Course Descriptions

Today, most companies build up their portfolio by applying for more patents. In addition, they are licensing and cross-licensing technology. In both cases, companies with a strong IP portfolio are generally in a better position to negotiate.

However, to maximize the value of their intellectual assets, companies must understand how they support business strategy, protect current or future product positions, provide competitive advantage, and add value through creative, non- traditional applications.

Succinctly, the company’s intellectual asset management strategy must be formulated with the understanding of the topography or type of industry.

A patent for an invention is the grant of a property right to the inventor, issued by the Patent and Trademark Office. The term of a new patent is 20 years from the date on which the application for the patent was filed in the United States or, in special cases, from the date an earlier related application was filed, subject to the payment of maintenance fees. US patent grants are effective only within the US, US territories, and US possessions.

The right conferred by the patent grant is, in the language of the statute and of the grant itself, “the right to exclude others from making, using, offering for sale, or selling” the invention in the United States or “importing” the invention into the United States. What is granted is not the right to make, use, offer for sale, sell or import, but the right to exclude others from making, using, offering for sale, selling or importing the invention

A trademark is a word, name, symbol or device, which is used in trade with goods to indicate the source of the goods and to distinguish them from the goods of others. A servicemark is the same as a trademark except that it identifies and distinguishes the source of a service rather than a product. The terms “trademark” and “mark” are commonly used to refer to both trademarks and servicemarks.

Trademark rights may be used to prevent others from using a confusingly similar mark, but not to prevent others from making the same goods or from selling the same goods or services under a clearly different mark. Trademarks, which are used in interstate or foreign commerce, may be registered with the Patent and Trademark Office. The registration procedure for trademarks and general information concerning trademarks is described in a separate pamphlet entitled “Basic Facts about Trademarks”.

Copyright is a form of protection provided to the authors of “original works of authorship” including literary, dramatic, musical, artistic, and certain other intellectual works, both published and unpublished. The 1976 Copyright Act generally gives the owner of copyright the exclusive right to reproduce the copyrighted work, to prepare derivative works, to distribute copies or phone records of the copyrighted work, to perform the copyrighted work publicly, or to display the copyrighted work publicly.

The copyright protects the form of expression rather than the subject matter of the writing. For example, a description of a machine could be copyrighted, but this would only prevent others from copying the description; it would not prevent others from writing a description of their own or from making and using the machine. Did you know this?

This course will explain how to recognize your company’s Intellectual property and what you need to file to protect and maintain those rights. It will allow course attendees to identify the various types of Intellectual Property and learn how to file an application with the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) via electronic filing system (EFS).

One big problem that we face these days is that the concept of intellectual property is being diluted. On the one hand, people are becoming more conscious of erecting secure boundaries around their own – or their organizations’- intellectual property. On the other modern technology is making it more and more difficult to classify information of this kind. The internet, especially, has made finding and sharing of information so easy that if individuals and organization are not serious about protecting information that is valuable to them then there is the distinct possibility that it can be all over the Net for everyone’s use. The onset of the WWW/Internet has completely changed the way intellectual property works and that is even more reason that organizations need to be very attentive and constantly/regularly evaluate what they are doing to protect their private information.

It should also be bourne in mind that when talking about managing and protecting intellectual property, insightful organizations also have to consider other countries. Many societal environments have long standing traditions – deep dyed into the cultural fabric of such nations – that much property is common to all. Globalization and the pace at which information is flowing across international borders mean that managing your intellectual property is not limited to your own country. Of course, each country has its own laws and regulations about intellectual property and these are issues that come up especially if you are dealing with clients from overseas. It is important that in such a situation both parties come to an agreement about how intellectual property is going to be treated.

In a broad sense, a company’s intellectual property takes many forms. Safeguarding your assets can be a complicated task. Whether in the form of financial records, business plans, customer data, trade secrets, manufacturing processes, product formulations and ideas, package design or trade dress. Companies are diligent when it comes to identifying and protecting intellectual property because it holds such high value in today’s increasingly knowledge-based economy. Extracting value from intellectual property and preventing others from deriving value from it is an important responsibility for any company.

Many forms of IP cannot be listed on the balance sheet as assets, but the value of such property tends to be reflected in the price of the stock. Management’s ability to manage these effectively and turn profits is just one example.

This course will also offer an intensive but simplified introduction to U.S. patent legal systems and methodologies, basic principles of stare decisis and precedent, the nature of legal education, and sources of law. The key component of the executive assistant’s role in patent litigation is gathering and organization of documents. A portion of the course will focus on the various types and form books of reference books, proper case citation, methods of compiling legislative histories and administrative legal research.

This course should serve as an introduction to the basic kinds of intellectual property protection – Patents, Trademarks, Copyrights and Trade Secrets and how to keep your company’s Intellectual Property from walking out the door.

Determine which proprietary information warrants protection and how to preserve your clients Intellectual Property Rights.

A company wishing to enforce a patent should consider a number of issues in addition to whether there is infringement, including the nature of the remedies available for the infringement, the costs of pursuing the infringement versus the costs of not pursuing it and the possible counterclaims the defendant could raise. A company facing a possible patent lawsuit has a similar list of issues to consider in determining how to respond to that lawsuit. In either event, the early involvement of patent litigation specialists is vital to smart decision making. Preparation begins with the company’s objectives and involves developing and implementing a solid strategy to defend or enforce the company’s intellectual property rights.

Learn how you can assist your organization – and its corporate lawyers – in patent litigation case preparation. Learn the steps your organization can take to avoid litigation.

