Gender Issues in the Workplace free essay sample

One of the keys to leadership is good communication. According to the 2011 Catalyst Censuns: Fortune 500 Women Board Directors, Executive Offers and Top Earners, women held 16.1% of board seats in the United States. This statistic contradicts the fact that women are excellent communicators. The contradiction of this statistic suggests that women communicate differently than men, which has huge impacts on women advancing up the corporate ladder. For a woman named Tanya at my workplace, differences in way men and women communicate leave her feeling insignificant; more importantly, she has been passed up many times for a promotion. Describe the situation In my department, there are five male managers. I hear their constant picking on Tanya. They ask why she gets up from her desk to talk to technicians. They avoid conversations with her in the hallway for fear of being â€Å"chatty†. They don’t invite her to meetings that she should be part of. We will write a custom essay sample on Gender Issues in the Workplace or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page She has been passed up for promotions by men who have been at the company for a shorter time. All of these behaviors are due to Tanya’s extremely friendly communication style and lack of assertiveness. Tanya is the customer liaison for our department. When customers have a problem, they go to Tanya. She is excellent at communicating with upset customers. Her communication is reflective of Wziatek-Staceko’s theory that women use communication to make stable contacts and cooperation to reach a common goal (2008). She has a way of making friends with the upset customers. They enjoy working with her because together they reach the goal of completing service requests. Tanya is a breed of her own in the male dominated department. Not only is she good with customers, but she is also good with the technicians. When someone on the team has not completed their tasks, she uses open communication to understand the problems. This is supportive of Mueller’s theory that women make decisions based on subjective values, allowing emotion, sympathy and the desire for harmony to enter in the equation (2007). Meanwhile Mueller states that men prefer logic, objective values, and standards in making a decision (2007). A male would be far less understanding about someone not completing a task on time. However, Tanya is open to hear teammate’s issues. This evokes a collaborative team environment where technicians are not afraid to tell Tanya if they are running behind. She then works with technicians to find a solution. Everybody except managers feel comfortable talking to Tanya. The very trait that makes her effective at being an amazing customer liaison sets her back from getting higher positions. Tanya, like most women, has a soft voice and high pitched tone. Buttner explains the high tone of a women’s voice is perceived as a submissive quality to men (n.d.). In addition, Tanya, like most women, does not use powerful language. Women tend to speak more politely and use more tag questions (Lakoff, 1975).This is why people are comfortable talking to her. The managers view nonassertive communication as a sign of being inferior and submissive. This is due to the fact that men and women use communication for different things. Men use conversations as a means towards establishing power and dominance (Maltz Borker, 1982). Women use communication to restore unity and reduce tension (Sterkel, n.d.). Because the manager’s view Tanya’s communication as a sign of being inferior, they shun her because they know she won’t respond assertively. They exert dominance and power by locking Tanya out from being a future manager. By mimicking the fact that she talks to technicians rather than emailing them, the managers are using communication as a means to downplay Tanya’s role and increase the power of their own role. Simply not using assertive language has plagued Tanya’s rapport with the male managers. The managers demean Tanya by telling her to â€Å"Go get those people!† referring to employees who may be slacking on their tasks. This makes Tanya feel like she isn’t doing a good job. It makes her feel like they don’t appreciate all the good liaison work she does. The emotional response from Tanya is even further viewed as weakness by the managers. According to Wziatek-Stasko, female emotionality is perceived as not only a weakness, but also a lack of professionalism (2008). Because the male managers speak more assertively and Tanya speaks more tentatively, it gives the impression that she is not confident and capable as a leader. This is contrary to the fact that Tanya enables the smooth operation of services provided between the customers and the IT Department. If the customers weren’t kept happy, and technicians were not happy working for the customers, the whole operation would fall apart. Essentially Tanya is already managing technicians and their work output for customers. It just goes unrecognized and underappreciated due to her interpersonal communication style. Analyze the differences in communication, problem solving, and leadership styles of the men and the women in the