Category: Intellectual Property

One role of a manager is to protect a companys intellectual property rights. In the automobile industry, a manager should protect the following intellectual property rights: patent rights, trademarks, designs, and website addresses. To identify and protect intellectual property rights, managers should take the following actions:

The first stage in the protection of the intellectual properties of a company is identifying them. Knowing what a company has as its intellectual rights and needs to be protected. If the rights are on blueprints, the prints should be well protected. If they are intangible assets like patents, then management has the role of ensuring they are well utilized.

A manager should ensure there is strict adherence to a companys rules and regulations. This will ensure there is compliance with accepted standards and ethical code of conduct. A code of conduct should be developed and measures are taken to ensure that every member of staff adheres to them.

Managers cannot secure intellectual properties alone. They need the assistance of other members of staff; staffs should be trained of their companys intellectual to protect. If there are changes in the properties, employees should be informed appropriately to ensure that they are updated on what is happening in their organization. In the automobile industry, access to a companys future designs can be possible through the internet if passwords and entry rights are not well protected. Keepers of such entry rights and passwords should be trained in their role.

The public has a role to play in the protection of intellectual properties. If they are aware of a certain companys products, they can identify counterfeit goods. The role of management as far as the public is concerned is promoting public awareness (Cheeseman, 2010).

Managers should ensure their companys intellectual property rights are non-disclosure and non-competitive agreements. This means that employees will not have the urge to compare and equate their rights with those of competitors. If they get such a chance, it will be on a diplomatic level where they can hardly violate other peoples intellectual rights. This calls for well-researched and developed intellectual properties. In the automobile industry, they should ensure that they have superior models.

Innocent employees can do sometimes violate or violation may be out of ignorance; management should ensure that its employees could make a distinction between their companys intellectual properties and those of other companies. Employees should be trained to respect other peoples intellectual rights, as they would like their rights respected. In case an employee comes up with an idea that has been gotten illegally from another company, the management should refuse to take such ideas and probably punish the employee for such behavior. Such moves will ensure that good behavior has been upheld in the company. Line managers, supervisors and individual staff should be given the mandate of ensuring that their teams respect other peoples intellectual rights. They should not entertain a violation of other peoples rights for their benefit.

To maintain a diplomatic relationship with other companies in the automobile industry, managers should ensure they maintain ethical and legal standards in their company. This may call for the services of a specialist like a lawyer. The specialist should advise their company on the best actions not to violate other peoples intellectual property rights (Birgitte, 2006).

References

Birgitte, A.(2006). Intellectual property rights: innovation, governance and the institutional environment. Massachusetts: Edward Elgar Publishing.

Cheeseman, H. (2010). Legal Environment, Online Commerce, Business Ethics, and International Issues. New York: Prentice-Hall.

Introduction

The day-to-day transactions that take place in business involve people. Additionally, the business has come out as a dominant social institution in society and as a result, it has evolved as an institution that controls significant social assets and hence wields overwhelming financial power. As a result, business institutions are obligated to exploit their powers for the benefit of society as a whole. However, when businesses turn out to use the powers they have irresponsibly they end up losing the power or the powers are reduced by regulation and law (Wines, 2006, p.45).

Law in Business

Law has been utilized in business activities which in its sense constitute a set of rules that govern business. Good laws should promote justice which is a moral goal for any society. Though laws may be related to moral goals, what is considered legal may necessarily not be the same as what is right, and from this, the law is viewed as the minimum standard of behavior in any society whereby failure to conform to these minimum standards results in civil sanctions or criminal penalties. As social and environmental norms change, business as an institution is not insulated; private legal relationships are recognized as the components which dominated the business legal environment (Meiners, Ringleb and Edwards, 2008, p.124).

Business law has evolved to concerns itself with the rights and obligations of different parties to each other in business formation and many business working relationships. Moreover, the business environment is characterized by contracts that are created both in domestic and international sale of goods and these contracts have formed key constituents of business relationships (Meiners, Ringleb and Edwards, 2008, p.124); and to make these contracts successful and realize their goals, credit is often extended and numerous forms of negotiable mechanisms are usually used.

