Catherine Edward's Blog, page 27
March 15, 2018
How do Students Plagiarize?
How do Students Plagiarize?
I would like to make one thing clear in this post. I am not blaming any one directly or indirectly. Many does this without even realizing it's plagiarism. That's my humble opinion.Source of below is: www.scanmyessay.comHanding in an essay that you didn't write:Some students hand in essays that they find on the Internet; others get someone else to write their essay for them. This is plagiarism because the words and ideas in those essays don't belong to the person submitting it.Copying words or ideas from someone else's work, without giving credit:Students often find relevant material in books and journals which might even exactly answer the essay question they are dealing with. They often plagiarise by copying words and/or ideas from those sources without giving credit to the author.Failing to put a quote in quotation marks:Some students forget that when you take material from books or journals and use it word-for-word, you must put it in quotation marks. It is not enough to copy a chunk of text and give a reference - you also need to use quotation marks to show that it is a direct quote.Giving incorrect information about the source of a quotation:It's tempting to quote the sources that a book or journal cites as their sources - that way, it looks like you've done a lot more reading than you really have. However, unless you've actually read the cited source yourself, this can be considered plagiarism.Copying sentence structure, but changing words around, without giving credit:It's easy enough to reword books and journals so that most of the words are different: however, if doing this, the student is still copying the structure of the original author's arguments, as well as their ideas, so are committing plagiarism.Copying so many words or ideas from a source that it makes up the majority of your work, whether you give credit or not:Some students copy chunks of material from books, journals and other sources. Although they give proper credit through references, most of their work is made up from other people's ideas, and the student’s own ideas on the topic never emerge. Work like this is certainly not original - this is a form of plagiarism.
We can't think of everything. At times, we have no option but to seek guidance from the books that's already written. So, how do you use it?It's pretty simple. You take permission from the author of the original work stating the purpose. If it is academic books, please add proper quotes and give credit to the original author. These are somethings you can do and are often neglected by the people.


We can't think of everything. At times, we have no option but to seek guidance from the books that's already written. So, how do you use it?It's pretty simple. You take permission from the author of the original work stating the purpose. If it is academic books, please add proper quotes and give credit to the original author. These are somethings you can do and are often neglected by the people.

Published on March 15, 2018 11:06
6 Consequences of Plagiarism
6 Consequences of Plagiarism:
Source: http://www.ithenticate.comThe above site has wonderful and detailed articles about Plagiarism. Please do visit them for more info. I wish there is a re-blog option available on this website. But, there is none.The consequences of plagiarism can be personal, professional, ethical, and legal. With plagiarism detection software so readily available and in use, plagiarists are being caught at an alarming rate. Once accused of plagiarism, a person will most likely always be regarded with suspicion. Ignorance is not an excuse. Plagiarists include academics, professionals, students, journalists, authors, and others.Consequences of plagiarism include:Destroyed Student Reputation:Plagiarism allegations can cause a student to be suspended or expelled. Their academic record can reflect the ethics offense, possibly causing the student to be barred from entering college from high school or another college. Schools, colleges, and universities take plagiarism very seriously. Most educational institutions have academic integrity committees who police students. Many schools suspend students for their first violation. Students are usually expelled for further offences.Destroyed Professional Reputation:A professional business person, politician, or public figure may find that the damage from plagiarism follows them for their entire career. Not only will they likely be fired or asked to step down from their present position, but they will surely find it difficult to obtain another respectable job. Depending on the offense and the plagiarist’s public stature, his or her name may become ruined, making any kind of meaningful career impossible.Destroyed Academic Reputation:The consequences of plagiarism have been widely reported in the world of academia. Once scarred with plagiarism allegations, an academic’s career can be ruined. Publishing is an integral part of a prestigious academic career. To lose the ability to publish most likely means the end of an academic position and a destroyed reputation.Legal Repercussions:The legal repercussions of plagiarism can be quite serious. Copyright laws are absolute. One cannot use another person’s material without citation and reference. An author has the right to sue a plagiarist. Some plagiarism may also be deemed a criminal offense, possibly leading to a prison sentence. Those who write for a living, such as journalists or authors, are particularly susceptible to plagiarism issues. Those who write frequently must be ever-vigilant not to err. Writers are well-aware of copyright laws and ways to avoid plagiarism. As a professional writer, to plagiarize is a serious ethical and perhaps legal issue.Monetary Repercussions:Many recent news reports and articles have exposed plagiarism by journalists, authors, public figures, and researchers. In the case where an author sues a plagiarist, the author may be granted monetary restitution. In the case where a journalist works for a magazine, newspaper or other publisher, or even if a student is found plagiarizing in school, the offending plagiarist could have to pay monetary penalties.Plagiarized Research:Plagiarized research is an especially egregious form of plagiarism. If the research is medical in nature, the consequences of plagiarism could mean the loss of peoples’ lives. This kind of plagiarism is particularly heinous.The consequences of plagiarism are far-reaching and no one is immune. Neither ignorance nor stature excuses a person from the ethical and legal ramifications of committing plagiarism. Before attempting any writing project, learn about plagiarism. Find out what constitutes plagiarism and how to avoid it. The rules are easy to understand and follow. If there is any question about missing attribution, try using an online plagiarism checker or plagiarism detection software to check your writing for plagiarism before turning it in. Laziness or dishonesty can lead to a ruined reputation, the loss of a career, and legal problems.

