<p>In recent times companies have been forced to become more and more digitalized in order to spread company information and facilitate communication with clients, con-sumers and their own employees. The knowledge to integrate software and launch the company into the digital world cannot always be found within the company itself. Therefore, companies often resort to employing consulting companies to enable this for them. Because of copyright, the software created does not solely belong to the employing company – the intellectual property rights automatically stay with the con-sulting company that made it.</p><p>When the consulting company omits details concerning intellectual property rights in the employment contract, the standard rules in the Swedish Copyright Act and the international directives kick in and give the consulting company the full rights to the programmes that it has created – with a few exceptions. The employing company may only alter the software in order to ensure that it is fully compatible with the al-ready existing programmes it utilises and the operating system it uses. Even reverse engineering is permitted as long as the information gathered is only used for ensuring the compatibility.</p><p>Information in databases is protected as it is creatively arranged in systematic or me-thodical way by the one that has made a substantial investment in obtaining, verifying or presenting the information. The substantial investment depends on the one that has taken the risk of investing in the particular database. As databases are rarely made by consulting companies on behalf of a client, and the rules are sufficiently clear as to whom the ownership of the database is, there are few questions concerning data-bases. Because of this, the assumption would be that the current legislation is work-ing properly.</p><p>One of the more troubling issues in regards to copyright is that even though reverse engineering is illegal, proving infringement comes down to evidence and what parts that are quantitatively or qualitatively significant in the original programme. Cur-rently, there is no registry of copyrighted works in Sweden and so there is not telling who made the programme first if the work happens to spread. The creators of soft-ware have expressed concern and allegedly lobbied for a new directive giving more protection to the original creators. The culmination of the lobby work was the Soft-ware Patent Directive, which proposed that software should be seen as an invention and therefore eligible for patenting. However, there were many reasons as to why software should not be patented, most notably increased cost and the years of wait-ing for the patent grant, and the directive was rejected. Still, the concerns persisted and no greater protection has been given to the creators of software.</p>

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Missouri-Columbia, 2001. / Typescript. Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 196-229). Also available on the Internet.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Missouri-Columbia, 2001. / Typescript. Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 196-229). Also available on the Internet.

This dissertation analyzes the process of harmonization of intellectual property laws in Mexico within the North American context. It examines the political and economic driving forces behind such harmonization and the deregulation of technology transfer agreements. Furthermore, in the context of NAFTA, the dissertation studies, from the legal perspective, the problem of the enforcement of intellectual property rights in Mexico. Technical problems are identified and recommendations for the legal system are provided for the appropriate enforcement of intellectual property laws.

When one purchases an item, whether it is food, appliance, pharmaceutical, or automotive related, one has certain expectations concerning the item. When these expectations are not met, one seeks certain recourse against the manufacturer concerned. Imagine the consumer's confusion when he is told by the manufacturer that they are not responsible for the expectations not being met as the item was not made by them but instead is a "grey' or counterfeit product. The average consumer is not aware that South Africa, as well as most other countries around the world has a major problem regarding "grey" or counterfeit product entering the market. This practice is an infringement of the intellectual property rights of the copyright owner. It is illegal, and like all illegal activities there is no control regarding quality, so the consumer is not aware of the risks faced in purchasing from such sources. This dissertation seeks to answer the key research question which is: How do the levels of Intellectual property right protection in South Africa compare to other developing nations with particular reference to the replacement parts market. And how can these levels of protection be improved. This will be done by explaining what intellectual property rights are, what they mean, and why they should be protected. I also discuss some arguments for and against the protection of intellectual property rights. I will discuss some of the organizations that protect intellectual property rights, as well as some of the implications of the lack of protection. The key research question in this dissertation is how the level of intellectual property right protection in South Africa compares to other developing nations. In order to help answering this key question, I will discuss six basic questions: 1. Is pressure being exerted by developed nations in order to improve levels of intellectual property right protection? 2. What are the general levels of intellectual property law enforcement? 3. What resources are available for enforcement of intellectual property rights? 4. How do the people perceive intellectual property crime? 5. How "user friendly" is the intellectual property rights protection system? 6. What are the levels of involvement of organized crime in intellectual property rights infringements? In closing I will provide some recommendations as to how South Africa could easily and economically move away from being seen as a developing nation from an intellectual property perspective, to being seen as a first world country. / Thesis (MBA)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, 2005.

The promulgation of the TRIPS Agreement marks a new direction for international copyright: copyright protection has been put under the auspices of the world trading system. During the arduous negotiations, developing countries played a minor role due to the unilateral trade threats exerted by the United States. As a result, the final text of the TRIPs mainly mirrors the domestic copyright legislations of those developed countries. / The question of what impact the TRIPs will have on developing Member States has triggered hot debates. While acknowledging that a short-term negative impact is likely, the long-term effects of a strengthened copyright regime in those countries are hard to predict at this time. The author uses China as a case study to illustrate the difficulties that developing nations might have in implementing and enforcing such heightened copyright standards. Moreover, possible solutions to minimize any adverse effects of the TRIPs Agreement are discussed.

Private entities, investing billions of dollars, as a matter of reasonable commercial corporate expectations, want to be protected against undue use, exploitation and copying of their technology and inventions which they have put into their space ventures (often termed as 'theft') by any third party. States, to secure an environment friendly to such generation, use and transfer of intellectual property rights (IPRs) in outer space, have initiated applying and/or extending their national IP laws into outer space either in form of a statute or a multilateral agreement. This may have both commercial and political significance. / This thesis deals with IP issues in international perspective (with reference, however, to some leading national IP legislation when and where it is necessary) with special reference to the contemporary legal regime governing outer space. While emphasizing the existing legal regime relating to IPRs in outer space, it explores the possibility of commercial exploitation of IPRs made in space and on ground through the existing international trade system. The increasing importance of cooperation between the World Intellectual Property Organization and World Trade Organization in this regard is also examined, against the back drop of space activities and the outer space legal regime relating to IPRs. (Abstract shortened by UMI.)

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Texas at Austin, 2008. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (MPhil) -- AUT University, 2008. / Includes bibliographical references. Also held in print (xi, 133 leaves ; 30 cm.) in City Campus Theses Collection (T 346.048 NAS)

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of California, San Diego, 1999. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 345-365).