Speaking legal English. Борисова Л.А. - 55 стр.

      UNIT 17. INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY

      Discussion
      Exercise 1. Answer the following questions.

      1. What is intellectual property?
      2. What is the difference between a patent, a trademark, a copyright and a
         trade secret? Give examples.
      3. Why is it important to protect IP rights?
      4. Can you give examples of infringement of IP rights?
      5. What penalties should be imposed for IP crimes?

      Exercise 2. What are the IP rights of the following corporation?

     Corporation HighUp produces sports equipment for hikers and
mountaneers: rucksacks, tents, camp furniture, grills, special tools, compasses
and electronic navigation systems. The company also publishes a popular
magazine for hikers and mountaneers. They've recently launched the exclusive
series of super tents and some high-tech tools. The company also runs a
developing chain of hotels - HighUp Inn.

      Reading and Speaking
      Exercise 3. Read the text «IP in Cyberspace» and explain the meaning of
the words which are given in bold.

                        Intellectual Property in Cyberspace
     Many legal issues arise in cyberspace, but no other single area of law
presents such a variety of interesting and diverse legal problems. This is true in
no small part due to the fact that people all over the world are increasingly
becoming connected via the global telecommunications networks. As Internet
usage grows, new legal questions associated with the technology continue to
surface, as do certain bitter and painful business realities. The sad but simple
truth is that digital communications and the digitization of information of all
types make the infringement of intellectual property rights, particularly
copyrights and trademarks, easier than ever before. For support of this statement
one need look no farther than the myriad of examples of copyright piracy that
are plaguing the Internet. The music industry is facing significant problems that
were thrust upon it by Napster and other music sharing web sites. Likewise,
piracy of computer software has risen to an alarming level, and continues to
affect even those large companies that are best equipped to mount a campaign
against these counterfeiters. The stories about software piracy are certainly
only increasing in number and the damage suffered by the industry is
staggering. By way of example, the software industry estimates that if software
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