Source: http://www.ithenticate.comThe above site has wonderful and detailed articles about Plagiarism. Please do visit them for more info. I wish there is a re-blog option available on this website. But, there is none.The consequences of plagiarism can be personal, professional, ethical, and legal. With plagiarism detection software so readily available and in use, plagiarists are being caught at an alarming rate. Once accused of plagiarism, a person will most likely always be regarded with suspicion. Ignorance is not an excuse. Plagiarists include academics, professionals, students, journalists, authors, and others.Consequences of plagiarism include:Destroyed Student Reputation:Plagiarism allegations can cause a student to be suspended or expelled. Their academic record can reflect the ethics offense, possibly causing the student to be barred from entering college from high school or another college. Schools, colleges, and universities take plagiarism very seriously. Most educational institutions have academic integrity committees who police students. Many schools suspend students for their first violation. Students are usually expelled for further offences.Destroyed Professional Reputation:A professional business person, politician, or public figure may find that the damage from plagiarism follows them for their entire career. Not only will they likely be fired or asked to step down from their present position, but they will surely find it difficult to obtain another respectable job. Depending on the offense and the plagiarist’s public stature, his or her name may become ruined, making any kind of meaningful career impossible.Destroyed Academic Reputation:The consequences of plagiarism have been widely reported in the world of academia. Once scarred with plagiarism allegations, an academic’s career can be ruined. Publishing is an integral part of a prestigious academic career. To lose the ability to publish most likely means the end of an academic position and a destroyed reputation.Legal Repercussions:The legal repercussions of plagiarism can be quite serious. Copyright laws are absolute. One cannot use another person’s material without citation and reference. An author has the right to sue a plagiarist. Some plagiarism may also be deemed a criminal offense, possibly leading to a prison sentence. Those who write for a living, such as journalists or authors, are particularly susceptible to plagiarism issues. Those who write frequently must be ever-vigilant not to err. Writers are well-aware of copyright laws and ways to avoid plagiarism. As a professional writer, to plagiarize is a serious ethical and perhaps legal issue.Monetary Repercussions:Many recent news reports and articles have exposed plagiarism by journalists, authors, public figures, and researchers. In the case where an author sues a plagiarist, the author may be granted monetary restitution. In the case where a journalist works for a magazine, newspaper or other publisher, or even if a student is found plagiarizing in school, the offending plagiarist could have to pay monetary penalties.Plagiarized Research:Plagiarized research is an especially egregious form of plagiarism. If the research is medical in nature, the consequences of plagiarism could mean the loss of peoples’ lives. This kind of plagiarism is particularly heinous.The consequences of plagiarism are far-reaching and no one is immune. Neither ignorance nor stature excuses a person from the ethical and legal ramifications of committing plagiarism. Before attempting any writing project, learn about plagiarism. Find out what constitutes plagiarism and how to avoid it. The rules are easy to understand and follow. If there is any question about missing attribution, try using an online plagiarism checker or plagiarism detection software to check your writing for plagiarism before turning it in. Laziness or dishonesty can lead to a ruined reputation, the loss of a career, and legal problems.

Published on March 15, 2018 11:05
What is plagiarism?
What is plagiarism?
It is one of the worst problem an author faces these days. No matter how hard the author tries, the plagiarizers always keep finding a way to steal ideas and plots. It's a disheartening experience to any author - new or experienced. No one can digest this. A few may even go as far as to say if their work is plagiarized then it means they are famous. Do they even listen to themselves?Answer this:1. A thief breaks into your house and take all your valuables. Do you say he stole because I am famous?2. The thief breaks in for the second time? Do you still say the same? The answer is: No. Losing your valuables doesn't get easy to anyone. It goes the same with the authors. Their stories are their mind children. They are conceived, cherished and delivered after several struggle. I know of authors who takes several years to finish a story. Do you think it will get easy for them to digest when someone else steal their story, ideas, content?The answer is always and will always be 'NO'.There are two types of Plagiarizers: (i) The ones who does is knowing well it's a theft. (ii) Genuine people who does it without the knowledge that they are doing it. We will discuss more about this in our future posts. The second point I mentioned above may be debated, but I know what I told above. I will come to that eventually. This post is to educate people who doesn't know what is plagiarism, isn't it? So, be patient.
What is Plagiarism?Plagiarism is the practice of taking someone else's work or ideas and passing them off as one's own. Defining plagiarism:The Merriam Webster dictionary defines the act of plagiarism as:"to steal and pass off the ideas or words of another as one's own"Plagiarism is simply taking other people's words and/or ideas, using them, and then - rather than giving credit to the person who thought of them, pretending that those words/ideas belong to you.What is considered as Plagiarism?IEEE: Advancing Technology for Humanity says,However, there are in fact degrees of plagiarism: one can steal an entire paper, or a section of a paper, or a page, a paragraph or a sentence. Even copying phrases without credit and quotation marks can be considered plagiarism. In other words, paraphrasing done improperly can qualify as plagiarism. Who cares if I plagiarise?www.scanmyessay.com has an interesting explanation on this. I couldn't disagree.You should care because:There are two fundamental reasons why you should not plagiarise:Plagiarism is stealing: stealing other people's work, words and ideas. It is, morally, no better than stealing a car or anything else. If someone else stole your ideas, how would you feel?Plagiarism represents information illiteracy. If you plagiarise somebody else’s work, you are implying that you are incapable of explaining your own thoughts and ideas, even if this is not really the case. If you’re caught plagiarising, this will make it appear that you are effectively illiterate when it comes to handling information – not an impression that you want to create!They talk more about how students frequently fall into the plagiarism trap and go here to read it: https://www.scanmyessay.com/plagiarism/what-is-plagiarism.php . If you are a student, then you must read this article.

