Orin Laney

Every creative individual, especially engineers, should understand personal intellectual property rights. Every schematic, each piece of software code, every drawing, diagram and prototype has intellectual property (IP) rights attached upon creation. These IPs are the legal rights of an engineer's creation. If a code listing or prototype is lost, another one can always be remade. But if the legal rights are lost, the code or prototype may be worthless—even if it is secured.

This talk will discuss the importance of distinguishing the legal rights to your personal creations, whether derived from a hobby or from professional work performed on the side, from those claimable by your employer. Six steps for doing so will be outlined. This is NOT a tutorial on patenting or securing copyrights (information available in any public library). This is career information that may be crucial if you attempt serious income generation outside of the context of your employment.

Biography:

Orin Laney earned his BSEE degree at the University of Maryland, an MSEE at San Jose State University, and an MBA at Brigham Young University. He is a registered Professional Engineer in the State of California and a certified Electromagnetic Compatibility (EMC) Engineer. He is a former chair of the IEEE-USA Intellectual Property Committee. Currently he makes his home in Silicon Valley, where he consults, writes, and manufactures equipment of his own design.

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