Proprietary rights

Proprietary rights means all the acquired, owned, arisen or created by the borrower: works subject to copyright, copyrights, licenses, franchises, trademarks, permits, trade styles, service marks, patent rights, as well as licenses and all rights related to the above. and all rights related to the above and all re-editions, divisions, legal claims and continuation of parts and the right to sue concerning past, future and current violations of the above (Amendment NO. 6 To Loan Agreement, 2017, p. 23).

Proprietary rights are a community creation. Each community regulates by a combination of the official legislature, applicable and custom law. Regulation is about solving problems with the relationship between more than one private persons by the country concerned and how the country might interfere in property of private person what is frequent topic of political debates because it has alike impact on economic and society (Needham D. B., 2001, p. 12205).

Proprietary rights and initial allocations

Initial allocations of proprietary rights are the most important because a person who obtains the rights is determined as a person who holds it. The person who first invented the technology is the person who, according to patent law, holds the rights to the technology. Despite that fact, people who first patented given information are rarely final users of this technology it is caused by law regulations or profitability. An extremely effective method would be to sell property rights and patents so that downstream innovators can obtain them from the owners, subsequently, initial allocations would not mean so much. The transfer of property rights is very expensive which means that the top use of rights is rarely achieved. Not only high costs constitute a barrier in transactions, there is always a chance that patented research results will not be able to be turned into commercially viable products. Due to the high uncertainty to the subject of the transaction the power of attorney most often determines the value of a given patent (Emory L., 2000, p. 49).

Types of proprietary rights

There are plenty of types of proprietary rights. The main classification of proprietary rights is between Personal and Real Property:

1. Personal Property is “Any assets except Real estates”. They are movable, in contrast to real property. For example: computer, phone, car.
2. Real Property are mainly lands, buildings, underground below land and air rights above the land. They are not movable (Amadeo K., Webster C., 2019).

Examples of Proprietary rights

• Patents: A patent grants its owner the exclusive right to prevent others from making, using, selling, or importing their invention for a limited period of time. An example of a patent is the patent granted to Elon Musk for his Hyperloop design, which allows him to prevent others from making, using, selling, or importing his high-speed transportation system for a set number of years.
• Copyrights: Copyrights grant creators exclusive rights to reproduce, publicly display, and distribute their works. An example of a copyright is the copyright granted to an author for their book, which allows them to control who can make copies of the book, display it in public, or distribute it to others.
• Trademarks: Trademarks grant owners exclusive rights to a name, logo, or slogan used to identify their products or services. An example of a trademark is the trademark granted to Apple, Inc. for the phrase "Think Different", which allows them to prevent others from using the phrase to identify their products or services.
• Trade Secrets: Trade secrets grant owners exclusive rights to confidential information, such as recipes, formulas, business plans, or customer lists. An example of a trade secret is the secret formula for Coca-Cola, which allows Coca-Cola to keep their recipe confidential and prevent others from obtaining it.

Advantages of Proprietary rights

Proprietary rights are legal and economic rights that protect the interests of a person or organization that own intellectual property. There are numerous advantages of proprietary rights which include:

• Increased incentive to innovate – Proprietary rights provide an incentive to individuals and organizations to innovate and create new products, services and ideas as they can benefit from the exclusive rights that come with the ownership of intellectual property.
• Increased return on investment – Proprietary rights allow the owner of intellectual property to reap the rewards of their investment by preventing competitors from appropriating their ideas and capitalizing on their work.
• Increased protection of ideas and investments – Proprietary rights provide legal protection against potential infringers who might seek to make unauthorized use of the owner’s intellectual property.
• Increased ability to license – Proprietary rights enable the owner of intellectual property to license their ideas and products to others, allowing them to turn their ideas into a profitable business.
• Increased ability to monetize – Proprietary rights enable the owner to monetize their ideas, allowing them to generate income from the sale of their intellectual property.

Limitations of Proprietary rights

Proprietary rights are a form of legal protection for creators and inventors, allowing them to reap the benefits of their work. However, there are several limitations to these rights, including:

• Time Limitation: Proprietary rights are often limited by time. In the United States, for example, a patent typically lasts 20 years, while copyrights can last up to 70 years after the creator’s death. After the expiration of these time limits, the work is no longer protected and can be used by anyone.
• Territorial Limitation: Proprietary rights are often limited to the country in which they were granted. This means that a work may have protection in one country, but not in another.
• Scope Limitation: Proprietary rights do not necessarily protect every aspect of a work. For example, copyright may protect the text of a book, but not necessarily the ideas contained within it.
• Fair Use Limitation: Fair use is an exception to proprietary rights that allows for limited use of a copyrighted work for certain purposes, such as education, research, or criticism. This limitation allows for the free exchange of ideas and information, but must be carefully considered to avoid infringing upon the rights of the creator.

Other approaches related to Proprietary rights

Proprietary rights are a form of legal protection that grants exclusive rights to an individual or other legal entity over an item of property. There are various other approaches related to proprietary rights that can provide legal protection for an individual’s or entity’s property, including:

• Copyright protection: Copyright protection grants exclusive rights to the creator of a work or a product, typically for a limited time. This protection extends to literary, artistic, musical, and other creative works, including software and digital products.
• Patent protection: Patents are a form of legal protection that grants exclusive rights to an individual or entity over an invention. Patents can be granted for a wide range of products and processes, including chemical, mechanical, and technological inventions.
• Trademark protection: Trademarks protect the distinctive symbols, words, or phrases associated with a brand or product. This type of protection is typically used to prevent others from using similar symbols, words, or phrases to identify their products.
• Trade secret protection: Trade secrets are a form of intellectual property protection that grants exclusive rights to an individual or entity over confidential information, such as formulas, techniques, or processes.

In summary, proprietary rights provide legal protection for an individual or entity’s property, and there are various other approaches related to proprietary rights, including copyright, patent, trademark, and trade secret protection.

Proprietary rights — recommended articles

Patent Pending — Intellectual property rights — Intellectual property protection — Neighboring rights — Nonmonetary assets — Original print — Exclusive license — Amortization of intangible assets — Negative easement

References

• Emory L. J., (2000), Proprietary Rights and Why Initial Allocations Matter , Heinonline, USA
• Financial Nicholas inc., (2017), Amendment NO. 6 To Loan Agreement, Second Amended And Restated Loan And Security Agreement
• Needham D. B., (2001), Property Rights, International Encyclopedia Of The Social & Behavioral Sciences, USA
• Rotherman C., (2003), Property and properiaty remedies, Properiaty Remedies In Context, England
• Webster C., (2019), Property Rights, Classification Of Property Rights, USA
• Yale L. J., (1988), Proprietary Rights And The Norms Of Science In Biotechnology Research, The Yale Law Journal, Vol. 97, Number 2, Sweden

Author: Rafal Maslyk