Issue link: https://htpgraphics.uberflip.com/i/246967
Using IP Section 5 Q: When should I be careful when using IP belonging to others? A: Always! In the previous sections we have concentrated on what IP is and when and how you are likely to create it. Don't forget that other people, including fellow academics or colleagues you may be working with, may also have IP. Others' IP can be extremely useful, but you must bear in mind what you can and cannot not do with it. Let's take patents and copyright as an example. If you make a product or use a process which has been patented by another person or company, you may infringe the patent rights of that other person or company. Similarly, if you copy a piece of work which is protected by copyright of another person or company, you may infringe that person's or company's copyright. This is very serious because, if you are infringing, the owner of the IP may get an injunction to stop you using the IP anymore and/or may sue you and/or your employer for damages. There are, however, exceptions, which may allow you to do limited things without infringing the rights of the owner. Examples are set out below: Patents You can make a patented product or use a patented process for research purposes providing it is research area on the subject matter of the patent. This means that you can also do this to modify or improve the invention to which the patent relates. ✓ You should and can use patents as a source of information. Much of the information in patents is never published anywhere else and will often contain sufficient detail in the text and illustrations so that you, as experts, can understand how to recreate the invention. You may want to look through patents simply for inspiration to prevent you starting to do research on something that has already been done. You can search to see what other research has been carried on in the same sort of field as yours and in addition what progress has been made, on which you might be able to build. Always check whether the patent in question has been allowed to lapse. In this case you can use the invention freely. 30