It is one of the worst problem an author faces these days. No matter how hard the author tries, the plagiarizers always keep finding a way to steal ideas and plots. It's a disheartening experience to any author - new or experienced. No one can digest this. A few may even go as far as to say if their work is plagiarized then it means they are famous. Do they even listen to themselves?Answer this:1. A thief breaks into your house and take all your valuables. Do you say he stole because I am famous?2. The thief breaks in for the second time? Do you still say the same? The answer is: No. Losing your valuables doesn't get easy to anyone. It goes the same with the authors. Their stories are their mind children. They are conceived, cherished and delivered after several struggle. I know of authors who takes several years to finish a story. Do you think it will get easy for them to digest when someone else steal their story, ideas, content?The answer is always and will always be 'NO'.There are two types of Plagiarizers: (i) The ones who does is knowing well it's a theft. (ii) Genuine people who does it without the knowledge that they are doing it. We will discuss more about this in our future posts. The second point I mentioned above may be debated, but I know what I told above. I will come to that eventually. This post is to educate people who doesn't know what is plagiarism, isn't it? So, be patient.

What is Plagiarism?Plagiarism is the practice of taking someone else's work or ideas and passing them off as one's own. Defining plagiarism:The Merriam Webster dictionary defines the act of plagiarism as:"to steal and pass off the ideas or words of another as one's own"Plagiarism is simply taking other people's words and/or ideas, using them, and then - rather than giving credit to the person who thought of them, pretending that those words/ideas belong to you.What is considered as Plagiarism?IEEE: Advancing Technology for Humanity says,However, there are in fact degrees of plagiarism: one can steal an entire paper, or a section of a paper, or a page, a paragraph or a sentence. Even copying phrases without credit and quotation marks can be considered plagiarism. In other words, paraphrasing done improperly can qualify as plagiarism. Who cares if I plagiarise?www.scanmyessay.com has an interesting explanation on this. I couldn't disagree.You should care because:There are two fundamental reasons why you should not plagiarise:Plagiarism is stealing: stealing other people's work, words and ideas. It is, morally, no better than stealing a car or anything else. If someone else stole your ideas, how would you feel?Plagiarism represents information illiteracy. If you plagiarise somebody else’s work, you are implying that you are incapable of explaining your own thoughts and ideas, even if this is not really the case. If you’re caught plagiarising, this will make it appear that you are effectively illiterate when it comes to handling information – not an impression that you want to create!They talk more about how students frequently fall into the plagiarism trap and go here to read it: https://www.scanmyessay.com/plagiarism/what-is-plagiarism.php . If you are a student, then you must read this article.

Published on March 15, 2018 10:33
What is a Copyright?
What is a Copyright?
Source: www.plagiarismtoday.comFundamentally, copyright is a law that gives you ownership over the things you create. Be it a painting, a photograph, a poem or a novel, if you created it, you own it and it’s the copyright law itself that assures that ownership. The ownership that copyright law grants comes with several rights that you, as the owner, have exclusively. Those rights include:The right to reproduce the workto prepare derivative worksto distribute copiesto perform the workand to display the work publiclyThese are your rights and your rights alone. Unless you willingly give them up (EX: A Creative Commons License), no one can violate them legally. This means that, unless you say otherwise, no one can perform a piece written by you or make copies of it, even with attribution, unless you give the OK.Inversely, if you’re looking for material to use or reuse, you should not do any of these things without either asking permission or confirming that the work is in the public domain, which means that the copyright has expired and all of the above rights have been forfeited. Simply put, if the work isn’t in the public domain and you don’t have permission to use a piece, you put yourself in risk of legal action, regardless of your intentions.Because, beyond fair use and parody (issues for later essays), the holder of a copyrighted piece has near carte blanche to do what they want with their work. It’s no different than owning a car, a house or a pen. One can lend it out to a friend, sell it, modify it or even destroy it. In short, if you own the copyright to something, you have the same rights that you do with anything else and, in some instances, even more. After all, you did create it. It only makes sense that you would own the fruits of your labor. That’s what copyright law is all about.Moral RightsThough moral rights are not currently recognized in the United States, they’re a major element of European copyright law and are becoming increasingly important as the Web becomes more globalized.Moral rights are a set of rights that are separate from the author’s copyright on a piece. These rights are generally considered inalienable, which means that they can not be given away or sold, and thus persist even if the copyright to a work is completely sold.As defined by the Berne Convention, the moral rights of an author are as follows:The right to claim authorship of the workThe right to object to any distortion, mutilation or modification of the workThe right to object to any derogatory action that may damage the authors honor or reputationIt is easy to see how moral rights can be useful in fighting plagiarism since such an act is not only a violation of the author’s copyright, if he or she holds it, but also the moral rights. It may also be useful in cases where the copyright of a work has been lost, either sold or given away, but plagiarism continues.

