04 Intellectual Property

🎯 Session Objectives

• Understand the different types of Intellectual Property (IP) protection strategies.

• Learn how to protect physical inventions vs. software products.

• Define the IP protection strategy for your team's technological solution.

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🧠 Theoretical Content

1. The Global & Colombian IP Landscape

Intellectual Property is divided into two main categories: Industrial Property (inventions, trademarks, industrial designs) and Copyright (literary and artistic works, including software code).

2. Protection Strategies: Patent vs. Trade Secret vs. Copyright

Choosing the right protection mechanism is vital for a Technology-Based Company (EBT).

A. Patents

• Duration: 20 years.

• Requirements: Novelty, Inventive Step, Industrial Application.

• Trade-off: You must publicly disclose how the invention works.

B. Trade Secrets (Know-How)

• Duration: Indefinite (as long as it remains secret).

• Requirements: Valuable because it is secret, reasonable steps taken to protect it (NDAs, encrypted servers).

• Example: The Coca-Cola formula, Google's search algorithm weighting.

C. Software Protection (Copyrights in Colombia)

• In Colombia (and most of the world), software is protected by Copyright (Derecho de Autor), not patents. You register the source code with the National Copyright Directorate (DNDA).

• Structural methodologies or hardware tied to the software might be patentable, but the code itself is copyrighted.

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🛠️ Class Activity: IP Strategy Definition

Goal: Decide how your group will protect your future technology project.

1

Category Analysis

Analyze your proposed solution. Are you building hardware, software, or a new industrial process?

2

Strategy Matrix

• Which parts of your solution will be patented/registered?

• Which parts will be kept as a trade secret?

• What will be your brand name (Trademark)?

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📚 Assignments

• Draft a 1-page IP Strategy Document for your project.

• Familiarize yourself with the Colombian DNDA (Dirección Nacional de Derecho de Autor) if your project involves software development with Python or block-coding.