[178099] in North American Network Operators' Group
Re: [OT] Re: Intellectual Property in Network Design
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (Owen DeLong)
Sun Feb 15 00:50:00 2015
X-Original-To: nanog@nanog.org
From: Owen DeLong <owen@delong.com>
In-Reply-To: <CAP-guGW_VqnsMHUpEU6Dt0bFqfV_WeHi=Ndm-GRcNsw4F9QdDQ@mail.gmail.com>
Date: Sat, 14 Feb 2015 21:49:20 -0800
To: William Herrin <bill@herrin.us>
Cc: Skeeve Stevens <skeeve@eintellegonetworks.com>,
"nanog@nanog.org" <nanog@nanog.org>
Errors-To: nanog-bounces@nanog.org
> Copyright law basically says that if there is any substantive creative =
input into a work's creation then the work is not only copyrightable, =
unless the author explicitly says different it's also copyrighted. Throw =
a paint filled balloon at a canvas and the resulting splatter is =
copyrighted. Consider: do more unforced choices, more optional choices, =
more creative choices go in to the production of a router configuration? =
Of course they do.
>=20
> One can be snobbish about whether that qualifies as art, but it's =
certainly intellectual property (IP).
This assumes that Copyright is the only IP protection out there.
There are actually two distinct realms of IP protection afforded in the =
US. Most other nations have a similar division.
Copyright is for works of original creation, but cannot cover a process, =
practice, or device.
Patents, on the other hand, cover processes, practices, and devices, =
etc.
On a theoretical level, a network design and/or it=92s documentation, =
configuration files, etc. could be and likely are copyright(-able,-ed).
On a theoretical level, if you come up with some truly novel non-obvious =
reduction to practice of some particular process, you might well be able =
to patent it.
While independent creation is a defense for copyright, it is irrelevant =
to a patent. Prior art can be a valid defense for a patent, but =
independently arriving at the same conclusion from independent =
development is not, in itself, a valid defense. (Showing that the patent =
is obvious, a minimal evolutionary step, or other such trivialization =
can be a valid defense.)
However, all of the technicalities on this stuff vary from jurisdiction =
to jurisdiction. The broad strokes have been normalized through treaties =
for the most part, but details and technicalities still vary quite a =
bit.
As such, if it really matters, get good local legal advice from all =
involved countries.
Owen
