A “Toolbox” for Forensic Engineers

Intellectual
Property Cases
13.1 Introduction
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Intellectual property is an area in which many forensic engineers become
deeply involved. Forensic engineers are employed because courts need to
arbitrate between parties who dispute some aspect of new technology or
engineering. Indeed, many practicing engineers also become involved
because they will need to protect new ideas or devices that they conceive or
make either for themselves or for their employers. Disputes commonly
involve inventions or designs where priority must be established, especially
in technologies where development is rapid.
The subject essentially deals with the creation of new devices and machines,
or ideas that take some practical form. An essential attribute is thus novelty;
the device must be unknown before its creation. A second attribute is that the
device has a bodily form and can be applied in some useful way. The new
device receives legal protection in the form of a document that establishes the
owner, the period for which the document is valid, the nature of the right
protected and the exact definition of the device. In the most important example,
the document is a patent, but it can also be a registered design (in the
U.K.) or a design patent (in the U.S., for example). Other forms of intellectual
property include written words (copyright) and marks of approval placed on
devices (trademarks and tradenames). Confidential information, such as a
secret formula, can also be protected. The rights established are like property
rights, such as ownership to land established by a title deed. However, the
property is virtual rather than real, and has a strictly limited life, 20 years for
a patent and varying periods for other rights. Although different rules apply
in different countries, there is reasonable compatibility between the major