Professional Practices

“The Computing Profession”

Contents:
• Profession
• Fundamental characteristics of a profession
• Structure of computing profession
• Ethics
• Professional Ethics
• Ethical issues of Computer Science
• Professional codes of conduct
• Ten Commandments of computer ethics
• Applying codes of conduct (Case Studies)

Profession

“A paid occupation, especially one that involves prolonged training and a formal
qualification”

• A formal education is one where you would go to a college or university for an actual
degree.
• An informal education is simply learning a trade from someone else. It’s possible to
have a formal education and an informal education.
• The formal education is what most employers would prefer to see because it is easier to
prove. Having a degree in a specific field will mean that you have certain knowledge
that will translate into a better paying job and the company that’s employing you getting
a qualified person for the job.
• An informal education is what many people end up having. You work under someone
who has a degree or has been doing it for enough years to be knowledgeable about the
subject.
• Many car mechanics and other "trade” skills usually have an informal education as to
what they’re doing.
• Informal education can also be referred to as life experience. After going through life for
so many years, you’ll naturally acquire some knowledge about different things that you
may not even learn after going through a formal education.
 Fundamental characteristics of a profession

1. Great responsibility
2. Accountability
3. Based on specialized, theoretical knowledge
4. Institutional preparation
5. Ethical constraints
6. Merit-based

• Great responsibility
– Professionals deal in matters of vital importance to their clients and are therefore
entrusted with grave responsibilities and obligations.
– Given these essential obligations, professional work typically involves
circumstances where carelessness, inadequate skill, or breach of ethics would be
significantly damaging to the client and/or his fortunes.

• Accountability
– Professionals hold themselves ultimately accountable for the quality of their
work with the client.
– The profession may or may not have mechanisms in place to reinforce and
ensure adherence to this principle among its members.

• Based on specialized, theoretical knowledge

– Professionals render specialized services based on theory, knowledge, and skills
that are characteristic to their profession and generally beyond the
understanding or capability of those outside of the profession.
– Sometimes, this specialization will extend to access to the tools and technologies
used in the profession (e.g. medical equipment).

• Institutional preparation
– Professions typically require a significant period of hands-on, practical experience
in the protected company of senior members before candidates are recognized
as professionals.
 – After this provisional period, ongoing education toward professional
development is compulsory.

• Ethical constraints
– Due to the other characteristics on this list, there is a clear requirement for
ethical constraints in the professions.
– Professionals are bound to a code of conduct or ethics specific to the distinct
profession.
– Professionals also aim toward a general body of core values, which are centered
upon the client's benefit and best interests.

• Merit-based
– In a profession, members achieve employment and success based on merit
rather than on corrupted ideas such as social principle, mandated support, or
extortion.
– Therefore, a professional is one who must attract clients and profits due to the
merits of his work.
– In the absence of this characteristic, issues of responsibility, accountability, and
ethical constraints become irrelevant, negating any otherwise-professional
characteristics.

10 things that define a true professional

• Put customer satisfaction first

• Make expertise your specialty
• Do more than expected
• Do what you say and say what you can do
• Communicate effectively
• Follow exceptional guiding principles
• Praise your peers not yourself
• Share your knowledge
• Say thank you
• Keep a smile on your face and the right attitude in your heart
 Structure of computing profession

1. The computing profession has a two-tier structure.

2. At the first level, there are the institutions, that is, the chartered professional bodies,
each of which covers a single or several closely related computing disciplines. Examples
are National Computing Education Accreditation Council (NCEAC), Pakistan Engineering
Council, Pakistan Bar Council, etc.
3. The second level body in computing is the computing council, a chartered body which
recognizes certain computing institutions as its nominated bodies.
4. By recognizing a computing institution means that Computing council is satisfied with its
standard of education.
5. Computing council acts as an umbrella body and represents the interests of the
computing profession as a whole.
6. National Computing Education Accreditation Council (NCEAC) is a professional body and
constitutional federal institution for accreditation of computing education and regulation
of computing profession in Pakistan.
7. NCEAC is recognized accreditator of computing programs in Pakistan.
8. It ensures the quality of education students received in universities and institutions.
9. It stimulates innovation in applied sciences, computing, Engineering and technology
education.

