I consider something someone's intellectual property if you are using their exact words or you are taking their idea and putting it in your own words. The legal definition of intellectual property is: "The ownership of ideas and control over the tangible or virtual representation of those ideas. Use of another person's intellectual property may or may not involve royalty payments or permission, but should always include proper credit to the source."(dictionary.com)
Some examples of intellectual property are copyrights, trademarks, patents, and trade secrets. When a book has a copyright on it it means that the words and ideas conveyed in that book are the author's intellectual property. Trademarks usually brands, such as "Fisher Price" or "Circo", someone who does not own the brand can not put it on their products unless they have the owner's permission. Patents are usually inventions. Tomas Edison invented the lightbulb, when he was developing this invention, he might have put a patent on it so that if someone else cam forward with the same invention, the would not get credit because Edison invented it first. Trade secrets are secrets that a company or individual uses when they go about making their product, an example would be Pepsi, they would never reveal how they make their soda so delicious because someone could take that secret and make the same soda for cheaper and Pepsi would loose a lot of money.
Hi Ava,
ReplyDeleteThank you for your post about intellectual property. It is true--a research paper that would use the works of other people is the intellectual property of the writer of the research paper, BUT one must remember to give credit to all of the sources used in a research paper, as those articles, books, etc. are the intellectual property of others.
Thomas Edison did patent his light bulb:
http://www.archives.gov/historical-docs/document.html?doc=11&title.raw=Thomas%20Edison%27s%20Patent%20Application%20for%20the%20Light%20Bulb
Since then, however, light bulbs have changed a bit...think about halogen light bulbs, fluorescent light bulbs, etc...they may have used Edison's original idea, but employed different materials and shapes to make them:
Patent for 3 way halogen light bulb:
http://www.google.com/patents/US6919684
Re: "Flavor secrets"...
Nearly every country in the world that produces carbonated soft drinks has its own cola formula. I am not sure if it is an accident, or due to regional taste preferences, available ingredients, or their production methods. Not everyone wants to make their product identical to Coke or Pepsi...not only that, but in some countries, Coke and Pepsis are "prestige" brands that people would purchase to show off their wealth or status, even if they like the taste of the local soda better. So they would not lose money. If anything, the local brands lose money as Coke and Pepsi--both international conglomerates--force their products on store shelves around the world, and compete with local street food. (Pepsi owns KFC and Taco Bell, for example.)
Sincerely,
Professor Wexelbaum