Source: www.plagiarismtoday.comFundamentally, copyright is a law that gives you ownership over the things you create. Be it a painting, a photograph, a poem or a novel, if you created it, you own it and it’s the copyright law itself that assures that ownership. The ownership that copyright law grants comes with several rights that you, as the owner, have exclusively. Those rights include:The right to reproduce the workto prepare derivative worksto distribute copiesto perform the workand to display the work publiclyThese are your rights and your rights alone. Unless you willingly give them up (EX: A Creative Commons License), no one can violate them legally. This means that, unless you say otherwise, no one can perform a piece written by you or make copies of it, even with attribution, unless you give the OK.Inversely, if you’re looking for material to use or reuse, you should not do any of these things without either asking permission or confirming that the work is in the public domain, which means that the copyright has expired and all of the above rights have been forfeited. Simply put, if the work isn’t in the public domain and you don’t have permission to use a piece, you put yourself in risk of legal action, regardless of your intentions.Because, beyond fair use and parody (issues for later essays), the holder of a copyrighted piece has near carte blanche to do what they want with their work. It’s no different than owning a car, a house or a pen. One can lend it out to a friend, sell it, modify it or even destroy it. In short, if you own the copyright to something, you have the same rights that you do with anything else and, in some instances, even more. After all, you did create it. It only makes sense that you would own the fruits of your labor. That’s what copyright law is all about.Moral RightsThough moral rights are not currently recognized in the United States, they’re a major element of European copyright law and are becoming increasingly important as the Web becomes more globalized.Moral rights are a set of rights that are separate from the author’s copyright on a piece. These rights are generally considered inalienable, which means that they can not be given away or sold, and thus persist even if the copyright to a work is completely sold.As defined by the Berne Convention, the moral rights of an author are as follows:The right to claim authorship of the workThe right to object to any distortion, mutilation or modification of the workThe right to object to any derogatory action that may damage the authors honor or reputationIt is easy to see how moral rights can be useful in fighting plagiarism since such an act is not only a violation of the author’s copyright, if he or she holds it, but also the moral rights. It may also be useful in cases where the copyright of a work has been lost, either sold or given away, but plagiarism continues.

Published on March 15, 2018 05:27
Copyright

Copyright - the exclusive and assignable legal right, given to the originator for a fixed number of years, to print, publish, perform, film, or record literary, artistic, or musical material.
What is a Copyright?Copyright is a legal right created by the law of a country that grants the creator of an original work exclusive rights for its use and distribution.

I found this article from Alllaw.com. I couldn't reblog, so copied it here. Source: http://www.alllaw.comCopyright Basicsby Rebecca BerlinA copyright provides protection for original works of authorship, fixed in a tangible medium of expression. This includes literary, musical, and dramatic works, as well as photographs and graphics, audio and visual recordings, software, and other intellectual works. In order for the work to be "fixed in a tangible medium of expression", it means that it has been set in a form in which it can be perceived either directly or with the aid of a device. For a literary work this could be when it is first created on a computer or paper. For a musical work it could be either the phonographic recording or the sheet music. An example of something that is not "fixed in a tangible medium of expression" is an improvisational speech that has not been written or recorded. Mere ideas do not have copyright protection; the idea must be fixed in a tangible form for copyright protection to be created.The owner of a copyright has the exclusive right to control the reproduction, distribution, performance, and display of the work, and the preparation of derivative works. Original ownership of the copyright is granted to the author of the work. But if the author creates the work in the scope and course of employment, then the employer is considered to be the author under the "work for hire" doctrine. A party may also be considered the author of certain works, if the work is commissioned and the contract specifically states that the "work for hire" doctrine applies.Ownership of a copyright can be transferred. A transfer of the owner's exclusive rights must be made in writing. A transfer of less than the owner's exclusive rights does not need to be in writing.Copyright protection attaches as soon as the work is fixed in a tangible medium. It is not necessary to file for copyright protection. There may, however, be certain advantages to registering a copyright. For works of US origin, registration is required before an infringement suit may be filed. If there is a timely registration of the work, the owner of the copyright may receive statutory damages for infringement beyond any award of actual damages and profits. A copy of the registration can be recorded with the US Customs Service to prevent the importation of unauthorized copies as well.Whether or not the copyright is registered, the author should begin using the copyright symbol immediately as a method of informing others that he intends to exercise control over the production, distribution, display, and or performance of the work. Notice is not currently a requirement of the copyright law, but it does prevent others from claiming a defense of innocent infringement.

Published on March 15, 2018 04:58
March 12, 2018
Why is it important to protect intellectual property rights?
Why is it important to protect intellectual property rights?
Why should we have intellectual property rights? Intellectual property protection is critical to fostering innovation. Without protection of ideas, businesses and individuals would not reap the full benefits of their inventions and would focus less on research and development. The importance of protecting intellectual property. Intellectual property (IP) rights are valuable assets for your business - possibly among the most important it possesses.
What is the purpose of intellectual property rights? Intellectual property is the area of law that deals with protecting the rights of those who create original works. ... The purpose of intellectual property laws are to encourage new technologies, artistic expressions and inventions while promoting economic growth.
Why is it important to protect intellectual property rights?Your IP rights are important because they can:set your business apart from competitorsbe sold or licensed, providing an important revenue streamoffer customers something new and differentform an essential part of your marketing or brandingbe used as security for loans
You may be surprised at how many aspects of your business can be protected - its name and logo, designs, inventions, works of creative or intellectual effort or trade marks that distinguish your business can all be types of IP. Explore the different types of IP in detail in our guides:trade marksget patent protection for your businesscopyright for your businessprotecting and handling your design
Some IP rights are automatically safeguarded by IP law, but there are also other types of legal protection you can apply for.To exploit your IP fully, it makes strong business sense to do all you can to secure it. You can then protect it against infringement by others and ultimately defend in the courts your sole right to use, make, sell or import itstop others using, making, selling or importing it without your permissionearn royalties by licensing itexploit it through strategic alliancesmake money by selling it

Why should we have intellectual property rights? Intellectual property protection is critical to fostering innovation. Without protection of ideas, businesses and individuals would not reap the full benefits of their inventions and would focus less on research and development. The importance of protecting intellectual property. Intellectual property (IP) rights are valuable assets for your business - possibly among the most important it possesses.

