclosure should have taken place
before filing takes place
• That is why researchers should be very careful that they do not
make any presentation or communicate any manuscript
containing the contents of the patent to any journal
• In order for a single reference (a technical paper or an earlier
patent) to anticipate an invention, all limitations must be in it
• The examiner is not supposed to combine multiple sources to
argue anticipation
• However, several references may be combined to show
obviousness and so non-patentability
Mechanical Engineering Dept. CEME NUST 6
 REQUIREMENTS FOR PATENTABILITY

2. Utility/Industrial Application:
• A proposed invention must be able to perform the specified
functions and achieve certain beneficial results
• A critical requirement for a patent to be granted, is that the
invention should do what is claimed in the patent, such that the
society benefits before granting an exclusive right to anyone
• However, the invention need not be superior to existing products
• In some countries, the invention must be legal, moral, and in line
with public policy

Mechanical Engineering Dept. CEME NUST 7

 REQUIREMENTS FOR PATENTABILITY

3. Nonobviousness/Inventive Step: :
• Obviousness or “inventive step” requires that the invention
cannot be put together from different pieces of known
information by a person with average skill in the art, thereby
ensuring that a patent is granted only for significant improvement
over the prior art
• An invention may be obvious despite not being exactly disclosed
in prior art
• If the prior art discloses most of the intended claims, the obvious
conclusion could be that the claims are “obvious” over that
reference, especially if other references can combine with the first
one to disclose the entire claimed invention

Mechanical Engineering Dept. CEME NUST 8

 PATENTS AND COMMERCIALIZATION IN ACADEMIA

• It is important for academic researchers to note that patenting an

idea does not preclude publications
• Most patents do not make money, but can serve the academic
interests of young researchers and can be a stepping stone to
bigger things
• It is important for the researcher, starting from early on in career,
to focus on possible industrial application of the research work

Mechanical Engineering Dept. CEME NUST 9

 Individual Credit and the Ownership of Innovation

 Inventors should receive (recognition and) special financial

rewards via a period of competitive advantage in the market
 The idea behind fair use of copyrighted material is that some
copying of copyrighted material may be justified if it does not
undermine a copyright holder’s property interest or is in the
public interest (e.G., Because it facilitates education)

Mechanical Engineering Dept. CEME NUST 10

 Individual Credit and the Ownership of Innovation
Engineers shall give credit for engineering work to those to whom
credit is due, and will recognize the proprietary interests of others
a. Engineers shall, whenever possible, name the person or persons
who may be individually responsible for designs, inventions, writings,
or other accomplishments.
b. Engineers using designs supplied by a client recognize that the
designs remain the property of the client and may not be duplicated
by the Engineer for others without express permission
c. Engineers, before undertaking work for others in connection with
which the Engineer may make improvements, plans, designs,
inventions, or other records that may justify copyrights or patents,
should enter into a positive agreement regarding ownership.
d. Engineers’ designs, data, records, and notes referring exclusively to
an employer’s work are the employer’s property
Mechanical Engineering Dept. CEME NUST 11
 CRITERIA FOR FAIR USE

 The purpose and character of the use, including whether such use is
of a commercial nature or is for nonprofit educational purposes

 The nature of the copyrighted work

 The amount and substantiality of the portion used in relation to the

copyrighted work as a whole; and The effect of the use upon the
potential market for or value of the copyrighted work

 The fact that a work is unpublished shall not itself bar a finding of
fair use

Mechanical Engineering Dept. CEME NUST 12

• Randy, an engineer, submits a proposal for a project to
the county council.
• The proposal includes technical information and data
that the council requests
• A staff member to the council makes Randy’s proposal
available to another engineer, Thornton
• Thornton uses Randy’s proposal to develop another
proposal for a different project and submits it to the
council. The parties dispute the amount of Randy’s
information that Thornton used.
• What factors are morally relevant in this situation? For
example, does the amount of information used make an
ethical difference? How does the nature of the
information bear on theEngineering
Mechanical ethical question?
Dept. CEME NUST 13
TO BE CONTINUED…….

Mechanical Engineering Dept. CEME NUST 14

 THANK YOU

Mechanical Engineering Dept. CEME NUST 15