If a company develops a new technology that improves its main product, what type of intellectual property can they use to stop others from copying their invention?

(PDF-215 KB) To keep pace in an expanding global marketplace, businesses are under increasingly intense pressure to develop and launch new products at ever greater speeds. Consumers around the world are highly informed, expect customizable products, and are more focused on value than brand. Businesses must meet differing customer needs and must compete in highly diverse markets, for example, growing middle classes in Asia and Latin America, as well as increasingly fragmented niche market segments in the United States and Europe. At the same time, product technologies are converging; as a result, a broad range of new skills are required to develop and launch new products. For example, automotive OEMs have had to develop skills in mobile communications, battery technology, and software development. As markets and technologies continue to change at a relentless pace, many business leaders fear that their organizations will not be able to adapt quickly enough. Some react by creating new start-ups outside their organization or they quickly turn to outsourcing tasks in order to realize higher speed and agility. Other executives will try to change their existing organization to respond to the challenges—but there are several hurdles to overcome. In cases of classic disruption, the speed of change is difficult to predict, budgeting requirements to build future-oriented capabilities, in addition to still delivering the existing business, are high. If their traditional business is s...

Innovation and Intellectual Property Innovation means doing something new that improves a product, process or service. Many innovations can be protected through intellectual property (IP) rights. Inventions are the bedrock of innovation. An invention is a new solution to a technical problem and can be protected through ensuring that an inventor can control the commercial use of their invention. An individual or company that holds a patent has the right to prevent others from making, selling, retailing, or importing that technology. This creates opportunities for inventors to sell, trade or The criteria that need to be satisfied to obtain a patent are set out in new (novel), useful and not obvious to someone working in the related field. To do this, they are required to describe how their technology works and what it can do. A patent can last up to 20 years, but the patent holder usually has to pay certain fees periodically throughout that 20-year period for the patent to remain valid. In practice, this means that if a technology has limited commercial value, the patent holder may decide to abandon the patent, at which point the technology falls into the public domain and may be freely used. In addition to recognizing and rewarding inventors for their commercially successful technologies, patents also tell the world about inventions. In order to gain patent protection for their invention, the inventor must provide a detailed explanation of how it works.In fact, every time a...

Computers, the internet, robots and artificial intelligence (AI): these are some of the firstthings that come to mind when we talk about the technology businesses use. There’s nodoubt that they can improve the operations of trade and commerce; they create notableadvantages. However, even the most advanced technology products are far fromperfect. They often have drawbacks or present challenges before they can deliver benefits. What do global businesses gain from adopting technology? For a company like ours that supports telecommuting, reliable and faster communication systems are essential. Likewise, when talks about new technology began in our industry, employees' fear that they would be replaced by computers was palpable. Of course, once they understood the tech tools, their fear turned into acceptance. Without any delay, here’s a list of the most important benefits I believe global companies can derivefrom technology based on my experience using and implementing it. There may not be anything surprising on this list, but it’s worth emphasizinghow important these advantages can be for businesses that operate on a worldwide scale. 1. Faster and more reliable communication:For businesses that operateinternationally, reliable communication is a must. If telephone lines are not available, you should have readily usable alternatives such as VoIP or live chat.Thanks to the fact that companies have developed numerous methods of communication, global businessescan be sure that the...

What is a trade secret? Trade secrets are What qualifies as a trade secret? In general, to qualify as a trade secret, the information must be: • commercially valuable because it is secret, • be known only to a limited group of persons, and • be subject to reasonable steps taken by the rightful holder of the information to keep it secret, including the use of confidentiality agreements for business partners and employees. The unauthorized acquisition, use or disclosure of such secret information in a manner contrary to honest commercial practices by others is regarded as an unfair practice and a violation of the trade secret protection. In general, any confidential business information which provides an enterprise a competitive edge and is unknown to others may be protected as a trade secret. Types of trade secrets Trade secrets encompass both technical information, such as information concerning manufacturing processes, pharmaceutical test data, designs and drawings of computer programs, and commercial information, such as distribution methods, list of suppliers and clients, and advertising strategies. A trade secret may be also made up of a combination of elements, each of which by itself is in the public domain, but where the combination, which is kept secret, provides a competitive advantage. Other examples of information that may be protected by trade secrets include financial information, formulas and recipes and source codes. Depending on the legal system, the legal ...