situation. The leadership style of the male managers is very dominant and conquering. It seems as though leadership is a competition to them. They take every opportunity to outsmart others or down play other’s efforts, even when it is for the good of the team. According to Wziatek-Stasko, men perceive people via prisms of positions (2008). This stems from behaviors learned in adolescence. Typical males played sports growing up where they learned how to be aggressive, play to win, strategize, and mask emotions (Norton, n.d.). The leadership style that Tanya displays represents a flat feminist style; she protects employees by negotiating differences and seeking win-win situations. This is known as a â€Å"flat† leadership style (Norton, n.d). Tanya’s emails tell employees if they do a certain action, she will help them with another task. Because Tanya attempts to equalize power, the men take this an opportunity to seize power leaving Tanya without career advancement and not viewed with management potential. When it comes to problem solving, Tanya asks team mates what they think the best approach would be . This creates a team atmosphere where everybody is willing to help solve the problem. Meanwhile, the male managers tend to dictate. When someone does not do as they say, this is a sign of being insubordinate. While neither problem solving method is more right or wrong, it does not absolve women from understanding the hierarchical communication approach from men, not does it relinquish men from learning the communal communication style of women. According to John Gray’s book Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus, the reason for such communication differences is due to the fact that women and men have different needs, goals, and values from their communication. According to Mr. Gray, men are goal-oriented and their sense of self is defined through their ability to achieve results (1992). Meanwhile, women are relationship-oriented. Therefore, they use communication to establish relationships and create win-win situations. Differences in what men and men value create differences in how they communicate. Identify best practices. By employing some best practices Tanya could dissolve her soft image and gain respect from the male managers. Tinsley, Cheldelin, Schneider Amanatullah suggest that women work within the core feminine stereotype to capitalize on society’s stereotype of the nurturing female (2009). One suggestion is having customers and team members praise Tanya’s accomplishment to the managers. This avoids the backlash that could occur if Tanya self-promoted herself. Another tool Tanya could use is reframing her position during dialogues as one on behalf of the larger group. This makes her role seem more important and is consistent with the nurturing stereo-type of women. As Tanya becomes more assertive in her role, it is important that she explains where the behavior is coming from so that this â€Å"out of the norm† behavior is not seen as emotional or erratic behavior. With a little more assertiveness, teammates that promote her, and re-positioning herself to represent the en tire team, Tanya can re-define her position and shed her previous un-important image. Displaying masculine communication techniques in combination with feminine communication techniques is known as being â€Å"androgynous†. Using a combination of both gender communication styles is promising for women (Kent and Moss, 1994). The balance of typical gender behaviors is important. This is based on the fact that stereotypical male behaviors are considered important for leadership roles. According to Wziatek-Stasko, the following communication behaviors are masculine: talk to give information; focus on facts; use assertive language; user order, rules, and structure (2008). By employing some of these male behaviors, Tanya will reduce the image that she is a typical female which will help her to gain rapport with the male managers. Identify challenges and differences. The challenge and differences of gender communication styles lies in the premise of biologically determined character traits. Gender is simply a predecessor of behavioral traits that affect communication. Due to biological differences, women are brought up differently than men. Young ladies play dolls where they learn it is never good to be the â€Å"boss† doll or to boss people around. Young boys play sports where they learn to play their role in the hierarchy by obeying the coach and conquering other teams. The behavioral tendencies due to sex-differentiated experiences at a young age eventually effect why genders communicate differently. Studies show that women tend to interrupt less and weaken their statements (Thorne Henley, 1975). These actions derive from the fact that women perceive themselves to be of a lower status than males. The reason is also attributed to the fact that women are afraid to be wrong. Women attach their emotions to the conversation while men remain unemotional. Because men are less emotional, they take more risks in being dominant. When resolving a crisis, men create solutions while women give unsolicited advice (Gray, 1992). In the business world, this increases the opinion that women are