Protecting Technology

In Protecting Technology , you'll learn ...

• Corporate intellectual property protection programs
• Considerations in determining whether to patent or maintain technology as a trade secret
• Corporate security considerations in maintaining trade secrets
• Key aspects of patent ownership for the employer

Overview

Credit: 3 PDH

Length: 36 pages

Imagine you've invented a great new widget that increases the efficiency of your bicycle manufacturing plant by 25%. Now you're able to undersell the competition and still make a handsome profit. What should you do next? Should you keep the invention a secret within your company? But, how do you ensure that one of your workers doesn't sell your widget idea to a competitor. Maybe you should patent your widget? But, then your competition will find out about your secret weapon. They may be able to copy or imitate your design. Perhaps you should get a patent and license out the technology to your competitors. If they're going to steal it anyway, are you better off selling it to them first?

The know-how to produce a product or a service in a manner that sets a company apart from its competitors is a proprietary advantage that must be protected for continued success. In this course, you will learn how to protect the technology that you develop. This course will cover basic corporate intellectual property programs, the use of confidentiality agreements, considerations in determining whether to patent or maintain technology as a trade secret, protection of trade secrets, and proper record keeping for inventors. You will also learn key concepts about patents, including how to identify potentially patentable assets, impediments to obtaining patent protection and key aspects about patent ownership and exploitation.