Weekly IP Buzz for the Week Ending October 23, 2020
In this week's post, we see as social media platforms continue to grow in users and features, they have become a common channel for child traffickers and pornographers to use to transmit or capture illegal images. Currently, privacy experts and law enforcement agencies are at odds of how to protect users’ sensitive data while helping exploited children.
Plus, a provisional patent application is optional, but filing one can provide many advantages to inventors.
The Law Conundrum: Encryption for Personal Privacy v. Law Enforcement Needs
As technology becomes more evolved and encryption becomes more necessary, the conflict between personal privacy and national security becomes more fervent, specifically on social media platforms that have become cesspools of illegal activity. For example, in a recent international study, a report warned that approximately 84% of the 68 million child pornography images tracked by experts last year were available and being trafficked through Facebook.
Lately, privacy proponents have been concerned about the lax protection by technology giants of their users’ sensitive information. In response to general public’s increased concern about their privacy online, technology giant Facebook has announced plans to strengthen encryption on its messaging applications, including, for example, WhatsApp, Instagram Direct, and Facebook Messenger App. Despite this, many privacy experts worry that Facebook is still not doing enough. At the same time, however, law enforcement agencies worry that this new trend by technology giants towards stronger encryption will severely impact their ability to catch online pedophiles and traffickers.
Read more here.
The Provisional Patent | A Way To Reserve Rights
A provisional patent grants patent-pending status to an invention. The application is optional and is submitted to allow the applicant additional time to improve the invention or conduct additional research while protecting the invention from being claimed by someone else for a year. Within that period of a year, the applicant must file a corresponding non-provisional application for review by the US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) to obtain protection and officially be granted a patent.
Read the full article on the advantages of filing a provisional patent and the process involved.
Click to read the previous Weekly IP Buzz on Thriving Attorney.
For more posts, see our Intellectual Property Law Blog.
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In addition to Thriving Attorney, Darin M. Klemchuk is founder of Klemchuk LLP, a litigation, intellectual property, and transactional law firm located in Dallas, Texas. Click to read more about Darin Klemchuk's practice as an intellectual property lawyer.