What is the purpose of intellectual property rights? Intellectual property is the area of law that deals with protecting the rights of those who create original works. ... The purpose of intellectual property laws are to encourage new technologies, artistic expressions and inventions while promoting economic growth.

Why is it important to protect intellectual property rights?Your IP rights are important because they can:set your business apart from competitorsbe sold or licensed, providing an important revenue streamoffer customers something new and differentform an essential part of your marketing or brandingbe used as security for loans
You may be surprised at how many aspects of your business can be protected - its name and logo, designs, inventions, works of creative or intellectual effort or trade marks that distinguish your business can all be types of IP. Explore the different types of IP in detail in our guides:trade marksget patent protection for your businesscopyright for your businessprotecting and handling your design
Some IP rights are automatically safeguarded by IP law, but there are also other types of legal protection you can apply for.To exploit your IP fully, it makes strong business sense to do all you can to secure it. You can then protect it against infringement by others and ultimately defend in the courts your sole right to use, make, sell or import itstop others using, making, selling or importing it without your permissionearn royalties by licensing itexploit it through strategic alliancesmake money by selling it

Published on March 12, 2018 02:32
March 10, 2018
Can Ideas Be Protected or Patented?
Can Ideas Be Protected or Patented?If what you have is not an invention, but a story idea for example, you should be thinking about protection afforded under the copyright laws. Here the best thing you can do is simply start writing, drafting or otherwise creating your work. A copyright exists immediately upon the original creation and fixation thereof, which is the legal way to say it exists upon creation (i.e. writing it down). You do not need to do anything special to claim a copyright, and you can immediately place the c in a circle and call the work copyrighted. Nevertheless, in order to sue for infringement you will need to have a federally registered copyright. The filing fee is only $45, so applying for a copyright should be done as a matter of course whenever possible. In India the fee is Rs. 500.Once again, only the story is protected not the general idea of the story.

