Below are five hypothetical situations; - explain what steps you would take to protect your intellectual property in each case. To be graded in quarter points so be sure to give enough information to justify full grade. You should explain not just what type of IP you may decide upon but also, as appropriate, whether to go for Provisional protection for speed, whether and whether or not also you think you should apply for protection internationally, (and where appropriate within what timeframe). All of the information you need is in the slides of L14.

Case 1 (0.75points)

You have composed a song that you believe will be a real success in popular music. It is US country music.

How would you proceed to protect it?

Case 2 (1.25pts)

Cycling is your passion. You have engineering drawings plus a prototype of a new braking system with significant commercial advantages that will be difficult to circumvent if protected from copying. You are concerned to get protection as soon as possible.

What should be your next steps to secure as early and as wide IP protection as you can?

Case 3

You have a company making baseball bats and are getting quite a good name in the industry. Your strap line is "Hit It!" and is really catching on.

How do you protect it? And where? (1pt)

Case 4

You have an old musty-smelling garage. Looking on your garage shelves you combine various stuff out of old cans on the shelves and mix it before putting it onto a heated plate. The smell is fantastic. You want to commercialize it.

What method would you recommend to best protect your recipe in the USA and overseas? (1 pt)

Case 5

You have a fantastic and novel idea for a pharmaceutical formula that you know will qualify for a patent. Problem is that you know others are researching in the same area and can easily circumvent the patent you can get. What are the considerations of whether and how to protect your idea? (1 point)