inferior to the solution-driven male. When faced with a difficult situation, men are more prone to withdrawing themselves; women want to talk about their cause of stress (Gray, 1992). This communication difference furthers the stereotypical opinion that women are emotionally unstable. Interesting, communication between males is centered on doing something; communication between females is created for the sake of communication and intimacy (Tannen, 1990). According to Szell Thurner, women have more communication partners than men, but this does little in the hierarchal corporate world where respect and power are needed for advancement (2012). While men live in the world of status and women live in a world of connections, it is no wonder men easily climb up the corporate status ladder. Stereotypes seem influencing behaviors of the women and the men Stereotypes influence the way performance is perceived, interpreted, and evaluated. Traditional sex stereotypes depict women as deficient in the attributes necessary become a leader (Martell Block, 1995). Long standing stereotypes of women are that of a care giver, not a manager at an important cooperation. Traditional stereotypes of men include being the primary bread-winner for the family, dominant, independent, and emotionally stable (Chapman, n.d.). These stereotypes drive actions which further embed believes. Because it is stereotypical of males to be leaders, females often feel subor dinate from the stereotype alone. All of these pre-defined beliefs are grounded in biological differences and long standing history which have programmed people to act out stereotypes. By age 4, children understand the attributes of their gender and try to abide by these roles (Eddleston, Veiga, Powell, 2003). This is why girls play dress up, and boys play war. Because gender roles are embedded at such a young age, by the time people reach adulthood stereotypical gender roles subconsciously control how people communicate and behave in the workplace. According to David Scheider, stereotypical characteristics for females are affectionate, emotional, and sympathetic (2005). Typical traits for males are aggressive, dominant, rational, and unemotional (Scheider, 2005). Because the stereotypical feminine characteristics do not match up with common leadership trait, there is an underlying belief that persists in society in which women are deemed unfit for leadership positions. Women and men both belief the stereotype leading to women communicating in a submissive manner to men. The biological and physiological gender differences in communication enhance the stereotypes for men and women in the workplace. Develop recommendations to strengthen the behaviors of both the women and the men. The key to effective communication is listening. Both genders need to understand what the other person is saying before they reply. A good rule of thumb is waiting 3 seconds after someone else is done before responding. Although interrupting is viewed as a masculine behavior aimed at increasing dominance, this behavior is not a practice of good communication. Being clear and direct on the intent of communication is another recommendation for both genders. Rather than m anagers telling Tanya to â€Å"Go Get Em†, they should tell her all technicians are to be accountable for their actions. Being clear and direct ensures the receiver understands the intended message. Lastly, both genders need to stay positive. When a manager says something upsetting, Tanya should stay focused on performance and long term implications rather than getting upset. The managers also need to focus on being positive in regards to Tanya’s performance. Listening, being direct, and staying positive will strengthen communication of both genders. Identify three to five personal action plans that you will implement to strengthen your behaviors in the workplace. I have already implemented masculine characteristics in the work place to exhibit more androgynous behavior. First, I am more assertive. Instead of saying, â€Å"Shouldn’t all service requests have a ticket?† I say, â€Å"All service requests should have a ticket. If there are any questions, please see my manager.† The ability to be more assertive stems from the fact that I no longer see myself as a subordinate to males. Second, I use my relationships with people to gain rank or influence. When an issue arises with a male, I get other managers on my side to respond rather than me responding directly. This indirectly increases my rank and increases my value to male man ager who are happy to be my dominant voice. Thirdly, I am more goal-oriented. Instead of waiting for someone else to take the lead on a project, I gladly take charge in an  effort to accomplish goals like improving processes. Finally, I am flexible in my communication style. I use both male and female approaches to communication. In one meeting, I will give information and collect information. I thrive on competition and relationships simultaneously. I am assertive, yet still cooperative. I understand and empathize. By using a combination of communication improvement techniques, I have already strengthened my place in the workforce and accomplished many new projects.