Published on March 10, 2018 10:01
Is an idea considered intellectual property?
Is an idea considered intellectual property?
Copyrights protect expression and patents protects inventions, and neither protect ideas. In both cases the idea is the first critical step, but without some identifiable embodiment of the idea there can be no intellectual property protection obtained and no exclusive rights will flow unto you. Why is an idea not considered intellectual property?Hm... This topic is bit confusing. Isnt' it?It's pretty simple, really.Answer this:Q: Who came up with the idea of Vampire/ Werewolf?A: To be honest, I don't know. No one does.The idea of Vampire and Werewolf comes from the Europian Folklore. So, the authors who write about werewolf/vampire didn't really invent the species or came up with that idea. An idea is not unique. There are no werewolf or vampire tales in India. We mostly got the idea from comics and Hollywood movies. We have Indian Folklore that's different.Every ideas are used in one form or another. Go on, deny all that you want, but how many of you can tell me where your real inspiration came from?How many versions of Bramstroker's Dracula have we read? How many movies were taken based on that single story? Think about all the fairy tales. How many Cinderalla movies are there? Don't get me started on Beauty and the Beast. We, writers, get inspired by anything and everything. We see a movie, we get inspired. We listen to a music, we come up with a new plot. We see two people conversing in the cafeteria, we have a new story to write.We watch a movie and think, what if this character acted in a different way? What if she married this character, instead of the other? You see, this is how new story plot comes up. All in all, the idea itself isn't new. It's not unique. So, the law doesn't protects the idea itself.Can I Patent An Idea?Technically, no. Ideas alone cannot be patented.You can only obtain a patent on the invention developed from an idea. The invention must be actually produced or a description of the invention must be included with your patent application.You may ask then what is plagiarism? We'll come to that eventually.
Now to give you more clear answers on this topic, I've also used some answers from Lawyers and others from Quora. These answers will give you an exact idea about why an idea is not considered/protected by Intellectual Property Law.Marion Gropen in Quora:There are 3 basic types of Intellectual Property: copyright, patent and trade mark/trade dress.Copyright: This has to be something where your main avenue for revenue generation is in the control of the right to make copies. (Hence, the name.) You need a specific version of your idea (software code, images, words, video, music, etc) for that to apply. An idea isn't specific, nor fixed, enough.Patents: Need to be specific enough that someone can use it to create something. It's about processes, plans, drawings, and directions. Until your idea is nailed down in some practical way, it's not going to be patentable.Trademarks/Trade Dress is a little more friendly to an idea, but even so, you have to be able to make it specific.In short, you need specificity of some sort to make an idea into IP.Why? Ideas are a dime a dozen. Most creative people have more ideas than they can bring to fruition.Any good idea is likely to occur to many, many people simultaneously. I'm from the book publishing world. It was always surprising to me how many times a "new idea" would show up in a raft of independently written manuscripts all at the same time (plus or minus a few weeks). One season it would be X, and the next it would be Y. One would usually hit the best seller's list. The rest would be maligned as copycats, but often were submitted before the first ones came out.If you could copyright an idea, those people would all be trying to copyright the same idea. And it wouldn't be fair to any of them. Those books are all quite different. The thing that makes one work and another not, is the specific way the idea is turned into words. For novels, it's how the emotional needs of the readers are fed, as well as the traditional elements of literary analysis.
Guy Tritton, Intellectual Property Barrister. Author of "intellectual property in europe" - in Quora:An idea can be intellectual property provided it is technical in nature. In such circumstances, one can protect it by a patent. However, it must be novel and inventive over what is called prior art (i.e. the body of knowledge that existed as of the date of the application for the patent).However, in the realm of copyright, there has always been a firm divide between ideas vs expression of those ideas. The latter is protectable but not the former. I am not wholly sure about the reason for this but most likely, it is because protection over any idea that anyone has would hold back the development of humankind which is always borrowing from old ideas.
Randy Gibson - J.D. Law & Patent Law, George Mason University (2000) in Quora:Rather than simply quote the U. S. Supreme Court, let me give you my thoughts on the matter.An abstract idea (such as, let's use lasers to mine the moon!), has no practical use to society unless you can figure out the details of how to actually do it (how are you going to get to the moon, keep people alive while there, power the lasers, locate suitable ores to mine, actually pay for the trip, etc., etc.). Why should society give you protection for something that has no value to society until the bare idea is actually fleshed out? It might be a great idea for a storyline or a movie script, but even then, to be of some value to society, you would have to at least go through the effort of actually writing the story, which is more difficult and time consuming than simply coming up with a bare idea. Requiring you to work out the practical details of hiw to actually implement your idea forces you to actually put some effort into developing your idea into something more than just an abstract concept that has no actual use. As the Supreme Court has said, abstract ideas serve as the inspiration for artists and inventors to go out and create something useful, and if you stop people from using the abstract idea itself, then you stop other people from developing bare ideas into something more than just a dream. The intellectual property system in the U. S. is designed to give you an award for the "sweat equity" (I.E.: time and effort) that you have put into turning your basic idea into something of value. Coming up with a basic idea might take you five minutes of thought, but turning this idea into a scientific fiction story, for example, might take months of writing, and turning this idea into a factual reality might actually take years of engineering research and design. The government gives you protection for something that actually takes a lot of effort, but not for your idle day dreams that you never bother to develop into something that people can use. If you cannot develop you idea into something useful, then maybe someone else can, so why not give someone else the chance to try by making the general idea free for all?Disclaimer: this is my own personal experience, and in no way reflects any official position of the USPTO. This is not legal advice, and I am not your attorney; this answer simply reflects my own personal opinion.
Todd Gardiner - Photographer and questioner of too much privacy in Quora : Granting a monopoly on an entire category of writing or an entire category of technology is too broad and would stiffle innovation.Consider: The iPad is not the first tablet computer. Apple was the third company to make an attempt at these small computers. Before that Microsoft and HP both had multiple failed products.Should Microsoft be able to lock everyone out of the entire "idea" of tablet computers for 14 years because they came up with the idea first? Especially if their efforts are not making sales? What about people that come up with an idea, but have no way to make it into a real product at all? Say, a science fiction writer getting patents on the ideas in her fiction; ideas she lacks technical skills to create. Current philosophy on how IP should work says that they should not get to reserve the entire idea. Only their specific way of trying to implement the idea, which means you have to know how to make one of these things the idea proposes.And people that ask this really think that ideas are super special and unique. They aren't. It is the implementation that is the hard part, and the part that should be protected.Hope this helped. Let's see more in the next topic.

Copyrights protect expression and patents protects inventions, and neither protect ideas. In both cases the idea is the first critical step, but without some identifiable embodiment of the idea there can be no intellectual property protection obtained and no exclusive rights will flow unto you. Why is an idea not considered intellectual property?Hm... This topic is bit confusing. Isnt' it?It's pretty simple, really.Answer this:Q: Who came up with the idea of Vampire/ Werewolf?A: To be honest, I don't know. No one does.The idea of Vampire and Werewolf comes from the Europian Folklore. So, the authors who write about werewolf/vampire didn't really invent the species or came up with that idea. An idea is not unique. There are no werewolf or vampire tales in India. We mostly got the idea from comics and Hollywood movies. We have Indian Folklore that's different.Every ideas are used in one form or another. Go on, deny all that you want, but how many of you can tell me where your real inspiration came from?How many versions of Bramstroker's Dracula have we read? How many movies were taken based on that single story? Think about all the fairy tales. How many Cinderalla movies are there? Don't get me started on Beauty and the Beast. We, writers, get inspired by anything and everything. We see a movie, we get inspired. We listen to a music, we come up with a new plot. We see two people conversing in the cafeteria, we have a new story to write.We watch a movie and think, what if this character acted in a different way? What if she married this character, instead of the other? You see, this is how new story plot comes up. All in all, the idea itself isn't new. It's not unique. So, the law doesn't protects the idea itself.Can I Patent An Idea?Technically, no. Ideas alone cannot be patented.You can only obtain a patent on the invention developed from an idea. The invention must be actually produced or a description of the invention must be included with your patent application.You may ask then what is plagiarism? We'll come to that eventually.