Tort Law and Business

Tort law is the most area of this course that is valued and appreciated. The tort may simply be described as a harmful civil act done by a person against another and may include trespassing or injury to another person or his property. When a tort takes place the law provides for a solution whereby liability is imposed for conduct that unjustly interferes with the interests of another person (Meiners, Ringleb and Edwards, 2008, p.127).

Business torts constitute wrongful interference with the business rights of others and in many cases, they include concepts such as; unfair competition and wrongfully interfering with the business relations of another. Business gets involved in a tort in three circumstances: 1) when an individual is harmed by the actions of another business or person; 2) an individual is harmed by the actions of a business or its employees; and 3) an individual is harmed by a product manufactured or circulated by the business.

Benefits of learning Tort Law

Tort law is concerned with compensation for damages incurred in form of injury to another party. The experience derived from learning Tort law is that injuries or damages to property rights are also recognized by the law and subsequent remedies made hence interests in prospective future economic advantages from signed agreements can also be injured and become the subject of tort actions (Steele, 2007, p. 491). The dynamism being experienced in the business world and suspension of business ethic values by many corporations prompts anyone with interest in the business to acquire knowledge of torts to fit well in the future business environment.

Conclusion

Business laws continue to ensure there is sanity in business and that any wrongful act has consequences on the person initiating, promoting, or overseeing the act. Of great importance to the business is the tort law which in essence is private, and the aim of the law according to Alaska Supreme Court is to put the injured party, as nearly as possible in the position he or she would have occupied had it not been for the defendants tort (Meiners, Ringleb and Edwards, 2008, p.127).

Axia College Material

Differentiate between intentional torts against persons, intentional torts against property, and torts based on negligence. Use the text book to help you find answers.

References

• Meiners, R. E., Ringleb, A. H. and Edwards, F. L. (2008). The Legal Environment of Business. OH, Cengage Learning. Web.
• Steele, J. (2007). Tort Law: Text, Cases, & Materials. NY, Oxford University Press. Web.
• Wines, W. A. (2006). Ethics, law, and business. NY, Routledge. Web.

Introduction

The concept of intellectual property has existed for several centuries. In essence, it protects the right of a creator to label their effort in the creation of content. However, it also raises numerous issues, including the source of ideas, plagiarism, and conflicts between authors. Much of valuable information is restricted by IP, which hinges on creativity and quality. With all restrictions and obstacles considered, abolishing intellectual property has the potential to make the world a better place.

Quality Improvement

The world without the obligatory attribution of human creations to separate individuals would encourage more quality content. Access to most of the modern knowledge is limited, which implies the inability of many people to familiarize themselves with the necessary material. For instance, the majority of scientific databases are closed, which compels students to work with indirect sources or include a costly subscription into their budget. As a result, their writing suffers because preliminary research is not valid. The removal of information protection would eliminate this issue as everyone would be able to reference their knowledge.

Another way the lack of IP could improve the quality is via competitiveness. According to Von Gunten, opponents of abolishing intellectual property fear that the collective responsibility for creativity would devalue the creators efforts (26). However, the equal footing of all authors on the market will most likely create a higher demand for innovation. The creator would face competition and therefore probably less profit and higher pressure to innovate constantly (Von Gunten, 34). The solution for the realization of such business environment would imply that writers will not be paid for the number of sold copies. Instead, their income will be based on the number of books they will write. As a consequence, more value will be attributed to novelty and original approaches to the existing knowledge, than the repetition of the already known concepts.

Releasing Authorship Tension

Amending laws on intellectual property would resolve much disputes concerning authorship. An entire law framework is set up that regulates the relations between authors, publishers, and consumers. It is challenging to pinpoint a specific creator of an idea since they all fall under someones influence. Many writers and scientists are accused of plagiarism, which constitutes the source of tension among IP owners. Recognizing on a regulatory level that no person can create content without collective input will effectively render such disputes obsolete.

