MIDTERM EXAMINATION

Spring 2007

The following examination tests your ability to draw upon theory to resolve the following problem. It is due at the beginning of class on or about March 21, 2007. Spot the issues and resolve the problems. You may make any logical assumption that you believe are necessary to answer the question.

You have just been hired as the Intellectual Property Manager of NBM, National Business Machines. NBM has world-wide markets in technology products. Scotty O’Reilly, chief engineer of the company, has come to you with a new invention that appears promising. As he requested, you are standing on a lower girder in the under construction wing of the new NBM building. He enters the open flooring above you with a military stride as he barks a response to one of the vice presidents. “If I give her any more, she’ll blow”. You wave as you see him as one of the construction workers positions a steel beam so you can walk to the upper level. You yell “beam me up Scotty”. Missing the obvious joke, O’Reilly falls into his characteristic Scottish brogue. Here are the details:

NBM has created a system called, BIGKNOW, incorporating a machine that collects Internet data and analyzes it according to information gathered by an Internet spider (a device that goes out on line and gathers header tags from websites. The completely functioning device consists of a silicon chip, a web page design with clickable regions, and software written in Java (an Internet programming language). Today’s date is July 14, 2005.

The system uses an algorythm that computes the liklihood of accepting an Internet invitiation given a pre-determined formula based upon the phases of the moon, the dirurnal flux (magnetic variatons because of solar radiation, and astrological predictions.

You think that the process and system may be marketed in China but are not sure that it is wise. Argue for or against marketing in China and Europe and elsewhere..

NBM tested the chips and process with an affilliate company beginning July 15, 2005. They used it for three months in some of their Beta test machines and returned it to NBM with no modifications.

NBM offered to sell the chip and the process to another company on August 1, 2005.

BIGKNOW’s silicon chip is the same chip that NBM uses in its old computer line (already patented). The webpage is the almost the same page that NBM uses with its database management system.

Your product has been under secret development for about nine months. You are in the last phases of testing. O’Reilly wants to know if he can send the system out to an NBM subsidiary in Asia for limited distribution and beta testing.

Apparently, another company in China invented a very similar device. Industrial espionage indicates that the competing product was created and reduced to practice on July 13, 2007. It will be launched as a product by the Chinese company within a few months.

Your charge is to write a report to the vice president of technological development for the North American region. You must outline all options for development, marketing, and dealing with possible threats from other competing products. Remember to exhaust all issues. Don’t forget to include in your report the origin of the laws and conflicts of laws that you find. Remember, not everyone understands intellectual property.

What would be your recommendations as to filing and strategy and why? Be sure to cover all possibiliies.