Question: What are the various roles of Laws in society, and which role is the most important for businesses which function in a capitalist economy such as Canada? What legislation is in place to ensure these roles are fulfilled?
a) The law serves to validate governmental institutions. It does this by arranging the steps which legalize actions as being trustworthy.
b) The law also serves to allocate and administer power. It grants authority to one and denies the other in a government institution, which results in some officials being more authoritative when compared to the others.
c) The law serves to control members of the society by forcing them to remain to the laid down practices. This eases control of society.
d) The law helps adjust conflicts. It facilitates the restoration of the peace and order framework rather than maintaining it.
e) The law also serves to dispense justice amongst the members of society. It does this by providing the kind of justice that is necessary to acquire the target of modern society living up to its ideals.
f) The law protects private property.
The most important role of law in a capitalist economy like Canada is the protection of private property. A capitalist economy is a free market. Businesses own the factors of production, raising the need to define what is privately owned or public. This is enabled by the use of patents, copyrights, and trademarks.
The legislation that ensures these rights are fulfilled is the Charter in Canada. The Charter records Canadians’ most significant rights and opportunities. The constitution, which incorporates the Charter, is the most noteworthy legislation in Canada (Willes & Willes, 2015, pp. 682-685). Administrations must regard it at whatever point they pass a law, make an arrangement, or have everyday dealings with us.
Question: Distinguish between patents, trademarks, and copyrights and explain the legal protection offered to each of these types of intellectual property. Identify at least one instance in your life that you may have violated such intellectual property rights.
Copyright
Copyrights protect works of art and include things like photos, books, movies, songs, paintings, software codes, among others. They do this by giving the owner an absolute right to make more copies of the article and obtain profit from its sale (Willes & Willes, 2015, p. 521). Once one has created their work, then it’s their choice on how it is to be used and who is allowed to use it.
Trademark
This gives protection to a word, a phrase, a symbol, or even a device which is the mark of trade and is used in commerce in distinguishing their products from those of the others. They help the organizations as well as the consumers to differentiate a product from the other however similar they appear.
Patent
A patent gives protection to novel origination or discoveries in pharmaceutical drugs, complex machinery, or even software advancement. It does this by preventing others from making use of them inappropriately. A patent gives the owner monopoly of innovation and ownership for a given period, usually about twenty years (Willes & Willes, 2015, p. 518).
Summary
Category Copyright Trademark Patent
Type of Protection Protects original creative expressions Protects a unique name that makes a certain brand distinct Protects inventions that are novel and original
Security Offered Secures intellectual creations Secures branding Secures inventions of some use
When it comes to Existence The moment the authorship creates the art/work. The moment the applicant registers the trademark The moment the authorship applies for a provisional patent or is successful (usually takes 2-3 years).
I happened to own a laptop at work, where I had downloaded and saved lots of songs and videos. I would play and listen to them at any time at my will, and sometimes share them with friends on their gadgets. Most of these downloads occurred via dubious websites not licensed to provide them. Others were downloaded from www.youtube.com, which does consider the conversion of a video to mp3 format for download purposes illegal. This was a copyright infringement. Such arts of work should be purchased from the owner, or be owned with permission from the original author.
Question: Name a type of tort that a business may unwittingly commit or be the victim of during its operations, and suggest best practices to avoid being a perpetrator or the victim of such tort.
Negligence is a common unintentional tort during business operations.
Careless cases aren’t considered intentional torts since they result when a person negligently fails to avail a responsibility owed to another person. Business operations involve several risks to a third party either directly or indirectly. Even with the most careful management, negligence is usually reported in one way or another and may result in lawsuits if it causes harm to the public (Willes & Willes, 2015, p. 81). Take for example a truck driver in a business offering transportation services in the Toronto area. If the driver has shown a possibility of causing an accident several times, the organization is supposed to either retrain the driver or carry a background check of his driving experience. If indeed the driver causes an accident, harming any third party, the organization may be sued for negligence.
For any organization to avoid being a perpetrator or a victim of negligence, they should practice caution in all operations, especially by having enhanced the effectiveness of all departments.
a) By incorporating: This protects the business by limiting liability.
b) Insurance: An insurance policy can help spread the risk if such torts arise.
c) Follow best practices: Businesses should have a standard of care that must be followed by a reasonably prudent person in the industry.
Question: List FOUR (4) aspects of the relationship between a professional and his/her client covered in this course, and describe how such a relationship differs from the relationship between commercial parties.
a) Agency: This is where the client is reliant on the professional for their expertise. The client holds the responsibility and authority and the professional takes the direction to better suit the needs of the client. Contracts formed between commercial entities do not involve one party following another party’s decisions in the relationship. Rather, a contractual relationship involves consideration for each party, ensuring that there is a mutual gain between them.
b) Contractual Relationship: A contract is formed regarding the relationship between a professional and the client. The duties of each party are outlined clearly by the contract terms. Though contracts may be used in a professional and client relationship, the remedies and ways of resolving any arising conflicts do differ from contractual relationships between commercial entities. For instance, a professional may agree with a client, to offer training services. However, only the individual professional can be sued for breach of the terms. On the other hand, a commercial entity entails various stakeholders, who can be held liable for a breach of contract depending on the type of business.
c) Paternalism: This is where the expert is set on an unrivaled level in the relationship given their skill and information. It is also a form of a guided relationship, meaning the professional has to act under the directions of the client. Commercial entities enter into agreements to advance their interests. Contrary to paternalism, each party has its obligation during the signing of the contract, limiting any possible changes of these terms during the performance period.
d) Consent: Some works by a professional requires consent or agreement from the client. For example, a doctor is not allowed to carry out an operation without the consent of his/her patient or guardians. In this relationship, the professional is not allowed to perform beyond what is acceptable by the client. On contrary, commercial entities operate to the extent of a prior agreement between the intended parties. There is no obligation to request the other party’s permission during the performance.
References
Hilton, T., & French, M. (2007). The link between perceptions of power and client behaviours. International Journal Of The Legal Profession, 14(1), 97-112. DOI: 10.1080/09695950701323120
Keschner, I. (1994). Patents, Trademarks & Copyrights. Journal Of Clinical Engineering, 19(2), 123. DOI: 10.1097/00004669-199403000-00003
The Image of Persons and Overview of Legislations in Consumer Laws. (2012). Journal Of Consumer Policy Studies, null(42), 101-121. DOI: 10.15723/jcps..42.201208.101
Willes, J. A., & Willes, J. H. (2015). Contemporary Canadian business law: Principles and cases.