Ethics
• Ethics is the study of right and wrong in relation to human actions. It includes
– Meta-ethics: study of general principles from which ethical systems can be built.
– Moral theory: ethical systems, consisting of the criteria to decide whether
individual actions are right and wrong.
– Practical ethics: application of ethical systems to the analysis of particular
situations.

What is Professional Ethics?

• One's conduct of behavior and practice when carrying out professional work, e.g.,
consulting, researching, teaching.
• The principles and standards that guide members of a particular profession in their
interactions with internal & external stakeholders.
Professional Ethics
 1. Professional Ethics must take into accounts:
a. Relations between professionals and clients
b. Relation between profession and society
c. Relations among professionals
d. Relations between employee and employer

Why professional ethics?

1. Awareness of professional ethics is gaining importance with time.
2. Decision making process in the work place is a complex phenomenon.
3. The professional ethics provide a way of simplifying that decision making process.

Ethical Issues in Computer Science

1. As software becomes pervasive in our daily lives, its values from a purely human
perspective are brought to light.
2. Ethical conduct is one such human value.
3. By participating in a software development process, computer scientists can influence
the final product, namely the software itself, in different ways including those that may
be contrary to public interest.
4. In other words, they could engage in an unethical behavior, intentionally or un-
intentionally.
5. This could lead to personal harm, and potentially result in loss of confidence in software
and loss of trust in organizations that own them.
6. This can adversely affect the acceptance of software as a useful product, question the
credibility of computer science as a profession.
7. Computer Science professionals must concern themselves primarily with the health,
safety and welfare of those who are affected by their work.

Professional code of conduct

1. One of main characteristic of profession is that the professional body establishes and
enforces a code of conduct on its members.
2. As far as computing is concerned, most code of conducts established by ACM and IEEE
undergo major revisions with the passage of time.
3. All previous code of conducts are recently replaced by “Software Engineering Code of
Ethics and Professional Practice” developed jointly by the ACM and IEEE Computer
society.
4.
5. It outlines 8 principles of computing ethics: The obligation of the computing professional
to the
a. general public
b. the client and employer
c. the product
d. the profession
e. Colleagues
f. the engineer himself or herself
g. the ethical management of software engineering projects.

Ten Commandments of Computer ethics

• The Ten Commandments of Computer Ethics were created in 1992 by the Computer
Ethics Institute.
1. Not use a computer to harm other people. This is the foundation for computer ethics.
2. Not interfere with other people’s computer work. Such as sending numerous
thoughtless e-mails to larger issues like purposely sending computer viruses.
3. Not snoop around in other people’s computer files. Don’t go looking through other
people’s computer files unless given permission.
4. Not use a computer to steal.
5. Not use a computer to bear false witness. Don’t spread rumors or change your email
address so that the receiver of an email believes that it came from someone other than
yourself.
6. Not copy or use proprietary software for which you have not paid. Once you buy a
software system, music CD or DVD you should not make copies of that information and
distribute it to your friends.
7. Not use other people’s computer resources without authorization or proper
compensation. This means do not surf the internet or print off large amounts of paper
for personal use during work hours.
8. Not appropriate other people’s intellectual output. Don’t upload information and take
credit for it such as music, images and text.
9. Think about the social consequences of the program you are writing or the system you
are designing.
10. Use a computer in ways that ensure consideration and respect for your fellow humans.
Just because you can’t always see someone face to face doesn’t give you the right to
offer any less respect then you would offer in a personal encounter.
 “The Structure of Organizations”
Contents:
• Organization
• Legal Forms of Organizations
– Sole proprietorship
– Partnership
– corporation
• Companies
– Constitution of a company
– Directors and company secretary
– Disclosure requirements
– Corporate governance

Organization

“An organized group of people with a particular purpose, such as a business or government
department”

• It is impossible to live in a civilized society without close contact with many large
organizations such as
– Schools
– Universities
– Government departments
– Health service
– Commercial and industrial companies

