Information Technology Reference
In-Depth Information
On.Windows.computers.there.is.a.hidden.system.ile.called.
the.MFT.that.we.talked.about.earlier..This.is.a.lat.database.
containing. information. about. every. ile. and. folder. ever. cre-
ated.on.the.device.since.it.was.built.and.ired.up.for.the.irst.
time..Other.operating.systems.use.similar.methods.of.track-
ing.iles.and.their.creation,.modiication,.and.access.times,.as.
well.as.their.locations.within.the.folder.hierarchy.
How. does. this. work. in. the. real. world?. Imagine. a. case.
where.the.plaintiff.alleged.that.the.defendant.stole.patented.
information..These.kinds.of.cases.go.on.all.the.time.
In.our.imaginary.case,.the.facts.as.we.know.them.are.that.
the. plaintiff. worked. for. the. defendant. for. many. years. and.
was.a.model.employee..She.was.an.engineer.who.developed.
many. different. products. that. the. defendant. company. devel-
oped,. patented,. and. eventually. sold.. Everyone. was. happy..
However,.some.of.her.ideas.either.were.not.that.great,.or.at.
least.the.company.found.they.did.not.have.the.potential.of.
others,.so.they.told.her.they.were.not.interested..Please.go.on.
to.your.next.great.idea..Toward.the.end.of.her.employment.
with.them,.one.of.these.rejected.ideas.seemed.to.her.to.be.
an.extremely.excellent.and.wonderful.invention.that.she.was.
very.excited.about.
Now,.as.an.employee.with.this.company.she.agreed.that.
anything. she. invented. belonged. to. them. and. was. theirs. to.
patent.if.they.wished..When.they.turned.down.this.idea,.she.
was.disappointed.and.sent.an.e-mail.to.her.boss.asking.if.she.
could.consider.this.rejected.idea.exempt.from.their.agreement.
and.take.it.up.on.her.own..She.received.several.e-mails.from.
management.that.eventually.agreed.to.release.this.invention.
from.their.agreement.and.allow.her.to.pursue.it.on.her.own.
if.she.wished..Shortly.after.this,.she.tendered.her.resignation.
from.this.company.and.went.out.on.her.own.to.develop.her.
great.idea.
As.it.turned.out,.she.was.right.to.be.so.excited.about.her.
invention.. It. became. a. huge. success. and. she. and. her. new.
product.began.to.become.extremely.valuable..Everything.was.
looking.pretty.rosy.until.suddenly.her.old.company.came.out.