Why are Nursing Home Jobs Getting Tougher to Find

Why are Nursing Home Jobs Getting Tougher to Find There’s constant buzz about the shortage of healthcare providers and bustling job market as we enter an era in which people over the age of 65 will account for nearly 20 percent of the population by the year 2030, according to the Administration on Aging. Picturing a society full of nursing homes overflowing with white-haired seniors? Think again. Nursing homes have been steadily on the decline in this county for years, and there’s no indication of a reversal in sight. Declining along with them? Nursing home jobs. Let’s take a closer look at this phenomenon, and what it means for nurses and other nursing home professionals.The 411 on Nursing Home JobsNursing home and residential care facility jobs fell by a whopping 4,800 jobs this past March, continuing a trend in that sector. The majority of these jobs were in nursing homes - the sole sector that’s seen a decline over the past year.However, health care overall added 22,300 jobs last month, largely drive n by outpatient care options, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor statistics. While jobs for nurses and physicians continued to experience growth, nursing homes positions remained the one stagnant area.Why the Decline?Today’s seniors want different things for their retirement, and the stigma of nursing homes weighs heavily upon them. Because people want care that’s closer to home and less â€Å"institutional† in feel, outpatient settings are experiencing significant growth. While this increases the demand for healthcare professionals in ambulatory roles, it decreases jobs for nursing home workers.It’s not exactly a surprise that the decline in nursing home jobs corresponds to other related declines, both in terms of nursing homes as well as older patients in nursing homes. Many healthcare professionals hoping to land nursing home jobs are finding themselves in an unexpected predicament: without job prospects in one of the most sought after sectors.This doesn’t mean they have to settle for the unemployment line, however. Instead, it may mean expanding their search parameters to different settings which offer similar care to older patients.The â€Å"New† Nursing HomePartly in response to demand from patients and partly due to the shrinking of Medicaid financing, many nursing homes are turning to a new model: Managed Care at Home programs. Also referred to as PACE (â€Å"Program of All-INclusive Care for the Elderly,†) this option includes many responsibilities that overlap with those in traditional nursing homes while allowing patients to stay at home. In short: long-term care no longer must take place in a nursing home; rather seniors can now gain access to 24-hour care at home. Many believe that patients can not only gain access to equally quality of care with these Managed Care at Home programs, but will also pay less. It’s no surprise, then, that these programs are expected to continue to grow.While n ursing homes are unlikely to ever disappear completely, competition for nursing home positions will grow steeper. Meanwhile, new career options will skyrocket thanks to a number of factors, including the increasing senior population, the influx of patients into the American healthcare system due to the Affordable Care Act, and the rise in managed care at home programs designed to meet financial concerns and patient needs alike. Trained and flexible healthcare workers will have plenty of options from which to choose.

Current Macroeconomic Situation Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Current Macroeconomic Situation - Research Paper Example A problem that the global recession created which the U.S economy has not been able to manage well is an explosion in the unemployment rate. The unemployment rate in the U.S. traditionally used to be under 5%. The unemployment rate reached double figures in 2010 for the first time in decades. During the last few months the U.S. has gone down a bit which is a positive sign. The creation of jobs is very important for the economy because it provides much needed income to many American families. The graph below shows the movement in the U.S. unemployment rate during the past nine months. The United States population has not had any problems with inflation in recent history. Economies that suffer from inflation are problematic because inflation diminishes the purchasing power of money. A rise in inflation is also bad because it increases the cost of acquiring money from banks and lending institutions. Investors are not attracted by economies that suffer from inflationary tendencies. During 2009 and 2010 the inflation rate in the United States was a very low 0.92% and 1% (Countrywatch, 2012). A problem the U.S economy faces which affects the long term well being of its entire population is its overall deficit. The deficit of the Unites States is growing every year due to three factors. The three factors that are increasing the total debt of America are budget deficits, trade deficit, and a lack of savings. During the past 40 years the U.S has only been able to achieve a budgetary surplus five times. The deficits keep accumulating themselves year after year. The U.S also has the largest trade deficit in the world. In January 2012 the U.S economy generated $180.6 billion in exports and $233.4 billion in imports (Tradeeconomics, 2012). The end result was that the U.S. started the year by accumulating a trade deficit of $52.3 billion in January 2012. The United States fiscal policy should focus on expansionary policies. The

