Maintaining manufacturing automation trade secrets

ISA has published 'Patents, Trademarks, Copyrights, and Trade Secrets: What Automation Professionals, Manufacturers, and Business Owners Need to Know'.

'Patents, Trademarks, Copyrights, and Trade Secrets: What Automation Professionals, Manufacturers, and Business Owners Need to Know', was written by Wendy Buskop, J D, with the automation professional in mind.

It is intended to educate the reader about the benefits of patents, trademarks, copyrights, and/or trade secret and licensing agreements.

Equipment, meters, tools, software, technology, chemical formulations, connectors, controllers, sensors, pumps, engines, their components, and other related devices are typically the intellectual property of the individual, company, or group who created them.

The book will help owners, managers, and inventors understand the various types of intellectual property, how to protect the property, retain it as an asset, and respect the intellectual property of others.

* Non-legal style - automation professionals, manufacturers, and business owners need to protect inventions, ideas, and services created within the workplace.

The book's non-legal style provides insight into the types of products and services that fall into the category of intellectual property.

The basics of obtaining, maintaining, and protecting intellectual property are highlighted in this primer written especially for the automation industry.

* About the author - Wendy Buskop is a licensed US Patent Attorney, practicing before the US Patent and Trademark Office, the US Supreme Court, and in the states of Texas and Michigan.

She has written and/or supervised thousands of patent filings and cases since 1980.

Buskop has worked with various technology and automation clients, including NASA contractors providing services and products for the Space Shuttle, as well as numerous 'Fortune 500' companies.

You can visit Buskop and members of her firm on the exhibition floor at ISA EXPO 2008 in Houston, Texas, USA, October 14-16.

Buskop said that four million patents were issued between 1956 and 2007.

The book mentions numerous types of meters, monitoring systems, other related patents issued during that period.

She said that most patents start with an idea: "At least one sentence and a discussion with a patent attorney".

Buskop stated that patents are not just great ideas; they are ideas that automation professionals, managers, and inventors can use to build assets, create marketing tools and expand market share, facilitate claiming research and development tax credits, and to create revenue through licensing and trade agreements.

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