Legal Form of Organization

• Fundamentally the law recognizes individuals that is the individuals has a legal existence.
• They can
– enter into the contracts which can be enforced by the courts
– Sued for damages
– Give evidences...
• Organizations should also be given legal existence separate from that of its
proprietors....and that is done through a process known as “Incorporation”.
• After adopting any specific legal configuration, organizations take different legal forms.
• Four basic legal forms of organization are Sole Proprietorship; Partnerships and
Corporations.
• Sole Proprietorship
– The vast majority of small businesses start out as sole proprietorships.
– These firms are owned by one person, usually the individual who has day-to-day
responsibility for running the business.
– Sole proprietorships own all the assets of the business and the profits generated
by it.
– They also assume complete responsibility for any of its liabilities or debts.
– In the eyes of the law and the public, you are one in the same with the business.
• Partnerships
– In a Partnership, two or more people share ownership of a single business.
– Like proprietorships, the law does not distinguish between the business and its
owners.
– The Partners should have a legal agreement that sets forth how decisions will be
made, profits will be shared, disputes will be resolved, how future partners will
be admitted to the partnership or what steps will be taken to dissolve the
partnership when needed.
– They also must decide up front how much time and capital each will contribute,
etc.
• Corporations
– A Corporation, chartered by the state in which it is headquartered, is considered
by law to be a unique entity, separate and apart from those who own it.
– A Corporation can be taxed; it can be sued; it can enter into contractual
agreements.
– The owners of a corporation are its shareholders.
– The shareholders elect a board of directors to oversee the major policies and
decisions.
– The corporation has a life of its own and does not dissolve when ownership
changes.

Companies

• A company is a legal entity made up of an association of people.

• Company members share a common purpose, and unite in order to focus their various
talents and organize their collectively available skills or resources to achieve specific,
declared goals.
• The essence of a company is that it enjoys an independent existence as a legal person.
• Ownership of the company is divided into a number of shares.
• An individual or another company may own one or more shares.
• Individuals who own shares in a company are known as the shareholders or members of
the company.

• Public companies are allowed to offer their share to the public and their names must
end with the word “Public limited company”.
• A public company has a minimum paid up capital of Rs. 5 lacs.
• There is no limit for the number of members.

• A private company cannot offer its shares to the public and its name must end with the
word “limited”.
• It has a minimum paid up capital of Rs. 1 lakh.
• It has limited members up to 200.
• It prohibits any invitation from public for subscription to shares and any acceptance of
deposits from persons other than members or directors.

• In an unlimited company, the shareholders are personally liable for all the company’s
debts.
• The shareholders (or members) of this type of company have unlimited liability.
• This means each member is jointly and severally liable for the debts of the company in
the event of its winding-up.

Limited Company
• Limited by Shares
• Limited by Guarantee
 • Company limited by Guarantee:
– Commonly used where companies are formed for non-commercial purposes,
such as professional bodies or charities.
– The members guarantee the payment of certain fixed, usually small amount
towards the company’s debts if the company wound up
– Otherwise, they have no economic rights in relation to the company.

• Company limited by Shares

– It is the most common form of company used for business ventures.
– Specifically, a limited company is a company in which the liability of each
shareholder is limited to the amount individually invested
– Corporations are the most common example of a limited company.

• Companies
• Constitution of a Company
• Directors and the Company Secretary
• Disclosure Requirements
• Corporate Governance
Constitution of a Company
• All companies must have a written constitution, which consists of two documents
– Memorandum of association.... which controls its external relations
– Articles of association.... which states how internal affairs are to be run.
The Memorandum of Association
• This document covers the following matters
– The name of the company
– The country in which its registered office will be located
– The objects of the company
– A liability clause
– The company’s authorized share capital and the number and nominal value of its
shares.
The Articles of Association

 This document usually addresses the following topics

 – The rules to be applied in allotting new shares
– The rules governing the transfer of shares
– The rules regarding meeting of shareholders or members
– Appointment and removal of directors
– Powers of directors
– Dividends and reserves