Learn how to assist your organization in maintaining clear and concise records – an essential facet in protecting your company’s I.P. rights. Organizational methods and necessary documentation is discussed.

Intellectually or artistically gifted people have the right to prevent the unauthorized use or sale of their creations, just in the same way as would owners of physical property, such as cars, buildings, and stores. Yet, compared to makers of chairs, refrigerators, and other tangible goods, people whose work is essentially intangible face more difficulties in earning a living if their claim to their creations is not respected. Artists, authors, inventors, and others unable to rely on locks and fences to protect their work turn to IP rights to keep others from harvesting the fruits of their labour.

This online training course will assist you and your organization in safeguarding these property rights. A detailed overview of the forms and processes necessary to maintain patent rights in the United States and abroad.

If a business claims patent protection over its product line, at the very least, the following issues should be considered:

1) Has the product been properly marked?

2) Does the patent actually cover the product?

3) How broadly or narrowly is the product covered?

4) How easy would it be for a competitor to design around the patent?

5) What patents are held by competitors, and what are the risks that the product infringes the rights of others?

6) Have the rights to the patent been properly recorded with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office?

Investigating all of these matters during a Due Diligence Investigation is critical to the success of your company’s acquisition.

In a broad sense, a company’s intellectual property takes many forms. Safeguarding your assets can be a complicated task. Whether in the form of financial records, business plans, customer data, trade secrets, manufacturing processes, product formulations and ideas, package design or trade dress. Companies are diligent when it comes to identifying and protecting intellectual property because it holds such high value in today’s increasingly knowledge-based economy. Extracting value from intellectual property and preventing others from deriving value from it is an important responsibility for any company.

Many forms of IP cannot be listed on the balance sheet as assets, but the value of such property tends to be reflected in the price of the stock. Management’s ability to manage these effectively and turn profits is just one example.

The ever-increasing level of piracy and counterfeiting costs U.S. businesses substantial revenue annually. As such, a business has to be as vigilant in protecting its intangible assets, as it would be in protecting its tangible property. Intellectual property law is a means to combat the widespread theft of a company’s most important assets.

Often it is not possible to protect IP and gain IP rights (or IPRs) unless they have been applied for and granted, but some IP protection, such as copyright, arises automatically, without any registration, as soon as there is a record in some form of what has been created.

This course is designed to provide our students with a basic understanding of the various types of intellectual property, namely:

Patent – a grant made by a government that confers upon the creator of an invention the sole right to make, use, and sell that invention for a set period of time.

Specifically, this course covers the basic requirements for protecting each type of intangible, highlights the sources of authority that govern intellectual property law, explains what types of rights are available, introduces what constitutes infringement, discusses the defences available for infringement and lists the types of remedies used to compensate an owner for infringement. Given the production and export from foreign countries of products that violate U.S. patents, there will also be a comparison of protection methods available abroad.

This course should serve as an introduction to the basic kinds of intellectual property protection – Patents, Trademarks, Copyrights and Trade Secrets and how to keep your company’s Intellectual Property from walking out the door.

Determine which proprietary information warrants protection and how to preserve your clients Intellectual Property Rights.

Learn each step in process from filing an application, responding to office actions, restriction requirement, appeals, formalities and notice of allowance.

In the United States alone, for example, studies in the past decade have estimated that over 70 percent of U.S. exports now depend on some form of intellectual property protection, compared to less then 10 percent 50 years ago.

Intellectually or artistically gifted people have the right to prevent the unauthorized use or sale of their creations, just in the same way as would owners of physical property, such as cars, buildings, and stores. Yet, compared to makers of chairs, refrigerators, and other tangible goods, people whose work is essentially intangible face more difficulties in earning a living if their claim to their creations is not respected. Artists, authors, inventors, and others unable to rely on locks and fences to protect their work turn to IP rights to keep others from harvesting the fruits of their labour.

This online training course will assist you and your organization in safeguarding these property rights. A detailed overview of the forms and processes necessary to maintain patent rights in the United States and abroad.

The course will cover the following topics: the foundations of change management, systemic analysis of change processes, resistance to change, the origin of the problems and the beginning of the change. It is also intended that this course will describe the successful implementation of change processes… UMR Method, the accordion method and the bouncing effect in performance enhancement.A comprehensive segment on the Theory U and the Theories of Systems will be introduced and managed during the course which attempts to perceive change as part of a continuum which involves us all and creates the foundations for profound sensing of change as a quintessential part of life.

This executive development training programme is intended for both IS staff as well as management having purview over IS issues. Each course/session will provide executives with the information necessary to develop a framework for evaluating IS needs. As importantly, it will strengthen their ability in making recommendations in a manner that will align with the organizational goals. A pivotal purpose is to allow management to effectively communicate and translate the organizational goals to IS technology staff.

While the actions that an organization performs when disasters and crisis arise are reactive, every organizations management bears a fiduciary responsibility to the shareowners/stakeholders to identify and mitigate potential risks that might lead to a crisis. But, as importantly, to minimize the impact of any disaster that may arise. A well developed and maintained Business Contingency program can significantly improve an organization’s resilience to disasters.

Traditional Business Contingency (BC) planning and development procedures have invariably been assigned to Information Technology (IT) departments for development and maintenance. The current paradigm in BC planning however emphasizes the importance of active involvement by all divisions and departments within an organization….and several levels of executive personnel

To that end, this programme is aimed at ALL mid-range to senior executives. The express intent is to provide a current, modern, overview of the Business Contingency planning and development process. It emphasizes the importance of a BC programme and outlines the steps required to successfully implement an organizational BC programme.