Intellectual Property Rights


Intellectual Property Rights
    Intellectual Property Rights
    • Intellectual property is a legal field that refers to creations of mind such as musical literacy, artistic work, inventions symbols, names, images, and designs used in commerce, including copyright, trademarks, patents & related rights. Under Intellectual Property Law the holders of one of these abstract properties have certain exclusive rights to the creative works, commercial symbols or inventions which is covered by it.
    • Depending on the nature of innovation, the subject matter involved and the manner in which it is used for gaining economic benefit, the intellectual property is divided into two basic groups; the industrial property and copyrights.
    • Copyright automatically assigns the exclusive right to the creative owner of a literary, all performing art like dramatic, musical or artistic work, paintings, photographs, sculptures advertisements, maps, technical drawings, cinematograph film, photography, sound or video recording, broadcast/telecast, phonograms, a computer programme, etc to reproduce the work, to issue copies to or perform or communicate in public, make any translation or an adaptation of the work, offer on sale or rental and to authorize others for doing so.
    • The industrial property includes patents, trademarks, industrial designs, trade secrets and geographical indications. Among these, patent assumes highest importance in view of its impact on technological and economic aspects of peoples and nations. The earliest industrial property act was enacted in Europe.
    • This was followed by legislation of US Patent Act in 1793. In 1883, eleven western countries joined together to establish the Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property, which was aimed to harmonize the IPR law and practices across member countries. Currently 169 countries are its members. Pre-Colonial India had an IPR regime that was practiced by the Britain.
    • India is a signatory to the TRIPS Agreement hence it modified its patents law in conformity with TRIPS Agreement. We should also consider the use of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) for an effective enforcement of the Intellectual Property Rights in India. It is desirable that more initiatives on the lines of ICT HELPDESK must be undertaken so that contemporary International Standards can be adopted in India too.
    The protective umbrella of TRIPS covers;
    1. Copyright and Related Rights
    2. Trademarks
    3. Geographical Indications
    4. Industrial Designs
    5. Patents
    6. Layout designs of Integrated Circuits and
    7. Protection of Undisclosed Information.
    • Intellectual property rights give creators exclusive rights to their creations, thereby providing an incentive for the author or inventor to develop and share the information rather than keep it secret. The legal protections granted by Intellectual property laws are credited with significance contributions toward economic growth.
    • Economists estimate that two third of the value of large businesses in the USA can be traced to intangible assets, Likewise industries which rely on intellectual property protections are estimated to produce 72% more value per added employee than non intellectual property industries.
    • Intellectual Property (IP) has emerged as a strong tool for building and sustaining competitive advantage in the contemporary knowledge economy. Both domestic and international competition is boosted by the scientific and technological progress in a sustainable manner by utilizing the Intellectual Property Rights (IPRs).
    • There is a direct rationale for providing a healthy and global system for protection of IPR, due to their role in wealth creation. Moreover, the technology, investment and trade, which are key drivers of economic growth, are imbedded in IPR protection.
    • The Indian Intellectual Property Office is dedicated to mobilize the use of intellectual property for economic and social development by creating an IP (Intellectual Property) culture and enhancing knowledge & competencies is synchronizing with the global environment.

Last modified: Monday, 12 March 2012, 4:22 AM