As artificial intelligence gains prominence, it becomes apparent that at some point, it will be able to create content on its own. Abott argues that some AI programs are already capable of computational creativity, meaning machines ability to generate ideas without human participation (1089). Current laws require that the creator should be stated openly. However, Abbott prognoses significant confusion to whom the ideas should be attributed  to computers or programmers (1116). Once again, this potential future dilemma can be resolved by discarding the concept of intellectual property.

Conclusion

Overall, intellectual property has created numerous obstacles to creativity and tension among authors. Abolishing IP would make digital archives accessible to everyone who wishes to educate oneself, implying higher quality of the final papers. Moreover, if all writing is created equal, authors will be more incentivized to innovate. Another way the refusal to reinforce intellectual property could help society is by mitigating the conflict of authorship. Besides, such collisions will become inevitable with the advent of artificial intelligence that is capable of creativity. Not only can IP abolition can prevent these disagreements from occurring, but it can also improve life by welcoming more qualitative effort of creators.

Works Cited

Abbott, Ryan. I Think, Therefore I Invent: Creative Computers and the Future of Patent Law. Boston College Law Review, vol. 57, no. 4, 2016, pp. 1079-1126.

Von Gunten, Andreas. Intellectual Property is Common Property. Buch & Netz, 2015.

The case under analysis is a complex one as far as the causes for action, the parties, and the jurisdictions of the litigation might be different depending on the laws and their interpretation by court in a certain way. On the one hand, the parties involved in the litigation are the file sharing platform and Columbia Pictures. On the other hand, the platform is not liable for the content that its users place on it, and the parties will change to the student, Dan Black, and Columbia Pictures again. The causes for action as well as the forms of relief involved are also different and controversial.

On the whole, to start the litigation a party should file a lawsuit against another party, or parties, and have valid causes of action, the parties, and the proper jurisdiction. The litigation involves pleadings, discovery, motions, and trial phases, and the traditional causes for action include intellectual property concerns, intellectual property licensing concerns, and torts. In the case under analysis, the intellectual property is the likely cause of action because the dispute concerns the intellectual property on the whole and the copyright infringement in particular. Columbia Pictures owns the copyright for the film under analysis and either the file sharing platform and/or the student have infringed this copyright.

Concerning the parties to the litigation, it is more difficult to identify them. Traditionally, corporate and individual defendants are singled out among the litigation parties based on the Respondeat Superior rule according to which corporate defendants are held responsible for the actions of their members within the limits of the corporate responsibility delivered to these members. In the case under analysis, the University of South Florida cannot be held responsible for Dan Blacks actions as distributing the video files is not under the University control and cannot be included into its responsibilities. Retspan.com cannot be responsible either as even despite the fact that Black is its member, Retspan.com is not liable for the content its members share via its network. Therefore, the parties to the litigation are likely to be the student, Dan Black, and Columbia Pictures. However, based on Vicarious Liability, Retspan.com can also be held responsible as it could supervise Blacks activities and had direct financial interest in covering them as sharing files through Retspan.com involves fees paid by the customers. Accordingly, there could be either two separate litigations against Black and Retspan.com as well as a single litigation against Retspan.com and Black as its member.

Moreover, the litigation jurisdiction is also difficult as it is impossible to define the location of the materials that infringed the copyright law and where this infringement took place as it was the Internet resource headquartered in Washington. Accordingly, it is possible only to define that the state court should be the authority for the litigation and that the place of litigation, according to Fla. Stat. §47.011 should be the state and the city where the defendants reside. So, if the litigation involves only the student, it should take place in the Florida state court, while the litigation with Retspan.com might also take place in the Washington state court.

Finally, only the monetary relief form applies to the case because the copyright owner, i. e. Columbia Pictures, suffered financial losses from the copyright infringement, while Retspan.com and Dan Black benefited from the illegal film distribution. As well, the copyright is always about the right to dispose of the objects with the potential monetary value, and infringements of copyrights also involve monetary relief.

