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Software company patent A Software Company Patent is the Door to a World of Confusion There is no universal understanding of exactly what a software company patent is. In general, owning a patent allows a company certain rights (or exclusivity) for a prescribed amount of time. Individuals or corporations seeking a patent must apply for a patent in each and every country in which they wish to have one. Unlike copyrights, patents are not automatically granted to applicants and can take quite a while in order to be approved. Another thing to remember, particularly with a software company patent, is that a patent may issue in one or more of the countries in which you've applied but not all of them. The real problem lies in the fact that there really is no central agreement about what a software company patent actually grants among any of the nations so those who are awarded patents may not be getting exactly what they think they are getting in the process. With no universal agreement there really can't be universal enforcement about the laws and the rights surrounding a software company patent. The growth of Internet business and e-commerce in general has led to many patent applications for software, particularly software that was designed for specific business applications. The problem is that while the cases are granted and successfully tried and defended in some countries, other countries offer no enforcement or legal recourse for those who do not honor the software company patent even if the patents were granted in those countries. The fine line between nations about what is and isn't patentable is another challenge when it comes to establishing and honoring patents. In other words, the issue of a software company patent is a rather confusing process at best. Patents differ greatly from copyrights, which are issued automatically and recognized and enforced internationally. Copyrights protect the source code of software from being copied and registration is generally not required in order for your work to be protected. Lately there is a new term, copyleft, which is an obvious play on words and represents the rights to not only redistribute the works that are covered by this but also to modify and freely distribute those modifications. This term is very much in the spirit of many open source types of software and music. The catch for copyleft protection is that the newly created work be distributed in the same manner and spirit in which it was received. In other words if you were freely given the software, then you must freely provide the improvements and modifications you made to that software. Of course this is a long way from the idea of a software company patent. It is also important that you are sure you understand exactly what you are applying for as far as your patent goes. Different countries will grant patents for different things and those are closely regulated and carefully regarded when it comes to software-know what you are applying for and understand what you are being granted. A software company patent means different things to different people in different places and it nearly impossible to get other countries to honor a patent that they would not have granted at the same time they shouldn't expect other countries to honor patents based on their decision to do so either. One unfortunate circumstance surrounding patents is that there seems to be an unequal and obvious disparity between the haves and the have not's. Patent enforcement for software, unlike literature and music is largely subjective. In literature and music, it is rather obvious that the copyright has been abused or that the work has been copied, this isn't as simple with software which is one other reason that software company patent is such a hotly debated subject in the software industry.

Communication Key to a Better Work Environment Everyone knows the story of A Christmas Carole. On Christmas Eve, poor Bob Cratchit, who is working late again, spends his day working up the courage to ask his boss, Mr. Scrooge, if he can have Christmas Day off from work to spend with his family. When he finally does get up the nerve to ask, Mr. Scrooge lets forth a tirade over lazy people using Christmas as an excuse to have a day a off from work. This fictional story unfortunately rings true for a lot of people who have to work up the courage to ask for things from their employers. An employee who has to feel about their employer the way Bob Cratchit felt about Mr. Scrooge is not a very happy and productive employee. To get the most of out of your workers, you have to create a much more hospitable working environment. To create a better working environment, keeping the lines of communication open is absolutely crucial. How does communication work in your office? Do you get the impression that everyone is walking around on eggshells around you? While this kind of fear from your employees may be good for your ego in some senses, it is really bad for your business. When your employees don’t feel like they can talk to you, you will lose control over what is going on with your business. You may be the boss, but your employees are the ones who are actually on the front lines. To know what is really going on out there, you need your employees to communicate honestly with you. If they feel that you are unapproachable, they will hide problems and concerns from you, and you won’t be able to act to fix them. You can’t expect to run your business with half of the information about what is actually going on, and so your business will suffer for your “mean boss” routine. There are still other problems with creating an office environment in which your employees feel like you are unapproachable. In general, there will be a dark cloud over the office when you are around. The stress will keep employee morale low, and employees with low morale are employees with low productivity. Besides, who wants to work hard for someone they cannot approach or who doesn’t show they any respect? Shutting down those lines of communication will definitely affect your bottom line as employees “phone it in” because they don’t feel invested in making your business a success. If you want a better working environment, you have to improve the lines of communication. If there has been a communication breakdown in the past, take the time to address it with your staff. If you staff is small, talk to them each one on one, letting them know that your door is always open and that you want more regular communication with them. If you have a larger staff, schedule a meeting to address the issue. Weekly office meetings are a great way to keep communication channels open and swap ideas in the office environment. If weekly meetings are not feasible, find some way of touching base with your staff on a regular basis, either through weekly emails or a weekly newsletter. Also, you should encourage your staff to communicate with each other. Sharing information among the staff is a great way to generate fresh ideas and fresh approaches to problems. If your office is suffering from a communication problem, make nipping it in the bud a priority. The pay off will be more productive workers and a whole lot less stress. Who knew work could actually be a pleasant place to be?

Copyright lawyer search Easy Ways to Finding a Good Copyright Lawyer Search with the Internet There are a few easy ways to find a good copyright lawyer search while using the internet, however just typing in the phrase doesn’t always work. You must know how to use a search engine; after all you don’t just want the first person that pops up. No, you want that best person for the job representing you, it doesn’t matter what your copyright issue is. If it has come to a time that you actually need to do a copyright lawyer search than chances are you are being sued or want to sue someone, this means you want someone that knows what they are doing and hopefully has a little experience under their belt. First, you can go to any search engine and type in “Copyright lawyer“, search for the first ten or look on the sides where all the ads are. Remember, companies pay money to have their ads on the side, maybe they are great. The only way you’ll be finding out is if you click on them and explore. You may even want to type in more than one phrase, “Copyright lawyer+intellectual property.” This search would bring up even more lawyers pages that deal with copyright issues, which is what you should be looking for in the first place. Now you’ve narrowed down the field by thousands. Once you’ve found a lawyer you make want to make sure he is in your area. There are sites that will help you determine this by putting in your zip code or state in which you live, this will bring you to a page with all the lawyers that specialize in that field that live near you. You may not be as lucky as some and actually have to drive to get to one; however it’ll be worth it since they know what they are doing. Don’t forget to do a search of the lawyer before you make any final decisions, you may actually find a review or two on him/her. Wouldn’t it be nice to know how they rank compared to others in this field? You can even find that out as you do are on a search for a copyright lawyer, just type it in like you did for intellectual property. Ask any questions you may have on the phone and after hanging up you may want to ask around and see if anyone you know has ever dealt with that lawyer. If you have your own lawyer you may want to ask him/her whom they may recommend that you go to in your situation. Lawyers know about others in the job and know the best way for you to get help is by using the one that specializes in whatever the need is. If you don’t have access to a computer you can do a copyright lawyer search by using a phone book. Look up lawyers inside the yellow pages and find one that specializes in the area you need, whether it is copyright laws, infringement or intellectual property. You may want to call several different lawyers and get a feel for which one could best represent you. Finding information has become easier since we have the internet, many people also fall under the idea that because there is so much information they don’t need to do a copyright lawyer search when the time comes. They basically get as much information they can find and use that in court. This doesn’t always work; sometimes the other side has a good lawyer and knows more tricks than you do. Which only leaves you footing a very big bill, don’t make this mistake…hire a lawyer.