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Marina Abed

Tatiana Voinova

Valérie Chardonnens

Stefanie Derzsi

Protection of innovation

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Fast Growing Creative Economy

Technology licensing USD 100 billion (2005) worldwide Patents & intellectual property driven

business models Sharing innovation secrets with others

(e.g. open source software)

Past: Technology Dissemination Patterns grated as a reward for temporary monopoly (Italy & Britain) Purpose: transferring foreign technology into a country

Today: Technology Protection Protect creative economy through intellectual property US primary export product – copyright (books, music etc)

1980s Today0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

Tangible assets Intangible assets

Assets of publically traded companies

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Legal Protection of Innovation

Europe: Property right follows from “natural rights” Social contract: new property belongs to an inventor

USA & Japan: Commercial exploitation favored over creator’s rights Japan: practice of early licensing

After patent is published, everyone can use it with licensing fees If the patent is not appropriated later, fees are paid back

Balance protection of inventors & sharing to promote growth

Intellectual property rights

PatentProtects an ideaInnovations and technical ideas

CopyrightsProtects work Artistic, musical or literary work

TrademarkProtects a brand

Trade secretProtects know-how Confidential knowledge within a company

Protection Rights Social Contract

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Patents: Pros and Cons

Cons Benefits of patent system may outweigh the costs “Negative right”: forbids people from using a process for a certain time

Seen less as property rights & more as innovation drivers

Pros Drive innovation by creating incentives to

share Give owners temporary and

geographically defined monopoly Foster exchange between R&D groups Balance expensive innovation and cheap

copying & re-engineering

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Patents: Four Examination Criteria

Past 17th century: Were not based on discoveries Gave exclusive rights to manufacture & sell (Britain)

Today: Very specific, require approval from authorities Registration conducted on “first-to-file” basis

To secure patent protection, inventions examined by experts with deep domain-specific knowledge :

Technical idea / technical solution for a technical problem Useful and realizable Novelty: must be something not disclosed before Should not be obvious (show existing technology and demonstrate

improvements achieved)

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Patenting Worldwide

Today Exists: 50 million in 65 languages Only 15 million are still valid US patents doubled 1990-2000

Everyday: 10,000 new patents everyday

Patents are best source of technology documentation

About 80% of technology info published in patents Classified according to IPC (International patent classification) with

65,000 classes IPC allows to compare patents from different sources Patents show technological strategies and gate-keepers

Brain-mapping: Patents show gate-keepers

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Patents become important for corporations Once patented, an alternative solution could be found Not patenting creates a risk that others will patent Strategies: (1) Patent (20 years), (2) Publish (in non-technical publication to

hide from the competition) Petty patents: limited protection for 5-15 years, less administration

Patenting Worldwide

Strategies for protection: different goals and enforceability

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Patenting in Europe

Swiss companies apply in general for EU patents. Application is possible in Munich, The Hague and Berne.

Problem: A European patent is not valid in all European countries due to the lack of a EU-wide patent

Reasons: Block for language reasons Lack of centralized decision-making power Laws are a national matter

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International patenting

Source: wipo.com

Time and cost intensive process

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Problems with patenting software in Europe

US: Software patenting and business methods can be patented since 1998. Example: Amazon “Double-click” Patent applications exploded

CH: Software, mathematical methods and scientific theories are not patentable

EU: Business methods cannot be patented and software needs to undergo a strict examination

“Data processing is not regarded as a technological field”

“Data-processing inventions are not viewed as inventions in the sense of patent”.

European Patent Convention (EPC)

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Patent protection: The patent war Patent war between Apple, Samsung, Nokia and Microsoft Google bought Motorola 2011 because of huge patent base

Source: US patent Office, 2012

Till 2000 Microsoft had no patents!

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The mobile phone patent war

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Cross licensing is a way to avoid lawsuits and potentially enhance innovation

Often patents by companies covers different essential aspects of a product

Thus by cross licensing, each party maintains their freedom to bring the

commercial product to market.

Benefit:

Not considered as a cartel

Enhancement of innovation

Downside:

Big players dominate and keep

small third players out

Cross-Licensing

Cross-licensing

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Protection rights: Patents, Copyrights and Trademarks

CopyrightPatent Trademark

A patent is an exclusive right granted for an invention.

A trademark is a sign capable of distinguishing the goods or services of

one enterprise from those of other enterprises.

Copyright is a legal term used to describe the rights that creators

have over their literary and artistic works.

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Copyrights: Protection of art

What is protected? All literature, artworks including painting sculpturing, movies, music scientific articles computer programs, databases, advertisements, maps and technical drawings.

How long lasts the protection? The protection lasts a lifetime and in most countries 70 years after death.

When is a copyright in place? In contrast to patents there is no explicit format needed and the protection is in place from the beginning

Important exception: Libraries allow copying for private and small-scale

Important note: There is no international copyright BUT there

exists copyright conventions as the “Berne Convention”

and the “Universal Copyright convention”

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Lawsuit 1999 against Napster: Easy accessible file sharing platform for music Napster was sued for billions and shut down in 2001 Rescued by other companies, today streaming platform

What changed with Napster? Music industry revenues collapsed with loss of protection laws Today in many countries downloading is allowed but uploading

is forbidden.

Final conclusion: Copyright protection changes with copying technologies Copyright is always lagging behind technology

Napster changed the view on copyright

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Invented in England 1897 to protect own economy

However labels as “Made in Germany” became labels of quality

What criteria need to be fulfilled for registration?

1. Has to differ from existing ones

2. First to use has priority

3. Not misleading nor public property

4. Has to be applied for and used in public

5. Loss of right if you don’t use it (in general after 5 years)

6. The owner has to watch the market himself for infringements

What is the benefit of a trademark?

They last forever and it is much easier to control infringements than with

patenting BUT building up a trademark is expensive and difficult

Trademarks: Brand Protection

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Protection mix: IKEA

Copyright Patent Trademark

Not one component but the right mix makes the difference!!!

IKEA brand name Product names Logos Service names

Products Methods of manufacturing Technology

Website Designs Images Movies Advertisement

Trade secrecy

Business models

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Protection of Innovation

Discussion