Assigment #1 Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Assigment #1 - Assignment Example In line with this, I find the English colonists as someone who is more superior as compared to the American Indians. Even though the English colonists acknowledged the fact that the American Indians were highly competitive in terms of their progress in economic activities particularly when it comes to hunting and agriculture, there were quite a lot of situational events wherein the English colonists were treating the American Indians badly. In most cases, the English colonists viewed the American Indians as a group of weak individuals who can be easily manipulated through the use of religious activities. I believe that the familiarity between the captive people and the colonists can be explained with the use of frontiers of inclusion or exclusion. Specifically the English colonists adopted the frontiers of exclusion when they settled in North America. Since frontier of exclusion means that they distance themselves from other culture and race, the English colonists never had the opportunity to become more acquainted with the American Indians (Mancall, 1995, p. 2). For this reasons, the English colonists failed to have a better understanding with regards to the strength and weaknesses of the American Indians. This gives the American Indians the benefit of not being able to become strongly manipulated by the English colonists. The same applied on the part of the American Indians. Because of the use of frontier of exclusion, the American Indians do not clearly know the real reasons why the English colonists chose to colonize their country. In fact, the American Indians were not able to have the opportunity to know more about the English culture. The only thing that the American Indians know is that the English colonists were abusive to their tribe. With regards to this perception, the American Indians became more familiar with the English colonists. The benefits and liabilities behind invading another country is not always clear

The Solow Swan model of economic growth

The Solow Swan model of economic growth 1.0 Purpose Examine aspects of the Solow-Swan model of economic growth and identify whether capital accumulation has been the cause for growth in the cases of South Korea and Australia. 2.0 The Solow-Swan Model in brief The model shows how growth in capital stock (KM) and labour (L) affect economic growth (Y). It assumes that there is diminishing marginal returns for labour and capital considered separately as inputs and constant returns to scale when taken together. Mathematically, this is expressed as: Y = AK ÃŽ ± L 1-ÃŽ ± (from Cobb-Douglas Production function, where Y= National Income, K=Capital, L= Labour, A= Total Factor Productivity and 0

Preparing For Science Course Essay

Preparing for any subject or course is a good thing to do for one to fully appreciate the course, especially for a science course. In a science course, there are a lot of new things you will learn, particularly new technical terms/concepts/ideas. And planning for every class session would be helpful to maximize your learning potential. The question is, â€Å"How would you plan for the science course?† To start off, first you should develop good habits for an effective study. You should learn the habit of effective time management and discipline. Always do your homework early and prioritize your studies above anything else. You should also learn a habit of challenging yourself. This would make you more competitive and determined. Next you need to develop active listening and class participation skill. To do this, you should have a focus on lecturer given by your professor. Try to be analytical when listening. Ask questions to your professor if you are confused or uncertain about the concepts that have been discussed. In addition to this, try to be open-minded and appreciative for you to fully understand the ideas being relayed to you by your professor. You should also take down notes while your professor is giving a lecture. Organize your notes by creating spaces in your notebook, like central space for important points/ideas, marginal space for annotation, and condensing space for a brief summary of the lecture. A good set of lecture notes will be very helpful in preparing for exams, since this will refresh your knowledge regarding the previous lessons discussed in the class.   Lastly, you should develop a good strategy for taking an exam. Always prepare yourself before going to class; your professor might give a surprise quiz. Whenever you have a scheduled exam, be sure to arrive early. This would give you time to relax your mind and body, and avoid loss of concentration before and during the exam. Answer first the questions you are certain of and with high points. If the exam is a multiple choice type, be very intuitive; use your common sense and make smart educated guess. For essay type exams, think first before you write your essay. Concentrate on the idea of what is being asked in the question. Always allot some time before the end of the exam to review your answers. This will prevent mistakes made by stupidity or carelessness. After getting the result of the exam, try to analyze your answers. Learn from your mistakes, and try to avoid them during the next tests. Always set your previous exam as a standard; do your best to improve your performance in the next exams. Lastly, determine and implement the best study strategy for you. Reference: Smoot, J. (2008).Tips for preparing for a class. Retrieved April 30, 2008 from http://www.helium.com/items/357485-being-prepared-class-understanding