Security at Workplace

Commonly the term of security includes the actions of the vulnerable things, places or people protection from something that impinge to harm. Security plays a significant role in the order maintenance. The workplace security is meant to prevent any damage to human health or property. Workplace security measures ensure the provision and support of safety regulations and respect for the human and legal rights of the employees and customers. Nowadays, the proper security of the workplace is the necessity for any company, large or small. And the responsibility for the security efficiency primarily lies on the managers and executives of the organization.

Since the employees can be regarded as the most valuable assets, it is in a companys interest to ensure the secure working environment. The most effective methods for the prevention of workplace violence are the employees background scanning, the sufficient number of security guards, the entrance restrictions and controls, the safety trainings and programs, etc. (Smith, 2014, p. 5).

The scanning of the newly hired employee for the previous criminal accusations is important because it provides the legal security for the company and helps to avoid the potential violence at workplace. The efficient safety regulations must comprise the employees identification policies that would allow the exclusion of the unauthorized entries to facilities. Every company needs to employ the security guards who would allow the constant monitoring of the working areas and quickly respond to any emergency that could take place. The employer must make sure that all the subordinates know and understand the safety rules and know how to act in case of emergencies. It is important to arrange trainings and tests to trace the level of the employees awareness and knowledge about security issues.

Intellectual Property Theft

Intellectual property is intangible in its nature. It includes ideas, patents, trademarks, industrial designs, and copyright (Groves, 1998, p. 1). It is comprised of all sorts of information, both confidential and disclosed, that belongs to a company and determines its choices and decisions. Intellectual Property Theft (IPT) is the action of stealing, appropriation, sharing and copying of the companys information.

Since the information is usually kept on the electronic carriers, devices, and computers, the provision of the computer security is of greatest significance for the IPT avoidance. The managers also need to control the validity of access to the confidential information and to reinforce the restrictions on copying and sharing by legal documents and regulations adoption. One of the best decisions is drawing up of the non-disclosure document that is to be signed by all the subordinates who is going to deal with the intellectual property of organization in their work.

The regular education of the workforce about the threats of economic espionage, intellectual property theft, counterfeiting, and piracy plays an important role in the prevention of IPT (Securing intellectual property, 2008, p. 5). When people are aware of the possible consequences of the unlawful actions and informational misuse, they are less motivated to act illegally. Some employees also can commit IPT unintentionally because of ignorance and lack of knowledge and the specialized training is, therefore, useful, as it makes the cases of IPT rarer.

IPT can cause the significant damage to business, profitability, and productivity. The professional informational security is of great necessity. The efficient informational security means the application of the best technologies, such as firewalls, intrusion detection, encryption, strong authentication devices, etc. (Securing intellectual property, 2008, p. 5). And the personnels background scanning is effective in the prevention of IPT as well.

What Happened to Bob?

Bob Hills expressions of anger at workplace and his irresponsibility demonstrated with the high rate of absenteeism, and the repeated cases of lateness can be regarded as the signs of the potential cases of violence. These signs are even more emphasized by Clyde Fishers story about Bobs personal problems and his frequent attendance of bar and drinking alcohol. Although Bobs problem isnt proved to be real so far, it is Jack Ottos professional responsibility to take actions needed for the potential violent incidents prevention when the warning signs arise.

The rumors about Bobs domestic problems, his mood swings, and oppression cannot be regarded as the sufficient evidence for any accusation. First of all, the investigation should take place. After interviewing personnel and finding out about the overall situation, Jack needs to invite Bob for the interview as well. The support of the interviews confidentiality leads to more positive outcomes and allows a person to feel freer in conversation about his or her personal problems.

Although Bob can be not completely honest and can also be reluctant to answer the questions about his personal life and its effects on his working performance, the interview still will allow revealing some more details regarding this issue.

