Describe some of the legal challenges faced in protecting Intellectual property and promoting innovation with emerging technology.

What will be an ideal response?

In the 1970s and 1980s, there were extensive discussions on whether patents or copyright
should provide protection for computer software. These discussions resulted in a generally
accepted principle that software should be protected by copyright, whereas apparatus using
software should be protected by patent. However, this is less clear nowadays. Although the
U.K. specifically excludes software from patent protection, there has been some latitude in the
interpretation where software forms part of the overall machinery or industrial process.
Therefore, an application to just patent a piece of software will be refused, but an application
to patent some technical effect that is produced by a piece of software will be considered,
subject to constraints discussed. In the United States, patentability has been
extended to cover what are termed “business methods” and many software patents have been
granted and more have been applied for, particularly with the growth of the Internet and e-
commerce.
All software has one or more authors who assert the right to their IP in what they have written.
Copyright applies therefore to all software whether or not you have paid money for it, and the
distribution and use of software is subject to a “license” that specifies the terms of use.
Consideration must also be paid to data that an organization collects, processes, and possibly
shares with its trading partners. In conjunction with senior management and legal counsel,
data administrators must define and enforce policies that govern when data can be shared and
in what ways it can be used within the organization. In the event that a business case is made
for sharing data, appropriate licensing of the data must be put into effect so that it is not
“reshared” with other parties.