Intellectual Property Essay

1) Compare and contrast the differing protection offered by the law of patents and the law of copyright. In your opinion, are these differences accidental or do they have a sound commercial or legal basis ? Intellectual property rights are exclusive rights for their owners. Third parties are then generally prohibited from the use or exploitation of what is excluded by these rights. It is to be clarified that it is intended to focus solely on copyrights and patents. Trademark, confidentiality and designs, the other main types of intellectual property are beyond the scope of this essay. There is one simple way to comprehend the two concepts of patents and copyrights. On the one hand patent are rights over an invention. An invention is the result of reasoning. It is the production of some new or improved process or products that are both not obvious for a person skilled in the field and useful. On the other hand, copyrights are rights that protect art in general, art being any products of human's creative activities provided that more than trivial work has been done. The patent law can be seen as a monopoly created by parliament. In the year 1623 the Statute of Monopolies declared that all monopolies are void and of no effect. But an exception was made for the future grand of patent for the term of fourteen years to the first inventor provided it was not contrary to reason of raising price or restrictive of trade. Nowadays, it is basically the same principles that are applied. The copyright law can be seen as a way to restraint trade granted by Parliament. In 1709, the Copyright Act gave an author the exclusive right of printing his work for fourteen years. If the law has extended, the same concepts are still applied. The first point is the difference between what is ruled by patent and copyright. Patent law is protecting inventions. Patent Act 1977 defined an invention as something new thus which does not form part of the state of the art (s. 2(1))1. The state of the art being what was made available to the public in any way before the priority date of the patent (s. 2(2))2, this date correspond to the date of filling on which certain formalities are satisfied. The question to be asked in order to know if it was part of the art is not whether an information has actually been accessed but whether information could have been accessed prior the filling date. An old illustration of this would be the case of Lang v Gisborne3. In relation to a book, the question was whether the information was available and not whether the book had actually been sold. Thus we need to define what is construed as available to the public. In the Windsurfer4 case, a 12 year old boy, who built a sailboard and used it in public during his holidays, had been enough to make this invention available to the public. Moreover, in assessing if a disclosure of information is enough; it will be considered whether the person skilled in the art will be able to carry out trial and experiments to get to the invention (Synthon5). The last main hurdle for the obtention of a patent will be the requirement of inventiveness. An inventive step is one that is not obvious to a person skilled in the art (s. 3)6 and whether there is an inventive step or not has to be decided without hindsight (Haberman v Jackel7). A person 1 Patents Act 1977 s. 2(1) Patents Act 1977 s. 2(2) 3 Lang v Gisborne, 31 LJ. Ch 769 (1862) 4 Windsurfer International v Tabur Marine [1985] RPC 59, CA 5 Synthon v Smithkline Beecham [2005] UKHL 59, [2006] RPC 10 6 Patents Act 1977 s. 7 Haberman v Jackel International Ltd (1999) The times 21 January 1999 2 1 skilled in the art has been described as a graduate or engineer in the field concerned with a few years of experience (Dyson v Hoover8) , it was also held that it should be a â€Å"composite entity†, in other words a team of graduate and engineer (General Tire & Rubber Co v Firestone Tyre and Rubber Co Ltd9). Furthermore, an invention needs to be capable of industrial application which is rarely an issue. It will be analysed as such if it can be produced or used in any kind of industry, including agriculture (s. )10. Finally, an invention is patentable if not belonging to one of the excluded matter. A discovery, scientific theory, mathematical method, a scheme, rule or method of performing a mental act and playing a game or doing business are excluded (s. 1(2))11. Some others interesting exclusions exist, such as a literary, dramatic, musical or artistic work or any other aesthetic creation, a program for a computer and the presentation of information. These exclusions are interesting because they form part of what