Customer Reviews

Legal Aspects of Managing Technology

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I purchased this book for a class, and so far I am very disappointed in this book. For being a recent edition, some of the information is very out of date. For example, the book references BountyQuest as a means of searching for prior art in patents, yet fails to realize that the BountyQuest website shut down in 2002 (remember, this edition of the book was (c) 2010). Also, I'm only 4 chapters in and I have already found some glaring spelling and editing errors in the book ("little" spelled "lilttle").

The text of the book is well-written and easy to understand, but better editing and updating would have made me a much more satisfied purchaser.

Update: Also found "Mastercard" spelled "Matercard." Whoops...

Call this book Release 2.0! It's a fine upgrade from Prof. Burgunder's prior release.

With the growth in the internet and the advent of business method patents, interest in patent, trademark and copyright issues has surged to new heights. Awareness and integration of these legal aspects into our management of technology is absolutely vital for the future.

I practice law. Specifically, I work on intellectual property matters. I am also building two websites. As a result, I am keen on staying on top of my field. Professor Burgunder's new treatise is an important addition to the literature in this field. He writes in an accessible manner: open to students, interested people and legal practitioners alike. In addition, the arrangement of the book is well thought-out: you don't have to read or study it from the first chapter. Depending on your familiarity with this field, you can select topics and areas to review or you can build a college course around the book.

I was also delighted to see that Dr. Burgunder has been intelligent in the use of a web site to keep the book current.

If you are interested in technology and legal issues, this is a great book to help you! I recommend it heartily.

A splendid piece of work! It is timely and up-to-date with all the most recent & important technological law issues, including the Internet. It contains sophisticated analysis, but in an easy-to-read style. I particularly liked how the Internet is treated in the context of associated technology issues, rather than segregated as a separate unrelated universe. A big plus is the web site connected to the book where Burgunder provides updates about current issues --- such as Napster, Internet linking, and the antitrust case against Microsoft. This will keep the material fresh for years to come! I recommend this book to anyone who wants to learn about technology law. It's a winner!

A must reading for not only lawyers, but for techies who must know the implications of trademark, patent, and copyright law. Because of the clarity of the writing, it is also an intersting read for the general public. Can't wait for the new book...!

This book is the main text for the "Legal Issues in Technology" (SEIS 650) class I am taking this fall at the University of Saint Thomas, St. Paul, Minnesota.

It gives one a general overview of intellectual property rights from a technology perspective in the United States, and to some extent in the international space. In particular, one gets a basic understanding of key legal issues surrounding the protection of trade secrets, copyrights, patents, trademarks, and contractual rights pertaining to computer technology and the internet.

This is done through the study of several well written and summarized descriptions of past and current legal cases and decisions made in the United States court system, and also from the perspective of a hypothetical company CoolEdge that is the business of selling an exercise machine called Optimizer. One thing that is made very apparent is the constantly evolving nature of legal constructs and policies, and how they have had to continuously adapt along with changing aspects of technology in the United States and the rest of the world.

All of this covered in 14 chapters and 644 pages, plus two more online - which we did not cover in class. This is a general education book and very well meets it's goal of leaving the reader with an excellent understanding of the various legal issues raised by computer technology. Also with an awareness and need for everyone involved in high technology enterprises to keep abreast of developments in these areas as we continue going about meeting our business and societal goals. If there was something I did not like about the book, is that it did not have questions at the end of each chapter to test and improve one's grasp of concepts and issues discussed, or a list of further readings and references.

This is a great book for the non-lawyer. It explains not only IP law, but also the ramifications that these regulations can have to your business as a holder of IP.

A ravenous beastie, technology eats everything it touches. Our daily lives, the way we shop, how we communicate, our work habits, the way we entertain ourselves, and how we exist day by day have all irreversibly transmogrified in the maw of the computer and information age. Now we live like network packets, shooting from node to node with rarely a pause, gathering and transporting information. In degrees of busyness, we've outdone the bees. Such a tsunami of change has to impact the way we govern ourselves. And of course it does. Not even the law escapes technology.

Patents, copyrights, trademarks, trade secrets. Technology has chiseled into each one of these modes of intellectual property protection. But the issues remain complicated and hairy, and this book, with text thick as shag carpet, provides a detailed starting point for exploring the legal implications of technology.

After a thorough introduction to the United States' legal system, some 75 pages worth, the book dives into patent law. Any questions about the nature of patents such as cost, usefulness, novelty, nonobviousness, infringement, or validity receive apt treatment. The book even throws in an overview of the significant Patent Reform Act, not yet passed as of this writing. This Act promises to overhaul the United States patent system, potentially obsoleting some of the information presented. Concerning the patentability of computer programs, the whole drama gets laid out like an adventure tale. Computer programs didn't become patentable overnight. Some even doubted their eligibility for protection.

Trade secrets and their discontents, such as reverse engineering, receive a bulky chapter. These issues affect nearly all technology employees. Use caution, because tricks, shortcuts, or streamlined processes taken from one company to the next could, depending on the circumstances, misappropriate secret information. And when that happens the lawyers come out swinging.

The fuzzy nature of Copyright law receives as much tree bark as patent law. Questions arise on this subject often, especially in regard to the internet. Can I copy an image and put it on my site? Can I legally download digital music? What if a .jpeg doesn't have a copyright notice? The book provides a suitable background to answer these. And, similar to patents, the copyrightablility of computer programs also weaved a loopy route. At first they received overwhelming protection, which disturbed judges, who then abstracted, filtered, and compared protection down to a mere kernal of expression. The entire yarn gets told.

The book ends with chapters on trademarks, domain name issues, tort liability, privacy law, and issues related to contracts, particularly "shrink-wrap" and "click-wrap" licenses. At over 600 pages, the book defies summary. Prepare for a full brain.

Along the way, excerpts from actual court cases, including many Supreme Court decisions, bolster the main text. Not only that, a case study, CoolEdge, runs through the entire length of the book, elucidating murky concepts with comprehensible examples.

This book won't turn readers into lawyers, but it will open up a world of technology law to those with the gusto to brave its dense contents. Some chapters take upwards of two or three hours to complete. But the effort offers great rewards of legal knowledge at a detailed level unobtainable in most survey books or on FAQ websites. Best of all, no legal knowledge is required upon entry. Absolute beginners can comprehend every word in this book. As such it provides a great, but ardous, starting point for technology law.

I bought this book because it was the most recent publication purporting to explain technology law. Although I thought the price was a little high, I sure got more than my money's worth. This book really covers the most important and interesting topics in technology law, and it does so extremely well. Biotech, Internet patents, privacy, obscenity, copyrights, trade secrets, click-wraps, domain names, design protection, strategies for computer programs, the Microsoft Antitrust case-you name it and this book has got it. The book also deals with international matters, such as the WTO, and international strategic considerations. The court case examples are well selected, and the editing is superb. They are not to short to be trivial, but not to long either. I also visited the Web site mentioned on the back cover. It already has a bunch of helpful updates, including the Napster and DVD encryption (DeCSS) debates, among many others. This really is a great book. I recommend it highly.

I received on time but tons of highlighted text. Overall it was great - purchased for a class and sadly we only need 3 chapters out of it so I wont be able to review the overall quality of the book.

I recently purchased a copy of Cram 101 Textbook Outlines for "Legal Aspects of Managing Technology, by Burgunder." Frankly, $40.00 for a notebook and a glossary are an insult to readers. I intend to return the book for a refund.