WidgetCo is a manufacturer and wholesaler of a line of widget products with annual revenue of $50 million. Maurice, a midlevel manager at WidgetCo, supervises a work team responsible for assessing quality assurance for the widgets before they are shipped to various retailers around the United States. Maurice and his group have been highly successful in developing a quality assurance process, including the development of training manuals, a video series for new employees, and specific checklists and procedures to ensure that any defective or substandard widgets are detected and repaired prior to shipping . Which forms of intellectual property protections are available to WidgetCo to protect the quality assurance process and materials developed by Maurice’s team? 2. What are the major advantages and disadvantages of each protection? 3. Compare the facts of the hypothetical in this Theory to Practice with the standards for qualification of a trade secret Could WidgetCo’s quality assurance process be considered a trade secret under these standards?

1. since it is a process, it cannot obtain protection by registering it. however, it can keep it as a trade secret and can take necessary measures to keep it secret, as long as it is not leaked. it can use nondisclosure agreements, restricted access to confidential information, post-employment restrictive covenants, and other security practices to maintain trade secrets.

2.

Advantages Disadvantages
copyright No official registration required
No cost to marking something as a copyright doesnot protect ideas
only protects the way it is expressed
Registered design can be combined with legal protection from copy rights Applicable to asthetics only
Easily subverted by slight amendments to
the basic design
Design Rights Comes into effect automatically, like copyright. Provides for an exclusive right for five years after first marketing a desig Design features enabling one product to be fitted or matched to yours are not protected (you cannot restrict spares in the market) Unlike copyright, design rights are limited to the UK unless you specifically apply for them elsewhere
Trade Marks Legally prevents others taking advantage of
customer good will generated by your business by trading under your name (or
something very similar) The degree to which similar (not identical) trade marks infringe upon your business is a matter for debate in civil action with related costs
Patent A patent gives the legal right to stop others using your invention for a period of 20 years Takes time and money to register a patent
proper reseach needs to be done to find out if similar patents exist
continous monitoring required to challenge patent infringement
3. Only if the process has elements, methods not known to the world / competitors or in the context, then it can qualify as trade secret

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