Talk given at IBM Research India's university relations event on intellectual property.

1. Securing Intellectual Property –
Why You Should Care and What Can You
Do About It?
Dr. Biplav Srivastava, IBM Research – India
Oct 2015, I-CARE
1(C) Biplav Srivastava, IBM Research

2. Outline
! Intellectual Property (IP)
! Why Care About IP?
! What to do About IP?
2(C) Biplav Srivastava, IBM Research

3. What is Intellectual Property (IP)?
“Intellectual property refers to
creations of the mind:
inventions; literary and artistic
works; and symbols, names
and images used in
commerce.”
http://www.wipo.int/about-ip/en/
3(C) Biplav Srivastava, IBM Research

4. Why Does IP Not Explicitly
Cover (Technical) Papers?
! IP is asserted explicitly with publication
from credits: author(s), organization(s)
n Monitoring is community-based
n Focus of papers is dissemination
! Focus of IP is legal protection and
assertion
n Can be defended in courts
4(C) Biplav Srivastava, IBM Research

5. Why Care About IP?
Our focus will be patents in the remainder
5(C) Biplav Srivastava, IBM Research

6. Patent – An Introduction
! Are for novel, useful and non-obvious
ideas
! Which had not been known earlier
(read: published and available in public
domain)
! First promulgated in modern times in 1790
n Finds mention in US constitution
n Patent Act of 1790 (US)
6(C) Biplav Srivastava, IBM Research

7. Why
Patents?
Patents
serve
as
documenta3on
of
an
organiza3on’s
Intellectual
Property
(IP)
n Helps
protect
IP
against
compe33on
(defensive)
n Helps
assert
market
leadership
in
promising
areas(aggressive)
n Can
become
a
significant
income
source
from
licensing
n Helps
realize
a
company’s
full
market
valua3on
7(C) Biplav Srivastava, IBM Research

8. Asserting Idea:
Apple Example
Idea created and patented by university
USD 234M+ fine awarded on Apple
Initially projected fine > USD 900
http://www.bbc.com/news/technology-34559232
8(C) Biplav Srivastava, IBM Research

9. IP (Patent) Grants and Defense
9
Defending Idea
Nutmeg Example
(C) Biplav Srivastava, IBM Research

10. Example: Nutmeg
10
http://www.tkdl.res.in/
(C) Biplav Srivastava, IBM Research

11. Startup – Diabe.to
Defending
Idea Healthcare
11(C) Biplav Srivastava, IBM Research
Image courtesy: Diabe.to site

12. Startup – Diabe.to
12(C) Biplav Srivastava, IBM Research

13. What to Do About IP?
13(C) Biplav Srivastava, IBM Research

14. Suggestions
! Always think of IP as a first class task
n It is not always for commercial gain
n If one is opposed to the thought, one can
always document their idea and reveal for free
! Depending on context
n Use copyright, trademark, design, patents, GI
n Writing papers and articles also helps assert
one’s claim on an idea
14(C) Biplav Srivastava, IBM Research

15. Do It Yourself
! Put © against any piece of new work for
copyright assertion
! Register if it makes sense
! Be aware of IP considerations whenever
you discuss an idea
15(C) Biplav Srivastava, IBM Research

16. Patent
Considera3ons
Items Comments and guidance
Problem statement and
background
What is the specific problem the invention solves? What areas of business and
technology need to be understood in order to evaluate the patent?
Core idea It is helpful to include a flow chart and or architectural diagram
Novelty Novelty is somewhat subjective. Just because someone has not invented it yet
does not make your invention novel. Also, beware of "obvious combinations" of
existing technologies, which usually will not pass muster with the USPTO.
Business case & value
proposition
How can someone, preferably the assignee, make money using the invention
Prior art search &
search terms used
Look for evidence of the invention or related concepts in academic, trade and
patent literature.
Discoverability If the patent is issued, could we figure out if someone else is infringing on the
idea (i.e. "practicing" the patent).
Enforceability - If we discover that someone has infringed on the idea, can we stop them (or
charge them)
Ease of circumvention How easy is it to find a "work around" to the idea - i.e. can someone achieve the
same result with a different idea? If so, the value of the patent is reduced.
Independent claims Balance breadth & technical specificity.
16(C) Biplav Srivastava, IBM Research

17. An Inventor on a Patent
! Under
US
patent
law,
a
person
should
be
listed
as
an
inventor
for
a
US
patent
applica3on
only
if
that
person
contributed
to
the
idea
shown
in
one
of
the
claims
of
the
applica3on
! One
is
not
a
co-­‐inventor
for
just
n Sugges3ng
an
idea
n Coding
the
steps
of
the
idea
17(C) Biplav Srivastava, IBM Research

18. What Strategy Works for Creating
Valuable Patents … Personal Experience
! Ideas in a new technology area
n IoT, Deep Learning, …
! Ideas around an emerging application
n Smart City, Law, Cooking, …
! Thinking of a portfolio of ideas together
n Helps reuse effort in prior art search
n Easy to detect violation and assert claims
n Easier to commercialize
18(C) Biplav Srivastava, IBM Research

19. References
! International patents
n www.uspto.gov/
n https://www.epo.org/
! India patents
n www.ipindia.nic.in/
n http://www.ssrana.in/
19(C) Biplav Srivastava, IBM Research