discussion case study

ACTIVITIES:

• Read:

Kaur, Satwant. “Intellectual Property Protection for Mask
Works.” IETE Technical Review, vol. 30, no. 4, July 2013, pp. 276–279. EBSCOhost,
doi:10.4103/0256-4602.116715. https://trine.on.worldcat.org/oclc/5624949378

READ CHAPTERS 3 & 6

Howe, Helena R, and Jonathan Griffiths,
editors. Concepts of Property in Intellectual Property Law. Cambridge
University Press, 2013. https://trine.on.worldcat.org/oclc/859537389

READ CHAPTER 8

Rimai, Donald S. A Guide for
Implementing a Patent Strategy : How Inventors, Engineers, Scientists,
Entrepreneurs, and Independent Innovators Can Protect Their Intellectual
Property. John Wiley & Sons, Incorporated, 2018. https://trine.on.worldcat.org/oclc/1078996653

Video: Ablow, Gail, et al. Moyers & Company.
Films Media Group, https://trine.on.worldcat.org/oclc/828745465

Video: Pilz, Bryce. Overview
of Intellectual Property Categories, University of Michigan Engineering, 19
Feb. 2014,

ASSIGNMENTS:

Participate:

Week 4 Discussion: Patents for Plants

Watch the video from this week from Moyers & Company
about genetically modified seeds. In the modern world, there is much debate and
discussion about the efficacy of genetically modified organisms (GMO’s) in
particular fruits and vegetables that are grown from GMO seeds or animals that
are bred for the food market from GMO types of practices. GMO’s are often created
to enhance desirable traits and eliminate undesirable traits in an organism.
For example, in farming practices, GMO plants are usually resistant to weed,
better able to tolerate flooding or drought, and grow to be larger and more
lush than the average non-GMO seed of the same variety of plant. Some people
however, feel that such plants are environmentally unfriendly and the consumer
in the marketplace should know if their food has been GMO modified so they can opt-out of consuming it if they wish.

However, aside from such dietary and environmental concerns
there is an entirely different level of debate surrounding GMO foods and that
is the practice of patenting certain seeds processes to create exclusive lines
of certain crops. For example, a plant breeding company may create a new farm
ready plant of corm species that is
resistant to the type of herbicidal spray their company produces by altering a
single gene in the plant. This means that the company could sell corn seed to
farmers and sell along with it herbicidal spray that will kill weeds and other
types of plants including corn with the exception of the corn seed they have
created that is resistant to their brand of herbicidal spray. If a company gets
a patent for their brand of seed and herbicide spray they then will not only
own the exclusive right to that plant seed but subsequent rights to future
generations of plants grown from that same seed line. Over time this can lead
to only a few companies owning all of the legal rights to corn seeds and
plants.

This can be an attractive seed to use for large scale crop
farmers that want to be able to plant one type of corn seed and then be able to
liberally spray herbicide that will destroy all other weeds and contaminants so
that their corn seed thrives. However, the granting of such patents will cut
down dramatically on the diversity of corn seed that is produced and grown over
time thus lessening the benefits of evolution in the natural selection and adaption
of a large number of different corn seeds over time.

As you think about this along with this weeks reading and
the relevant video from this week consider and respond to the following:

1.
Should individual plants and seeds be eligible
for patent protection?

2.
Even if a patent is granted to the seed
engineer should the farmer, the grower of the seed be able to use the seeds
they grow at the end of the season to plant for the next harvest (*ie. Should a
seed patent only extend to one generation of a particular plant as opposed to
granting perpetual protection over that plant and any subsequent plants that
are grown from that same family line of seed indefinitely?)

After answering these questions describe what your policy
would be if you were in charge of the world regarding the patent of
plants and
seeds. How would you balance between the benefits of innovation and
research
into agricultural practices that comes with granting patents against a
decrease in biodiversity and variety that accompanies the allowance for
the
patent of plants?

In your two responses to your peers, respond to your peer’s analysis, and discuss
what if anything they concluded that was different than what you concluded as
well as what was similar. Follow up with your own post regarding the same.

Discussion Rubric

Initial discussion board posts are due by Wednesday at
11:59P EST.

Two further reply posts are due by Sunday at 11:59 PM EST

Written Assignment:

Handbook Writing
a Claim

The first
step in securing a patent to protect an invention or creative work is to
determine if an item is patentable. This means not only determining if the item
is worthy of the time and effort necessary to securing a patent for it but also
that the item is sufficiently unique to
be able to secure patent protection if requested.

While
attorneys and those with legal experience often play a direct role in writing
the full patent application and other steps in the process, inventor sand
patent engineers are the primary parties that are usually involved with writing
up the actual patent claim section of the patent application.

Your job in
this assignment is to play the role of a patent engineer manager and provide
guidance to the other patent engineers you supervise about how to write the
patent claim. This is the nut and bolts part of describing the invention and its applications. In
particular, provide guidance about how to determine how many different types of
claims or inventions you might have related to a single product. How might writing
for a unique invention be different than writing for an improved process or
part to an existing product? Your response should be 1,000 to 1,500 words in
length.