is subject to copyright, so what is protected by copyright. Indeed, copyright subsist in original literary, dramatic, musical or artistic works, sound recordings, films or broadcasting and typographical arrangement of published edition (s. 1)12. As with patent, a copyright need to fulfil certain criteria in order to be granted. There is a requirement of originality that applies to literary, musical, dramatic and artistic works but not to sound recording, films or broadcast. In the case of Univeristy of London Press13, it was established that the work must not be copied from another work but should originate from the author otherwise it will infringe. If the author has spent sufficient degree of skill, labour and judgement to establish originality then his work would be able to be protected by copyright. But often there is no requirement as to that quality. Thus, there is no requirement that a work should actually have literary value (Univeristy of London Press)14, it must be more than de minimis so that single words will not be protected by copyright (Exxon Corp)15. On the same line, there is no requirement of quality or merit of music as long as the sounds are not too simple and trivial. Furthermore, artistic works need not to present any merit (Vermaat and Powell v Boncrest)16. Finally, the protection offered by copyright only protects works that have been expressed in tangible format. In order to have ownership in the copyright, it is important to be able to prove authorship, often by producing the original creation of the work. If the process to get a copyright seems to be a simple and short process the process to obtain a patent is long and complicated. A formal registration is needed, has to be done within the UK Patent Office. One could say that is to allow authors which do not belong to a large company to be protected easily with copyright as soon as they make their original work in a Haberman v Jackel International Ltd [1999] FSR 683 Dyson Appliances v Hoover [1997] RPC 1, CA 9 General Tire & Rubber Co v Firestone Tyre & Rubber Co [1972] RPC 457 10 Patents Act 1977 s. 4 11 Patents Act 1977 s. 1(2) 12 Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 s. 1 13 University of London Press Ltd v. University Tutorial Press Ltd (1916) 2 Ch. 601 14 University of London Press Ltd v. University Tutorial Press Ltd (1916) 2 Ch. 601 15 Exxon Corp v Exxon Insurance Consultants International Ltd [1981] 3 All ER 241 16 Vermaat and Powell v Boncrest Ltd (No. 2) [2002] FSR 21 8 2 angible format. It is why copyright is an accepted theory and seen as a limited monopoly17. Such monopoly is necessary to promote â€Å"the three level of competition in modern business, which are production consumption and innovation’’18. On the contrary patent protects large companies’ invention. It is fair to require more formalities from them to obtain a protection as they are able to call large resources and facilities. Many steps have to be followed but only a brief explanation will be given as it is a complex area. The most important thing is the specification that has to be made (s. 4(2))19. The specification need to be very precise. It shall describe the invention in a clear and completed way so that the invention can be performed by a person skilled in the art (s. 14(3))20. Therefore the specification should explain what has been created, the problems that the invention solves, how the invention differs from what has been created before. It has been explained previously how the patent and copyright cover different subject, so that, for example, music is protected by copyright and the Dyson mechanism of vacuum cleaner is protected by patent. If they cover different area, they also provide protection in rather different manners. In the patent law, there are two main infringements, infringement of a process, infringement of a product by process patents and infringement of a product. There is an infringement by a party when a party use a process and when the party must have known or it must have been obvious in the circumstance that the use of the process would infringe the patent (s. 60(1)(b))21. For product patents, the intention is irrelevant (Procter v. Bennis)22. Only the patentee has the right to dispose of the product, which is interpreted mainly as the right to sell the product (s. 60(1)(a))23. Note that it does not exclude the right to sell the product at a later date, this is the doctrine of exhaustion. In the same way, he is the only one who can import the product. An infringement will be constituted if someone imports a product when in trade. The right to keep the product for disposal or otherwise is also an exclusive right of the patentee. Lastly, the most important is the right to make the product. It has been held, that modifications or repairs of a patented product could be infringement as well (United Wire)24. It is possible to compare the interpretation in United Wire to the owner's rights of a copyright over adaptations of the original work. The copyright owner of a musical, dramatic or literary work is the only one to have the right to make an adaptation of the work (s. 16(1))25. An adaptation will be interpreted as such only if it relates to a substantial part of the copyright work (Sillitoe)26. The rights over the adaptation are the same as