Directors and the Company Secretary

• Directors are elected by shareholders to run the company on their behalf.
• They have considerable powers and in a large company with many shareholders, the
effective democratic control is very weak.
• This situation is balanced by a series of obligations
– Directors must act in good faith and for the benefit of company.
– Directors must exercise the skill and care in carrying out their duties that might
be expected from someone of their qualifications and experience.
– A director who has an interest in a contract made with the company must
disclose this interest to the board of directors.
• Most companies have both executive and non-executive directors.
– Executive directors are normally also employees of the company, with specific
responsibility.
– Non-executive directors act in advisory capacity only. Typically, they attend
monthly board meetings to offer the benefit of their advice and are paid a fee for
their services.
• A company is required to have a company secretary whose duty is to keep various
records that a company is obliged to maintain.
• Because of the technical expertise required, small companies often appoint an outside
professional advisor as a company secretary.

Disclosure Requirements
• The limited companies are required to disclose information about their operations.
• All limited companies must submit an annual return and copies of their accounts to the
registrar of companies.

Corporate governance
“Relationship between stakeholders in companies and its most senior management is known as
corporate governance”
 “The Structure of Organizations”
Contents:
• Organizing an organization
– Functional units of an organization
– Geographical organization
– Organization by product
– Centralization vs decentralization
– The position of quality management
• Management
– Motivation
– Performance appraisal
– Sub-optimization

Organizing an Organization
• Organizing an organization
• Functional Units of an Organization
• Geographical Organization
• Organization by Product
• Centralization vs Decentralization
• The position of Quality Management

Functional Units of an Organization

• Tasks carried out in an organization are grouped into five major functions
– Production: activities that directly contribute to creating the products or services
that the company sells.
– Quality Management: quality activities necessary to ensure that quality of
product and services produced is maintained at the agreed level.
– Sales and Marketing: sales is concerned directly with selling the product while
marketing is concerned with establishing the environment in which product is
sold.
– Finance and Administration: every company needs to pay its bills, to look after
its funds, to pay its employees and so on....data processing and legal department
are also generally included in this function.
– Research and Development: how can company do better the things that it is
already doing and what other things can be done to raise profits.

Geographical Organization
 • Organization operating over a large geographical area, there are tasks that should be
best organized on a geographical basis.
• Because of cultural differences, an effective selling approach in one country can
completely fail in another.
• Even the products that are most demanded in one country are almost unsaleable in
another one.

Organization by Product
• When an organization produces several different products and services, it is desirable to
use a top-level structure based on its products.
• It is the most common structure found in really large corporations today.
• Each division can either be headed by a director or can be itself a separate company
with its own board of directors (subsidiaries).

Centralization vs Decentralization
• Organizations can be centralized, decentralized and both.
• In a centralized organization, many of the detailed operational decisions are taken at
the center.
• In a decentralized organization, as many details as possible are settled at local level.

Position of Quality Management

• Whatever be the structure of an organization, the factor of “Quality” should be kept at
the center.
• Pressures on production and sales create temptation to skimp on quality procedures.
• It can only be avoided by developing a “Quality Culture” within the organization.
• Some national and international standards are set, which lay down in detail the
requirements which a quality plan must meet.
• Examples are British Standard 5750 and ISO 9000.

Management
• Motivation
• Performance Appraisal
• Sub-Optimization
 • Different management roles are classified on the basis of their particular concerns and
methods for addressing those concerns. Some are
– Project management
– Production management
– Corporation management

• The goal of project managers is to produce systems which meet the user’s needs, are in
time and within budget.
• Their main concerns are planning, progress monitoring, acquisition and allocation of
resources and quality control.
• The project manager horizon is the successful completion of a project.
• Production management is concerned with the management of activities which
continue indefinitely and change comparatively slowly.
• It is concerned with productivity, efficiency and maintenance of quality.
• Production manager horizons are both longer and shorter than project managers.
• Corporate management deals with the management of organization as a whole.
• Corporate managers monitor the overall performance of the organization and handle
serious problems that arise anywhere in the organization.

