Intellectual Property
In general there are two types of property; real property and intellectual property.
Real property is land and the built environment e.g. houses, factories, harbours, railways etc. Real property has scientifically determinable quantities such as mass and volume. The value of real property can be established more or less a by the process of what you see is what you get.
The word "property" is generally accepted to mean "being owned" and so the question can be asked "who owns the property?". This is relatively a simple task for Real property. But it can be demonstrated that not all matters of property and therefore ownership can be so simply organised.
The notion that knowledge can be seen as property, and could therefore be a tradable asset goes back to the 1600s and the word "patent" came into usage. Broadly, there is an exchange of value, the entity granting the patent is agreed to have sovereign power, and extends this power for an agreed time, commonly 17 years, during which time the entity to have created the knowledge is allowed to exploit for its tradable value. After which time the knowledge becomes public property.
Largely because the tradable asset cannot be seen, measured etc., it is convenient to deal with it using the name Intellectual Property, commonly referred to as IP.
Intellectual property comes into being in two ways, by design, or by accident. The are several forms of intellectual property. These are Patents, Copyright and registration of designs. Here we will deal with copyright as this has become in recent years much more highly valued and more stridently protected, enforced and indeed traded. The worth of having tradable IP can be demonstrated by the claim that the IP of many major corporations is worth more than their cashed up value.
Essentially, when a work of art is produced, copyright is automatically assigned to the originator of that work of art. For the design industry, according to the Copyright Act, if the art was produced during the time that the design practitioner was carrying out duties for a client, then the copyright is the client's. Many designers see this as unfair. But the fact remains that the Parliament does not agree that an artisan should be rewarded twice whilst doing the work once.
In the design of the built-environment such as residences, commercial buildings etc., it is unlikely that the client would derive any significant value from on-selling the IP arising from their project, either as a licence or as an asset. Therefore, it is common in the built-environment market for the client to gift the copyrights to the practitioner and in exchange receive a royalty free licence for the use within the project. Naturally, the practitioner is restrained from using the copyright in a manner that is detrimental to the client.
IP within the built-environment is often more simple than other design areas, as the building process is heavily prescribed e.g. via the Building Act. However, IP within other classes of design is not so simple. For example in Product Design, a practitioner may have another idea whilst carrying out duties to a client, which is not mentioned to the client. Let's say that the contract is completed and the client is satisfied with the design and designer. Soon after the launch of the client's product, a new and better product appears on the market from the same designer. Leaving aside the professional ethics issue, what is the client's position? Sadly, not very good, unless he or she has been prudent and heeded the following advice; Take IP seriously. Consult with an IP lawyer/practitioner, before contracting to a design practitioner. Make abundantly clear that with the benefits of working on your project comes the responsibility of full disclosure.
Real property is land and the built environment e.g. houses, factories, harbours, railways etc. Real property has scientifically determinable quantities such as mass and volume. The value of real property can be established more or less a by the process of what you see is what you get.
The word "property" is generally accepted to mean "being owned" and so the question can be asked "who owns the property?". This is relatively a simple task for Real property. But it can be demonstrated that not all matters of property and therefore ownership can be so simply organised.
The notion that knowledge can be seen as property, and could therefore be a tradable asset goes back to the 1600s and the word "patent" came into usage. Broadly, there is an exchange of value, the entity granting the patent is agreed to have sovereign power, and extends this power for an agreed time, commonly 17 years, during which time the entity to have created the knowledge is allowed to exploit for its tradable value. After which time the knowledge becomes public property.
Largely because the tradable asset cannot be seen, measured etc., it is convenient to deal with it using the name Intellectual Property, commonly referred to as IP.
Intellectual property comes into being in two ways, by design, or by accident. The are several forms of intellectual property. These are Patents, Copyright and registration of designs. Here we will deal with copyright as this has become in recent years much more highly valued and more stridently protected, enforced and indeed traded. The worth of having tradable IP can be demonstrated by the claim that the IP of many major corporations is worth more than their cashed up value.
Essentially, when a work of art is produced, copyright is automatically assigned to the originator of that work of art. For the design industry, according to the Copyright Act, if the art was produced during the time that the design practitioner was carrying out duties for a client, then the copyright is the client's. Many designers see this as unfair. But the fact remains that the Parliament does not agree that an artisan should be rewarded twice whilst doing the work once.
In the design of the built-environment such as residences, commercial buildings etc., it is unlikely that the client would derive any significant value from on-selling the IP arising from their project, either as a licence or as an asset. Therefore, it is common in the built-environment market for the client to gift the copyrights to the practitioner and in exchange receive a royalty free licence for the use within the project. Naturally, the practitioner is restrained from using the copyright in a manner that is detrimental to the client.
IP within the built-environment is often more simple than other design areas, as the building process is heavily prescribed e.g. via the Building Act. However, IP within other classes of design is not so simple. For example in Product Design, a practitioner may have another idea whilst carrying out duties to a client, which is not mentioned to the client. Let's say that the contract is completed and the client is satisfied with the design and designer. Soon after the launch of the client's product, a new and better product appears on the market from the same designer. Leaving aside the professional ethics issue, what is the client's position? Sadly, not very good, unless he or she has been prudent and heeded the following advice; Take IP seriously. Consult with an IP lawyer/practitioner, before contracting to a design practitioner. Make abundantly clear that with the benefits of working on your project comes the responsibility of full disclosure.