the one over the original work. The question is what these rights are over the original work. First, copying the work is an infringement. An exact copy of the work is forbidden. If not completely identical, a two part test has been established (Francis Day and Hunter)27. Firstly a degree of similarity is required between the two works. A substantial part must have been copied, in order to establish it, a qualitative test and not a quantitative test has to be applied (Ladborke v William 17 The institutionalist theory of law, Neil MacCormick. Copyright law, Monopoly or Monstrosity, by Alan Beckley. (Butterworth and Co 1996) 19 Patents Act 1977 s. 4(2) 20 Patents Act 1977 s. 14(3) 21 Patents Act 1977 s. 60(1)(b) 22 Procter v. Bennis et al. (1887), 4 R. P. C. 333 23 Patents Act 1977 s. 60(1)(a) 24 United Wire v Screen Repair Services (Scotland) [2000] 4 All ER 353, HL 25 Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 s. 16(1) 26 Sillitoe v McGraw Hill Book Co. (UK) Ltd. [1983] FSR 545 27 Francis Day & Hunter Ltd v Bron [1963] Ch 587 (UK CofA) RR 207 18 3 Hill)28. Secondly, the infringing work must have some casual connection with the original work, which means that the infringing work must have some origin in the plaintiff's work. There are other main forbidden acts, such as issuing copies of the work to the public, performing, showing or playing the work in public, to broadcast the work or include it in a cable program service. It is also forbidden to authorise another to do a restricted act (s16(2))29. As seen previously, there is a wide protection for owners of copyright and patent, but in order to achieve a balance between owners and the public, some defence have been created in both patent and copyright law. In copyright law, there is a defence of fair dealing which allows research and private study only if is not undertaken for commercial purposes (s. 78)30 and only if it is for the person's own use (Sillitoe)31. Moreover, multiple copies will infringe, thus only singles copies are allowed (s29(3))32. The defence of fair dealing allows criticism or review provided sufficient acknowledgment is present which is obtained by identifying the work by its title or any description and by identifying the author o f the original work. Similar defence exists in patent law and provide protection for acts done in private and for non commercial purposes (s. 60(5)(a))33. There is also a defence for acts done in an experimental way and which relate to the matter of the invention (s. 60(5)(b))34. One of the main differences between patent and copyright is the length of protection they offer. A patent is granted for 20 years from the filing date. In literary, dramatic, musical and artistic works copyright protect the work during the author's life plus 70 years from the date the author dies. Why a difference in length between copyright and patent? As said previously, an author is protected by copyright all is lifetime because he is considered to be a weaker party. The 20 years protection offered with patent has been justified because of the time needed in testing of pharmaceutical and similar products for health and safety reason. In the point of view of a customer and the public copyright could be seen as a restriction on trade and patent as a monopoly for 20 years. It is common legal principle to say that restriction and monopoly are only justified to the extent that they are necessary to the public benefit. Lord Sydney Templeman said â€Å"patent and copyright are necessary to ensure that an inventor continues to invent and that an author continue to publish†35. 8 Ladbroke (Football) Ltd. v. William Hill (Football) Ltd. [1964] 1 W. L. R. 273 Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 s. 16(2) 30 Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 s. 178 31 Sillitoe v McGraw Hill Book Co. (UK) Ltd. [1983] FSR 545 32 Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 s. 29(3) 33 Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 s. 60(5)(a) 34 Copyright, Designs and Paten ts Act 1988 s. 60(5)(b) 35 Lord Sydney Templeman, Abstract Prior to his appointment to the UK House of Lords as a Law Lord. Oxford University Press 1998 29 4 Case List Dyson Appliances v Hoover [1997] RPC 1, CA Exxon Corp v Exxon Insurance Consultants International Ltd [1981] 3 All ER 241 Francis Day & Hunter Ltd v Bron [1963] Ch 587 (UK CofA) RR 207 General Tire & Rubber Co v Firestone Tyre & Rubber Co [1972] RPC 457 Haberman v Jackel International Ltd (1999) The times 21 January 1999 Haberman v Jackel International Ltd [1999] FSR 683 Lang v Gisborne, 31 LJ. Ch 769 (1862) Ladbroke (Football) Ltd. v. William Hill (Football) Ltd. [1964] 1 W. L. R. 273 Sillitoe v McGraw Hill Book Co. (UK) Ltd. 1983] FSR 545 Synthon v Smithkline Beecham [2005] UKHL 59, [2006] RPC 10 United Wire v Screen Repair Services (Scotland) [2000] 4 All ER 353, HL University of London Press Ltd v. University Tutorial Press Ltd (1916) 2 Ch. 601 Vermaat and Powell v Boncrest Ltd (No. 2) [2002] FSR 21 Windsurfer International v Tabur Marine [1985] RPC 59, CA Bibliography Holyoak & Torremans, Intellectual Property Law (5th ed. 2008) Oxford Colston & Galloway, Modern Intell ectual Property Law (3rd ed. 2010) Routledge Bainbridge, Intellectual Property (8th ed. 2010) Pearson Lexis Nexis Westlaw 5