Motivation
• How well individuals carry out their jobs depends on several factors
– How well they understand what is required of them.
– Their ability
– The quality of facilities provided for doing the job.
– Their motivation
– The attitude of their colleagues.
• People are generally motivated by
– Self esteem
– The esteem of others
– Satisfaction of social needs
– A sense of security
– Financial rewards

Performance Appraisal
• Central idea of performance appraisal is that managers decide with each of their
subordinate, what should be the subordinate’s objectives in his next time period of job.
• At the end of that time period, the subordinate performance is assessed against these
objectives and new objectives are agreed for the next time period.
• There are several important points in order to make such a scheme work
 – Both manager and subordinate must participate in setting the subordinate’s
objectives.
– Attainment of the objectives should be verifiable.
– Subordinate’s job must be sufficiently homogenous.
– Continuing commitment from all levels of management is required.
– Staff reviews should be diagnostic rather than purely evaluative.
– Review procedure should not be closely linked with the salary review procedure.

Sub-optimization

“Optimizing the performance of individual units within an organization may not optimize the
performance of the whole organization”
 “Anatomy of a Software House”

Contents:
• Anatomy
• Software house
• Anatomy of a typical software house
• Example

Anatomy
• Anatomy is study of
– Structure
– Organization
– Internal working
– Hierarchy chart

Anatomy may look like

Or like this… There are teams out there!

Software House
“A software house is a company that primarily provides software products. These companies
may specialize in business or consumer software or software-as-a-service (SaaS) products. The
common definition is that the company is mainly interested in developing and distributing
software products”

Anatomy of a software House

Shareholders
• Owners of the company
• Elect the board of directors
• Vote on issues
• Same for private and public companies

Board of Directors
• Represent shareholders’ interests
 • governing the organization by establishing broad policies and setting out strategic
objectives
• selecting, appointing, supporting and reviewing the performance of the chief executive
Officer
• Terminating the chief executive Officer
• Ensure the availability of adequate financial resources
• Approve annual budgets
• Accountable to the stakeholders for the organization's performance
• Set the salaries, compensation and benefits of senior management

Chief Executive Officer (CEO)

• Appointed by the board of directors
• Communicate, on behalf of the company, with shareholders, government entities, and
the public
• Lead the development of the company’s short- and long-term strategy
• Create and implement the company or organization’s vision and mission
• Evaluate the work of other executive leaders within the company.

Executive Team
• VP & c- level officers
• Managed by CEO
• In charge of day-to-day functional areas
• Meet regularly to coordinate strategy, budget etc.
• Manage the Group's business as a whole
• Have extensive authorities within their individual areas of responsibility and have the
duty to develop the company's operations in line with the targets set by the Board of
Directors and the CEO.

Marketing
• Create awareness of and develop the brand you're marketing
• Communicate with target audiences and build and develop customer relationships
• Help with marketing plans, advertising, direct marketing and campaigns
• Support the marketing manager in delivering agreed activities
• Organize and attend events such as conferences, seminars, receptions and exhibitions
• Source and secure sponsorship
• Conduct market research, for example using customer questionnaires and focus groups
Sales
• Conduct market research to identify selling possibilities and evaluate customer needs
• Actively seek out new sales opportunities through cold calling, networking and social
media
• Set up meetings with potential clients and listen to their wishes and concerns
• Prepare and deliver appropriate presentations on products/ services
• Create frequent reviews and reports with sales and financial data
• Ensure the availability of stock for sales
• Negotiate/close deals and handle complaints or objections
Client Services
• Develop and maintain existing client relationships.
• Interact and correspond with prospective clients.
• Identify, develop and maintain relations with potential clients to drive billed revenue for
attaining set revenue targets.
• Develop and execute yearly formal business plan for assigned territory.
• Identify decision makers
• Identify services and products to meet client issues.
• Direct development of client customized solutions.
• Negotiate with client for efficient services delivery at profitable fees.
• Ensure services are priced correctly for client expansion opportunities

Software Development
• Develop, manage and prepare best software development team.
• Guide, coach and mentor software development engineers.
• Provide project management and technical leadership for every aspect of software.
• Prepare lifecycle for different projects inclusive of research, design, development,
evaluation, testing along with delivery.
• Supervise architecture plus lead efforts to develop technical roadmap of all projects.
• Establish and stimulate software development standards and processes along with best
practices for delivery of scalable and high quality software.
• Perform closely with Engineers, Developers and Product Management throughout
organization to influence product development assisting or improving products.