Since the threat of violence is vague and ungrounded, the professional threat assessment could be helpful. In case Store Fixture Manufacturing Co. has a workplace violence consultant as a member of its staff, it is useful for Jack to involve him or her in the investigation process. When an employee shows a dramatic decline in mood, mental acuity, or awareness, or appears to be losing control it is the exact situation to refer to consultants assistance (Guerin, 2010, p. 290). The consultants are helpful in the arrangement of interviews and elaboration of the disciplinary actions and solutions. If there is a lack of knowledge regarding the violence threats in the company, the professional consultancy just what is needed. Nevertheless, Jack can find the other ways achieve positive results in Bobs problem.

In case Bob admits his problems in the interview, it could be useful for him to apply to the employee assistance program (EAP). EAP could provide the psychological assistance in Bobs anger issues and help him to cope with his personal life challenges and the alcohol or drug abuse. In case this program is available in the company, Jack needs to inform Bob about its existence. In case the company doesnt have EAP, its future development would be of great use in organizational security controls.

Family disputes increase the probability of the workplace violence committed by outsiders. In Bobs case, his wife or other members of his family whom he has the domestic fights with can become involved in the violence at workplace. In this turn of events, it is crucial for the crime and violence avoidance to increase the workplace security. For example, Jack can increase the security staff number, place a locking door in the entrance lobby, install more cameras, etc. It is also very important to keep up to the rules of the employees identification controls and make all the staff members and visitors to wear badges to make the unauthorized entrance detection more effective and faster.

The adoption of the antiviolence policies would allow Jack Otto to keep both the current situation and the potential future possibilities of violent workplace behaviors under control. When the prohibition of violence is legally reaffirmed and states the employees responsibilities, rights, and the punishment measures following the violent actions, the risk of crimes winds down. All the kinds of workplace violence must be included in the policy, and the employees must be informed about the regulation adoption. The staff members need to be informed about the necessity of the potential and actual violence reports because it is one of the crucial means for the crime prevention.

The personal issues inevitably affect employees working performance and, as the result, the companys productivity and financial profitability. Thus, neglecting of Bobs problems by managers can have negative impacts on the overall working process in the company. At the personal level, without psychological or material assistance Bob will continue to be involved in alcohol abuse and will cause the degradation of his state, and it more likely will provoke the behavior problems extension. The disregard of Bobs personal problems is thus a big managerial mistake, and it is in the companys interests to start the investigation as soon as possible.

As a good manager, Jack Otto probably will ask Bob if there is any connection between his oppression and work. Despite some issues of self-organization and discipline at workplace, Bob did justice to himself by being a professional and experienced specialist in his field. The constant absenteeism and lateness could be to some extent related to the low job satisfaction because of the size of salary, working conditions, or something else alike. In case the connections revealed, Jack can suggest the possible solutions and offers to improve the level of Bobs job satisfaction. Offering even a little improvement can positively impact the whole situation both of a working and personal character.

Showing respect is of tremendous help in resolving of the possible threats of violence. Jack needs to demonstrate the respectful and emphatic attitude because it is observed that employees who feel mistreated or aggrieved and who hold in low esteem at workplace are reported to outburst in anger and fury much more often. Therefore, it is important to show Bob that he is appreciated and regarded as a valuable employee. The demonstrated empathy would possibly contribute to the improvement of Bobs problem.

By and large, in Bobs case, Jack Otto has several methods to apply for the prevention of the violence outbursts. He must strengthen security controls during the whole period of the investigation procedure and make sure that all the staff members know how to behave in emergency cases. Jack needs to interview Bob and assess the potential of the security threat. Jack will contribute to the improvement of the Bobs situation by providing psychological and material help and treating Bob respectfully. The feeling of appreciation will probably help Bob to reduce psychological tension and will decrease the risk of violent behavior at work.

References

Groves, P. (1997). Sourcebook on intellectual property law. London, UK: Cavendish Publishing.

Guerin, L. (2010). The essential guide to workplace investigations: How to handle employee complaints and problems. Berkley, CA: Nolo.

Securing intellectual property: Protecting trade secrets and other information (2008). Oxford, UK: Butterworth-Heinemann.

Smith, E. (2014). Workplace security essentials: A guide for helping organizations create safe work environments. Waltham, MA: Elsevier.