THE COST OF FIGHTING PLAGIARISM, THE BIGGEST DOWNSIDE TO THEFT.

THIS POST IS THE SUMMARY OF WHAT I HAVE SEEN OVER THE YEARS.

THE INVENTOR HAS A RIGHT TO FIGHT PLAGIARISM. WHAT IS THE PRICE OF FIGHTING IT?

COPYRIGHT, TRADEMARK AND PATENTS BY THEMSELVES ARE EXPENSIVE, LET ALONE THE PRICE OF FIGHTING PLAGIARISM.

SCENARIO 1: An innovative intern creates a product that will save money, time and effort. His boss steals the idea and presents it to the world. The intern cannot fight the 40+ boss with friends in high places.

SCENARIO 2:

Day 0

A tyrannical dictator of a boss demands that no one leaves till their bottle neck issue with sales and the dipping numbers in production and distribution are solved. It violates so many rules, it's not even funny! A naive but brilliant employee then provides a viable solution with his outside the box thinking. 14 other employees are relived that they now have a solution and can go home.

Day 1

The area manager and the site directors congratulate the tyrannical boss for his idea. 14 witnesses commit a lie of omission and then the one who came up with the idea does not get credit. If he sues his company or so much as demands and acknowledgement for his idea and a promotion based on how he out did  14 others, while underscoring their lack of ethics, he now has a terrible future. the boss gets a promotion and is assigned two new interns he can harass.

Day 2

Law suit filed. Employee who spoke up is terminated because his desk had too many paper clips.

Day 21

Employee has applied to 9 new companies, but now has been black listed and has no references to speak of and even his best friend at work refuses to provide a testimonial to employee's brilliance , to the bosses misbehavior.

Day 31

Employee now works at Apple store.

Day 1214

Judge finds for employee-plaintiff.. He is awarded the cost of the lawsuit. Attorneys Howe Dewey and Cheatem buy a yacht.

Even the football coach who bent the rules for recruiting has a job and several endorsement deals. Brilliant Employee has a small time job and no future.

REAL world examples:

1. Jessica Shepherd covers this very well here.

http://www.theguardian.com/education/2007/oct/30/highereducation.uk

2) Joany Chou a post doc invented the Herpes avccine, from what I understood. She said to her boss that it could be patented, He did not respond very clearly. soon after she was not allowed back in the lab (!!!!).

She then discovered that he had filed a patent and that he  had been collecting royalties.

She won the case. Now what? Do you see her proudly leading the research life that she should have? Did Harvard invite her for a short period to teach, carry out a small research project? If you know what she is doing please let me know. The sad truth that I see when students and employees stand up and fight  then they have a terrible life. They seem to be living in the shadows. Plaintiffs and whistle blowers never live an easy life. The miscreants seem to have so much power.

Read more about this here:

http://scholarship.law.duke.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1034&context=dltr

3)http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/us-district-court-awards-college-professor-25-million-including-attorneys-fees-for-patent-infringement-suit-75365247.html?$G1Ref

4)http://www.wsj.com/articles/u-s-charges-six-chinese-citizens-with-economic-espionage-1432046527

THE ECONOMIC EFFECTS OF THEFT

A company or a startup invests everything it has and then sells a product. The 2nd month sales dwindle. Someone has copied it and is manufacturing it without paying royalties. A small startup where an entire family, with Mom, dad kids, uncles and cousins are working, has to declare bankruptcy.  They now have losses of thousands of dollars. IS IT ENOUGH THAT THEY MERELY THINK PLAGIARISM IS ACTUALLY A COMPLIMENT THAT THEIR PRODUCT IS GREAT ENOUGH TO BE STOLEN? Manufacturers need to license the technology the design and the utility patents associate with a product.

The lack of severe punishment of plagiarism and infringement causes most inventors to hide their inventions.

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/05/03/technology/jury-finds-apple-and-samsung-infringed-patents.html?_r=0

COMMENTS:

QUESTION: DO YOU THINK PEOPLE WHO FIGHT PLAGIARISM AND IDEA THEFT AND STAND UP TO BIG CORPORATIONS, INSTITUTIONS HAVE A GOOD LIFE AFTERWARDS? FROM WHAT I SEE  MAYBE THEY DONT!

DO YOU SEE THE COST OF FIGHTING PLAGIARISM, THE DOWNSIDE TO FIGHTING THEFT?

COMMENTS:

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