Finance and Admin

 • Overall responsibility for all aspects of financial management and control.
• Effective financial reporting in a timely, accurate, relevant and informative manner.
• General administration duties.

Mind Mill Software Ltd.(Established 1993)

An Indian Software House

• BESPOKE APPLICATION DEVELOPMENT

• BANKING AND ERP PRODUCTS
• INVOICE MATCHING SERVICES
• LIBRARY AND DOCUMENT MANAGEMENT SOLUTIONS
• INSTITUTE MANAGEMNT SYSTEMS
• CONSULTING SERVICES
• MANAGED CLINET SERVICES

Let’s focus anatomy of bespoke application development section

 “Computer Contracts”
Contents:
• What is a Contract
• Contact for the supply of custom-built software
• Other types of software services contract

What is a Contract?
• A contract is an agreement between two or more persons creating rights & duties and
which is enforceable by law.
• A contract is a promise or set of promises that are legally enforceable and, if violated,
allow the injured party access to legal remedies.
• An agreement between persons which obliges each party to do or not to do a certain
thing.

• Contracts
– Setout the agreement between the parties
– Setout the aim of the parties
– Provide rules for the issues arising while contract is running
– Ways of terminating the contract
– Consequences of termination

“While optimists make the best deal makers, pessimists make the best contract writers”
Hilary Pearson

• A contract
– Should be set out in a clear and logical manner
– should be complete and consistent
– Should have no ambiguity
– Should be free of doubts regarding the rights and duties of concerned parties

• There are four types of contractual arrangement which are widely used in connection
with the provision of software services
– Fixed price
– Contract hire
 – Time and materials
– Consultancy

Contracts for the Supply of Custom-built Software (at a Fixed Price)

Structure of the Contract

• A short introductory section
• A set of standard terms and conditions
• A set of appendices or annexes

The Introductory Section

• The introductory section states that it is an agreement between the parties whose
names and registered addresses are given.
• It is dated and signed by the authorized representatives of the parties.

What is to be Produced
• Contract must state what is to be produced.
• Two level references is normally used.

What Is to be Delivered
• Producing software is not simply handing over the text of program.
• Some other possibilities are
– Source code
– Command files for building the executable code from the source and installing it.
– Documentation of the design and code.
– Different manuals
– Test data and test results

Ownership of Rights
• Contract should state what legal rights are being passed by the software house to the
client under the contract.
Confidentiality
• Confidentiality is the protection of personal information. Confidentiality means keeping a
client's information between you and the client, and not telling others including co-
workers, friends, family, etc.
• It should be highly considered while writing a contract.

Payment Terms
• Standard terms and conditions will specify the payment conditions like
“Payment shall become due within thirty days of the date of issue of an invoice. If payment is
delayed by more than thirty days from due date, the company shall have the right to terminate
the contract or to apply a surcharge at an interest rate of 2 per cent.”

Calculating Payments for Delays and Changes

• The contract should make provision for payments to compensate the wasted efforts.
• It must specify the process by which these extra payments are to be calculated.

Penalty Clauses
• Delays caused by suppliers are handled by penalty clauses.

Obligations of the Client

• When work is being carried out for a specific client, the client will have to fulfil certain
obligations, if the contract is to be completed successfully.

Some other sections of a contract

• Standards and Methods of Working
• Progress meetings
• Project managers
• Acceptance procedure
• Warranty and maintenance
• Indemnity (cash security)
• Termination of the contract
• Arbitration (settle a dispute)
• Inflation (general increase in prices)
 • Applicable law

Other types of software services contract

• There are four types of contractual arrangement which are widely used in connection
with the provision of software services:
• contract hire
• time and materials
• consultancy
• fixed price, as described in the previous section

Contract Hire
• Contract hire agreements are very much simpler than fixed price contracts.
• Reason is the much less involvement and responsibility of supplier.

Times and Materials

• It somewhere lies between a contract hire agreement and fixed price contract.
• The supplier agrees to undertake the development of the software in much the same
way as in a fixed price contract, but payment is made on the basis of the cost incurred,
with labor charged in the same way as for contract hire.

