SOS Invention USD System Consortium
SOS Invention USD System Consortium

Frequently Asked Questions

To better understand the field of Intellectual Property, it is indispensable to first become acquainted with the meaning of several key words or expressions, without which one may become entangled in a web of contradictions and incoherence. To enable the reader a more thorough understanding of such key words and principles within the realm of Intellectual Property, we present below answers to each of the 10 most frequently encountered questions.
 
 
These questions constitute a logical approach aimed at demystifying the subject.

1) Question: What is an Intellectual Property? 

Answer: An Intellectual Property is the ownership of a human creation by its author.

2) Question: What is the field of Intellectual Property? 

Answer: The field of Intellectual Property is the progressive application of commercial, legal and judiciary rules that define the laws governing human creation, invention and innovation.

3) Question: What is the difference between creation, invention and innovation?

Answer: Creation, from create: to bring a novel concept into existence – arisen from an original idea or concept, one that never previously existed before being concretized into tangible form; a tangible result of human creative intuition; a creative work – a work of the mind.


Invention, from invent: an innovating act or process – arisen from a novel concept – that already existed in the collective unconscious but that was never discovered before.  
Innovation, from innovate: to introduce an original product or service – arisen from an innovating act or process introduced onto the market. ~ One cannot help but notice that innovation follows invention, which in turn follows the initial creation. ~ This demonstrates a natural chronology from upstream to downstream, akin to wine resulting from grapes. This chronology can be expressed as follows:

 

➔Creation ➔  invention ➔innovation.

4) Question: Based on the above, how to determine the true owner of an Intellectual Property?

Answer: By initially seeking the author of the initial concept concretized into tangible form, the creation… Meaning to say that it is by identifying the person who is at the origin of the creation, Founding Father… therefore, at the origin of the work that he has created.  Why must one find authorship? Because, akin to parental filiation, the rules applied to Intellectual Property are founded on preponderant anteriority. This is why the validity of a patent depends entirely on its applicant’s (presumed author) claim to anteriority.

5) Question: Does it not suffice an inventor to claim anteriorities to automatically be recognized as the author of his invention, thus benefit from copyright (Author’s rights) law?

Answer: No! Even though a patent may comprise original texts and drawings, it does not grant its holder any copyright (Author’s Rights).
Why? Because according to the International Conventions on Copyright (Author’s Rights) and internal laws governing each Nation, only the author of a creative literary or artistic work ~ a Work of the Mind ~ can claim the most interesting right: Copyright (Author’s Rights). This legal point implies that it is not sufficient to write sentences or sketch a technical process to be the author of a Work of the Mind.

6) Question: What is a Work of the Mind?

Answer: A Work of the Mind is classified as a work of art emanating from a creation. An excellent copier of works of art (a forger, for example) is an artist who does not create.  A work of art that does not emanate from a creation is not, therefore, a Work of the Mind because it does not ensue from creative intuition…  Moreover, in order for such a work to procure its author with resulting specific and exclusive rights, it must genuinely be artistic; it is why it must be produced following the techniques and rules that govern a recognized art, notably, in writing matters (literature or music). It is the only way to make it legible to the performer or reader.  It is thus insufficient to write sentences or draw shapes to be the author of a work of art, let alone a Work of the Mind.

7) Question: How can the author of an invention claim copyright (Author’s Rights)?

Answer: By rendering him author of a Work of the Mind. 
How can an inventor become the author of a Work of the Mind? 
Answer: By fashioning a literary and/or artistic manual in which he relates his story and biography, as well as embeds the description of his novel concept.

8) Question: If, as is seen in most cases, the inventor does not master the techniques of literature and graphic arts, how can he become the author of a Work of the Mind?

Answer: By providing him with a writing service that every Editor avails to some of his clients.  It is specifically this service that the USD System International Editions Consortium avails to the inventor or designer to fashion his book in the Intellectual Passport Omnibus Volume.  A service that was baptized “Interlitt” (a contraction of Interpreter in Literature). In fact, the Interlitt is the transcriber of the inventor’s thoughts into a literary text that this one does not know how to write according to the rules of art, similar to the professional illustrator who transcribes the inventor’s thoughts into a drawing (following the related rules of art) that the latter cannot otherwise draw.

9) Question: What are the benefits of establishing one’s authorship of a creative work prior to inventing the product or service that follows? 

Answer: The benefits are considerable! 

  • a) Access to the property is free;
  • b) It is also non-transferable (worldwide, inalienable and perpetual); 
  • c) From this world property is derived Copyright (Author’s Rights); 
  • d) Copyright (Author’s Rights) is free and international. It is valid throughout the author’s life + 50 to 70 years after his passing (depending on the country’s legislation); 
  • e) Copyright (Author’s Rights) procures a world and exclusive property enjoyment;
  • f) This world exclusivity is notably translated into an exclusive right to reproduce © all or part of his work for commercial purposes, without which none of its parts could be fashioned or molded and no operating instruction or methodology manual could be diffused to third parties. 
10) Question: In comparison with a Work of the Mind, is a patent the property of its holder? 
Answer: No! A Patent (Government/State property) is a title of monopolistic commercial exploitation that is issued to the presumed author of an invention (the inventor). It grants a right to a national monopoly of commercial exploitation. It must be purchased nationally; it can then be extended from country to country, presuming that one has the substantial financial means to do so. It is also a State-granted privilege that overrides the “free market” principle.
Such a monopoly is only granted on a temporary basis, or twenty years. This monopoly also imposes the disclosure of the invention, thereby inhibiting the inventor’s secrecy. A Patent does not provide protection since, in the case of infringement, it is the patent holder who must defend (or protect) his title in court. For the most part, only major enterprises can afford to establish, use and defend the monopoly granted by patents (or other such titles). The total costs associated with patents are much beyond the means of most small and mediumsized enterprises, not to mention independent inventors. In contrast, these entities only need proof of an intellectual property in order to defend and claim their rights.
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