Now to give you more clear answers on this topic, I've also used some answers from Lawyers and others from Quora. These answers will give you an exact idea about why an idea is not considered/protected by Intellectual Property Law.Marion Gropen in Quora:There are 3 basic types of Intellectual Property: copyright, patent and trade mark/trade dress.Copyright: This has to be something where your main avenue for revenue generation is in the control of the right to make copies. (Hence, the name.) You need a specific version of your idea (software code, images, words, video, music, etc) for that to apply. An idea isn't specific, nor fixed, enough.Patents: Need to be specific enough that someone can use it to create something. It's about processes, plans, drawings, and directions. Until your idea is nailed down in some practical way, it's not going to be patentable.Trademarks/Trade Dress is a little more friendly to an idea, but even so, you have to be able to make it specific.In short, you need specificity of some sort to make an idea into IP.Why? Ideas are a dime a dozen. Most creative people have more ideas than they can bring to fruition.Any good idea is likely to occur to many, many people simultaneously. I'm from the book publishing world. It was always surprising to me how many times a "new idea" would show up in a raft of independently written manuscripts all at the same time (plus or minus a few weeks). One season it would be X, and the next it would be Y. One would usually hit the best seller's list. The rest would be maligned as copycats, but often were submitted before the first ones came out.If you could copyright an idea, those people would all be trying to copyright the same idea. And it wouldn't be fair to any of them. Those books are all quite different. The thing that makes one work and another not, is the specific way the idea is turned into words. For novels, it's how the emotional needs of the readers are fed, as well as the traditional elements of literary analysis.

Guy Tritton, Intellectual Property Barrister. Author of "intellectual property in europe" - in Quora:An idea can be intellectual property provided it is technical in nature. In such circumstances, one can protect it by a patent. However, it must be novel and inventive over what is called prior art (i.e. the body of knowledge that existed as of the date of the application for the patent).However, in the realm of copyright, there has always been a firm divide between ideas vs expression of those ideas. The latter is protectable but not the former. I am not wholly sure about the reason for this but most likely, it is because protection over any idea that anyone has would hold back the development of humankind which is always borrowing from old ideas.

Randy Gibson - J.D. Law & Patent Law, George Mason University (2000) in Quora:Rather than simply quote the U. S. Supreme Court, let me give you my thoughts on the matter.An abstract idea (such as, let's use lasers to mine the moon!), has no practical use to society unless you can figure out the details of how to actually do it (how are you going to get to the moon, keep people alive while there, power the lasers, locate suitable ores to mine, actually pay for the trip, etc., etc.). Why should society give you protection for something that has no value to society until the bare idea is actually fleshed out? It might be a great idea for a storyline or a movie script, but even then, to be of some value to society, you would have to at least go through the effort of actually writing the story, which is more difficult and time consuming than simply coming up with a bare idea. Requiring you to work out the practical details of hiw to actually implement your idea forces you to actually put some effort into developing your idea into something more than just an abstract concept that has no actual use. As the Supreme Court has said, abstract ideas serve as the inspiration for artists and inventors to go out and create something useful, and if you stop people from using the abstract idea itself, then you stop other people from developing bare ideas into something more than just a dream. The intellectual property system in the U. S. is designed to give you an award for the "sweat equity" (I.E.: time and effort) that you have put into turning your basic idea into something of value. Coming up with a basic idea might take you five minutes of thought, but turning this idea into a scientific fiction story, for example, might take months of writing, and turning this idea into a factual reality might actually take years of engineering research and design. The government gives you protection for something that actually takes a lot of effort, but not for your idle day dreams that you never bother to develop into something that people can use. If you cannot develop you idea into something useful, then maybe someone else can, so why not give someone else the chance to try by making the general idea free for all?Disclaimer: this is my own personal experience, and in no way reflects any official position of the USPTO. This is not legal advice, and I am not your attorney; this answer simply reflects my own personal opinion.

Todd Gardiner - Photographer and questioner of too much privacy in Quora : Granting a monopoly on an entire category of writing or an entire category of technology is too broad and would stiffle innovation.Consider: The iPad is not the first tablet computer. Apple was the third company to make an attempt at these small computers. Before that Microsoft and HP both had multiple failed products.Should Microsoft be able to lock everyone out of the entire "idea" of tablet computers for 14 years because they came up with the idea first? Especially if their efforts are not making sales? What about people that come up with an idea, but have no way to make it into a real product at all? Say, a science fiction writer getting patents on the ideas in her fiction; ideas she lacks technical skills to create. Current philosophy on how IP should work says that they should not get to reserve the entire idea. Only their specific way of trying to implement the idea, which means you have to know how to make one of these things the idea proposes.And people that ask this really think that ideas are super special and unique. They aren't. It is the implementation that is the hard part, and the part that should be protected.Hope this helped. Let's see more in the next topic.