Consultancy Contracts
• Use of consultants is now widespread in both private and public body.
• Consultancy projects are usually undertaken for a fixed price but the form of contract is
very much simpler.

Liability for Defective Software

• There are laws present to ensure the quality of products and goods delivered to a
customer.
• Quality of goods include their
– State and condition
– Fitness for all required purposes
– Freedom from minor defects
– Safety
– durability
• A major difficulty in the case of software is that whether it comes under the category of
goods or not.
• Only statement available for the software is “it must be written with reasonable skill
and care”
• To overcome this difficulty, guarantee clauses are often drafted in the contracts.
 “Intellectual Property Rights”

Contents:
• Intellectual property
• Intellectual property rights
– Copyright
– Designs
– Patents
– Trademarks

Intellectual Property
• Intellectual property is a category of property that includes intangible creations of the
human intellect, and primarily encompasses copyrights, patents, and trademarks.
• IP rights can be seen as a package.
• Just as the components of a software combine to form a package, different rights
protects different sub products of a whole product.

What does intellectual property include?

• In the modern context the term intellectual property, covers the following aspects in the
relevant categories namely:
– Copyright: literary, artistic and scientific works covering books, journals,
magazines, written articles etc.
– Trademarks: trademarks, merchandise marks, service marks, commercial names
and designations like logos.
– Patents: inventions like a new form of airplane engine, a floor cleaner, etc.
– Designs: it includes the shape of a bottle, machine, model of luxury car or any
other product, etc.

What are intellectual property rights?

• Intellectual property rights are such rights which are given to persons who are the
authors or creators of the new and original literary and artistic works such as books,
articles, other writings, paintings, musical compositions, sculpture, films and computer
programs by application of their creativity process and intellect.
 • IP rights are given to such individuals to compensate for their suffering during such
creative process and their investments.
• These rights are given for a certain period of time and after which general public have
the right to freely benefit from them in their benefit and use.

NECESSITY OF INTELLCTUAL PROPERTY RIGHTS PROTECTION

• Intellectual property rights protection is necessary due to following reasons:
– Encouragement to creativity by ensuring its reward
– Innovations in technology
– Transfer of technology to less developed nations and countries of the world

WORLD INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY ORGANIZATION

• World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) was established on July 14, 1967 at
Stockholm.

INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY ESTABLISHMENTS IN PAKISTAN

• All the Intellectual Property Rights laws in Pakistan are being administered and managed
by three different ministries of the Federal Government, which are as under:
– Ministry of Education: the Copyright Ordinance, 1962.
– Ministry of Industries and production:
• The Registered Designs Ordinance, 2000.
• The Registered Layout-Designs of Integrated Circuits Ordinance, 2000.
• The patents ordinance, 2000.
– Ministry of Commerce:
• the Trade Marks Ordinance, 2001.
• the Merchandise Marks Act, 1889.
Copyright
• Copyright is a legal right, existing in many countries, that grants the creator of an original
work exclusive rights to determine whether, and under what conditions, this original
work may be used by others.
• In simpler terms, copyright is the right to copy. This means that the original creator of a
product and anyone he gives authorization to are the only ones with the exclusive right
to reproduce the work.
• It protects more items generated by businesses or individuals than any other aspect of IP
rights.
• It protects the form in which words, numbers and drawings are laid out.
• It can therefore protect business letters, manuals, diagrams, computer programs and
different lists for examples of customers and suppliers.
• Copyright law gives six exclusive rights to the owner of the copyright
 – Copy the work
– Issue copies to the public
– Lend the work to the public
– Perform, play or show the work in the public
– Broadcast the work in the public
– Make an adaptation of the work

Copyright Works
• Copyright works are the things protected by copyright law.
• There are nine defined types of works, divided into three categories.
– Original literary, dramatic, musical and artistic work
– Sound recordings, films, broadcasts and cable programs
– The typographical arrangement of published editions.
• Databases and computer programs are also protected by copyright laws.

Who owns copyrights

• Computer generated and computer aided work
– If a literary, dramatic, musical or artistic work is computer generated, the author
is the person by whom the arrangements necessary for the creation of the work
are undertaken.
– If a work is computer aided, author of the work is the person who designs it with
the help of a computer.
• What happens when author is an employee?
• When a literary, dramatic, musical or artistic work is made by an employee in the course
of employment, the employer is the first owner of any copyright in the work.

