Last update Dec29/19W3C//Dtd html 4.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40/loose.dtd"> Master Style Guide: Chapter 8

Chapter 8
Restrictions and legal issues

This chapter discusses:

Restrictions--Notices to readers of important information
Legal issues--Information about copyrights, trademarks, registered trademarks, service marks, and audience restrictions

Restrictions

Restrictions are notices to readers that important information follows. Collective Technologies uses three types of restrictions:

Notes
Cautions
Warnings

In addition, unreleased documents may use a Writer's Note, which is intended to flag information for the writer, the reviewer, or even other writers.

Notes

The following is an example of a note and its typical content and location:

A note highlights information of a supplemental nature.

If a second paragraph is required, it follows this format.

Follow these guidelines when using notes:

Do not use notes to give emphasis to information.
Do not include procedures inside a note.
A note always follows a warning and caution if all three are present.
A note may contain references to text content or to other documents.
A note can contain multiple paragraphs if all apply to the section that follows or precedes them.

Do not separate a note from its supported text; they should be on the same page.

Notes can be indexed if deemed necessary. You can place all notes under a "Notes" heading, if you desire.

Cautions

The following is an example of a caution and its typical content and location:

A caution highlights procedures or information necessary to avoid damage to equipment, damage to software, loss of data, or invalid test results. The caution should tell the reader exactly what will result from what actions and how to avoid them.

The caution immediately precedes the critical information and includes a description of the possible damage.

Follow these guidelines when using cautions:

Do not include procedures inside cautions.
A caution always follows a warning if both are present.
A caution always precedes a note if both are present.
Cautions should not contain references to text contents.

Do not separate a caution from its supported text; they should be on the same page.

Cautions should be indexed. You can place all cautions under a "Cautions" heading, if you desire.

Warnings

The following is an example of a warning and its typical content and location:

A warning highlights procedures or information necessary to avoid injury to personnel. The warning should tell the reader exactly what will result from what actions and how to avoid them.

The warning immediately precedes the critical information and includes a description of the hazard.

Do not separate a warning from its supported text; they should be on the same page.

Warnings should be indexed. You can place all warnings under a "Warnings" heading, if you desire.

Writer's Notes

Unreleased documents may use a Writer's Note, which is intended to flag information for the writer, the reviewer, or even other writers. Writer's Notes look like the following:

A writer's note highlights information for the author or authors of the document.

If a second paragraph is required, it follows this format.

With the exception of this example, Writer's Notes must never be in released documentation.

Legal issues

Copyrights and trademarks help preserve ownership of one part of what is commonly called intellectual property. Copyright and trademark protection are not overlapping. Patents, which are the other part of intellectual property, are not within the scope of this document.

It is important to protect intellectual property rights, regardless of who may own them. The purpose of this section is to provide guidelines to help avoid the more obvious pitfalls in this area. Moreover, violation of someone else's property rights can subject both you and Collective Technologies to criminal penalties and civil liability.

Audience restrictions

Some documents are intended for specific or limited audiences. These restrictions generally fall into two major categories: confidential, which is also known as private or company private, and proprietary. A third restriction, draft, can also be used. These are discussed in the subsequent sections.

The restriction should appear both on the title page of the document, with a short paragraph of explanatory text and centered on the footer of the page.

Confidential material

Use the phrase Confidential on any document where the information in that document gives the company a competitive edge or advantage over its competition. Confidential means that the information is not publicly known and is a company secret. Figure 12 provides a Confidential restriction.

Figure 12
Confidential restriction

Confidential
The information in this document is confidential. Do not discuss with nor forward to anyone outside of Collective Technologies.

Some feel that the use of Confidential results in problems with governmental units. In this case it is permissible to mark a document as Private.

Proprietary information

The word Proprietary means that Collective Technologies owns this information. It should only be used on internal documentation that discusses, for example, business plans and forecasts. Figure 13 provides a Proprietary restriction.

Figure 13
Proprietary restriction

Proprietary
The information in this document is proprietary. Do not discuss with nor forward to anyone outside of Collective Technologies.

Draft documents

The word Draft means that the document is still in the process of being written, revised, or edited. It should only be used on incomplete documentation. Figure 14 provides a Draft restriction.

Figure 14
Draft restriction

Draft
This Collective Technologies document is in a draft state and not yet complete. It is still being written, revised, or edited. Do not discuss with nor forward to anyone outside of Collective Technologies.

Other works

Sometimes you need to quote from other works, or reference products or services that are the property of companies other than Collective Technologies. Intellectual property generally falls into two main areas: copyrights and trademarks.

Copyrights

Copyright protects expression. Copyright laws state that the items of expression can include literary, dramatic, and musical works; pantomimes and choreography; pictorial, graphic and sculptural works; audio-visual works; sound recordings; and architectural works. An original expression is eligible for copyright protection as soon as it is fixed in a tangible form.

Consequently, almost any original expression that is fixed in a tangible form is protected as soon as it is expressed. For example, a graphic created in PhotoShop is protected as soon as the file is saved to disk. A Web page is protected as soon as the html file is saved. Most of the documents that you are likely to create-hard copy, web-based, or otherwise-are eligible for copyright protection.

However, not absolutely everything is eligible for copyright. These are items that by their very nature are not eligible for copyright protection:

Ideas
Facts
Titles
Names
Short phrases
Blank forms

Trademarks, registered trademarks, and service marks

A trademark includes any word, name, symbol, or device, or any combination, used, or intended to be used, in commerce to identify and distinguish the goods of one manufacturer or seller from goods manufactured or sold by others, and to indicate the source of the goods. In short, a trademark is a brand name.

A registered trademark is one that has been registered with a legally recognized authority, such as the United States government's Patent and Trademark Office. Federal registration has several advantages, including:

Constructive notice nationwide of the trademark owner's claim.
Evidence of ownership of the trademark.
Jurisdiction of federal courts may be invoked.
Registration can be used as a basis for obtaining registration in foreign countries.
Registration may be filed with U.S. Customs Service to prevent importation of infringing foreign goods.

The federal registration symbol, ®, should only be used on goods or services that are the subject of the federal trademark registration. Entities claiming "common law" trademark protections (either until federal registration is completed or in lieu of federal registration protection) should use the ^TM symbol.

A service mark is any word, name, symbol, device, or any combination thereof, used, or intended to be used, in commerce to identify and distinguish the services of one provider from services provided by others, and to indicate the source of the services. Service marks are often slogans, such as Collective Technologies' tag line, "Managed Infrastructure For The Real World." Service marks are indicated by the ^SM symbol.