Published on March 10, 2018 07:48
What is meant by Intellectual Property Rights?
What is meant by Intellectual Property Rights?
Intellectual property rights refers to the general term for the assignment of property rights through patents, copyrights and trademarks. These property rights allow the holder to exercise a monopoly on the use of the item for a specified period. You may think it's unnecessary to know these terms. But, trust me it'll help you to understand these topic better. Once we understand what is Intellectual Property Rights, we can move on to Copyright and Plagiarism.
Patent:A patent is a form of right granted by the government to an inventor, giving the owner the right to exclude others from making, using, selling, offering to sell, and importing an invention for a limited period of time, in exchange for the public disclosure of the invention. An invention is a solution to a specific technological problem, which may be a product or a process and generally has to fulfill three main requirements: it has to be new, not obvious and there needs to be an industrial applicability.Copyright:A copyright gives the creator of an original work exclusive rights to it, usually for a limited time. Copyright may apply to a wide range of creative, intellectual, or artistic forms, or "works". Copyright does not cover ideas and information themselves, only the form or manner in which they are expressed.Industrial design rights:An industrial design right (sometimes called "design right" or design patent) protects the visual design of objects that are not purely utilitarian. An industrial design consists of the creation of a shape, configuration or composition of pattern or color, or combination of pattern and color in three-dimensional form containing aesthetic value. An industrial design can be a two- or three-dimensional pattern used to produce a product, industrial commodity or handicraft.Plant varieties:Plant breeders' rights or plant variety rights are the rights to commercially use a new variety of a plant. The variety must amongst others be novel and distinct and for registration the evaluation of propagating material of the variety is considered.Trademarks:A trademark is a recognizable sign, design or expression which distinguishes products or services of a particular trader from the similar products or services of other traders.Trade dress:Trade dress is a legal term of art that generally refers to characteristics of the visual and aesthetic appearance of a product or its packaging (or even the design of a building) that signify the source of the product to consumers.Trade secrets:A trade secret is a formula, practice, process, design, instrument, pattern, or compilation of information which is not generally known or reasonably ascertainable, by which a business can obtain an economic advantage over competitors and customers. There is no formal government protection granted; each business must take measures to guard its own trade secrets (e.g., Formula of its soft drinks is a trade secret for Coca-Cola.)

Intellectual property rights refers to the general term for the assignment of property rights through patents, copyrights and trademarks. These property rights allow the holder to exercise a monopoly on the use of the item for a specified period. You may think it's unnecessary to know these terms. But, trust me it'll help you to understand these topic better. Once we understand what is Intellectual Property Rights, we can move on to Copyright and Plagiarism.


Published on March 10, 2018 02:13
March 9, 2018
What is Intellectual Property?
What is Intellectual Property?
Intellectual property rights refers to the general term for the assignment of property rights through patents, copyrights and trademarks. These property rights allow the holder to exercise a monopoly on the use of the item for a specified period. In Simple words:Property is anything you own. You have the rights over your property. It is protected by law. Even your ideas and thinking produced by your mind are also protected by law. Answer this:Lets say, you are in your school or office or somewhere. You don't have a pen with you. You see someone else having a pen. What would you do?(a) You take the pen without their permission.(b) You ask the owner of the pen if you can use it.Here, (a) is stealing. (b) you have the permission of the owner to use the pen. This is similar to any property you use. It's illegal to use the product without the permission of the owner or producer. The rights related to literary or artistic work, inventions, discoveries, etc., are called intellectual property rights.
In Detail:Intellectual property (or "IP") is a category of property that includes intangible creations of the human intellect, and primarily encompasses copyrights,patents, and trademarks. It also includes other types of rights, such as trade secrets, publicity rights,moral rights, and rights against unfair competition. The main purpose of intellectual property law is to encourage the creation of a wide variety of intellectual goods. To achieve this, the law gives people and businesses property rights to the information and intellectual goods they create, usually for a limited period of time. Because they can earn profit from them, this gives economic incentive for their creation.The intangible nature of intellectual property presents difficulties when compared with traditional property like land or goods. Unlike traditional property, intellectual property is indivisible – an unlimited number of people can "consume" an intellectual good without it being depleted. Additionally, investments in intellectual goods suffer from problems of appropriation – a landowner can surround their land with a robust fence and hire armed guards to protect it, but a producer of information or an intellectual good can usually do very little to stop their first buyer from replicating it and selling it at a lower price. Balancing rights so that they are strong enough to encourage the creation of intellectual goods but not so strong that they prevent their wide use is the primary focus of modern intellectual property lawOkay, this is enough for now. We'll see other related terms in the next post. Do let me know what you think.

Intellectual property rights refers to the general term for the assignment of property rights through patents, copyrights and trademarks. These property rights allow the holder to exercise a monopoly on the use of the item for a specified period. In Simple words:Property is anything you own. You have the rights over your property. It is protected by law. Even your ideas and thinking produced by your mind are also protected by law. Answer this:Lets say, you are in your school or office or somewhere. You don't have a pen with you. You see someone else having a pen. What would you do?(a) You take the pen without their permission.(b) You ask the owner of the pen if you can use it.Here, (a) is stealing. (b) you have the permission of the owner to use the pen. This is similar to any property you use. It's illegal to use the product without the permission of the owner or producer. The rights related to literary or artistic work, inventions, discoveries, etc., are called intellectual property rights.

In Detail:Intellectual property (or "IP") is a category of property that includes intangible creations of the human intellect, and primarily encompasses copyrights,patents, and trademarks. It also includes other types of rights, such as trade secrets, publicity rights,moral rights, and rights against unfair competition. The main purpose of intellectual property law is to encourage the creation of a wide variety of intellectual goods. To achieve this, the law gives people and businesses property rights to the information and intellectual goods they create, usually for a limited period of time. Because they can earn profit from them, this gives economic incentive for their creation.The intangible nature of intellectual property presents difficulties when compared with traditional property like land or goods. Unlike traditional property, intellectual property is indivisible – an unlimited number of people can "consume" an intellectual good without it being depleted. Additionally, investments in intellectual goods suffer from problems of appropriation – a landowner can surround their land with a robust fence and hire armed guards to protect it, but a producer of information or an intellectual good can usually do very little to stop their first buyer from replicating it and selling it at a lower price. Balancing rights so that they are strong enough to encourage the creation of intellectual goods but not so strong that they prevent their wide use is the primary focus of modern intellectual property lawOkay, this is enough for now. We'll see other related terms in the next post. Do let me know what you think.

Published on March 09, 2018 23:44