Infringement of Copyrights
• Infringement is the action of breaking the terms of a law or agreement.
• There are two categories of infringement of copyrights
– Primary infringement
– Secondary infringement

Primary Infringement
• Anyone who performs any of the six acts that are exclusive for the copyright owner,
without his consent is liable for primary infringement of copyrights.
• It can be committed entirely innocently so it is not regulated by criminal law, it infringes
only the civil rights of the owner.
• Actions that come under the category of primary infringement are
 – Copying
– Home taping
– Adaptation
– Rental right

Secondary Infringement
• Beside breaching the civil rights of a copyright owner, secondary infringement also
accounts to a criminal offence punishable by a fine or imprisonment.
• It is designed to catch those who trade in and make profit from pirated goods.
• It occurs when a person
– Imports an infringing copy other than for private and domestic use
– Possess an infringing copy in the course of a business
– Sells or let for hire an infringing copy
– Transmits the work by mean of a telecommunication system
– Involves in indirect infringement.

THE COPYRIGHT ORDINANCE 1962

• Any person violating the said ordinance shall be punishable with imprisonment which
may extend to 3 years or with fine which may extend to 100,000 rupees- or with both.

Design
• What is a design?
– The appearance of a product, in particular, the shape, texture, color, materials
used, contours and ornamentation. To qualify as a new design, the overall
impression should be different from any existing design.
• What is a Design Right?
– A design right is an intellectual property right that protects the visual design of
objects.
• Who owns the design right?
– Typically the creator of the design owns any rights in it, except where the work
was commissioned or created during the course of employment, in which case
the rights belong to the employer or party that commissioned the work.

Design Rights
– Unregistered Design Rights
– Registered Design Rights

Unregistered Design Rights

 • Unregistered design rights protect the shape or configuration of a marketable (or
potentially marketable) product, and are used to prevent unauthorized copying of an
original design. Design rights can also be bought, sold or licensed in a similar manner to
copyright.
• Design rights exist independently of copyright, while copyright may protect documents
detailing the design as well as any artistic or literary work incorporated within the
finished product, the design right focuses more on the shape, configuration and
construction of a product.

Registered Design Rights

• A registered design may be applied for to provide additional cover over and above any
design right or copyright protection that may exist in the design.
• The benefit of a registered design is that the design may enjoy prolonged protection
from copying, although this protection would only be available in countries or territories
where the application was made.

REGISTERED DESIGNS ORDINANCE, 2000

• A design, may upon application made by the person claiming to be the proprietor, is
registered under this ordinance in respect of any article or set of articles specified in the
application.
• Any person violating the said ordinance shall be punishable with imprisonment for a
term which may extend to 2 years or with fine which may extend to 20,000 rupees- or
with both.

Patents
• A patent gives the patent-holder the right to stop others from producing, selling or
using his or her invention.
• Unlike copyrights, patents protect the idea or design of the invention, rather than any
tangible form of the invention.
• To patent something you have invented, you have to demonstrate that
– your invention is a significantly original creation
– it is unique enough to distinguish it from existing inventions
– it is innovative enough that it wouldn't be obvious to others.
• Patents provide protection for 20 years. After that, the invention is public property.
THE PATENTS ORDINANCE, 2000
• Any invention is patentable if it is new, involves an inventive step and is capable of
industrial application.
Trade Mark

“Any word, name, symbol, or any combination, used, or intended to be used, in commerce to
identify and distinguish the goods of one manufacturer or seller from goods manufactured or
sold by others, and to indicate the source of the goods. In short, a trademark is a brand name.”

• The trademark owner can be an individual, business organization, or any legal entity.
• A trademark may be located on a package, a label, a voucher, or on the product itself.
• For the sake of corporate identity, trademarks are often displayed on company buildings.

THE TRADEMARKS ORDINANCE, 2001

• A trade mark may be registered in accordance with the provisions of this ordinance in
respect of:
– goods
– services or
– both goods and services,