Introduction to IP

Mahindra Prabu M
Asst. Professor of Law
TNNLS
What is Intellectual Property?
The Convention Establishing the World Intellectual Property Organization
(WIPO), concluded in Stockholm on July 14, 1967 (Article 2(viii)) provides
that intellectual property shall include rights relating to:
literary, artistic and scientific works,
performances of performing artists, phonograms and broadcasts,
inventions in all fields of human endeavor,
scientific discoveries,
industrial designs,
trademarks, service marks and commercial names and designations,
protection against unfair competition,
and all other rights resulting from intellectual activity in the industrial, scientific, literary
or artistic fields.
What is Intellectual Property Rights?
Intellectual Property Rights are legal instruments
that grant exclusive rights to owners of intangible
assets, such as musical, literary, and artistic works;
discoveries and inventions; and words, phrases,
symbols, and designs.
Global Commons
Anti Commons
Creative Commons
 Intellectual Property Rights
Global Commons

Term New Idea = IP

Protection (Anti Commons)

Property Rights
Fixation
Intangible/Personal/Private
 Characteristics of IP

Territoriality
Anti-competiveness
Tradeability (Assignment, License & Transmission)
Independence (One Product Patent, TM & Design)
Divisibility (Different rights to different people)
Volatility (Liable to change rapidly & Unpredictable)
 Forms of IPR

PATENTS
TRADE SECRETS
TRADEMARKS
COPYRIGHT & Related Rights
DESIGNS
SEMICONDUCTOR INTERGRATED CIRCUIT LAYOUT DESIGNS
GEOGRAPHICAL INDICATIONS
Patents
Technology or Innovations
Process or Product
Method of making
New composition of matter

It is a statutory right granted by the government to an inventor, to exclude

others from commercially exploiting the invention for a limited period of time,
in return for detailed public disclosure of an invention.
 Trade Secrets

Confidential Information
Undisclosed information
Secret or Information with Commercial Value
Commercially Valuable Secrets
Distribution Channels & Customer list
Strategy of Advertising & Selling
Recipe Secret e.g. Coca - Cola
Till the time the world believes it to be a secret, it remains a secret
Copyright

Copyright is a property right that subsists in certain specified types of works

as provided for by the Copyright Act, 1957. Ex: Literary, Artistic,
Dramatic works etc.,
Term Protection: Life + 60 years
Advertisements/Commercials
Contents & Expressions
Trade Mark

It means a mark capable of distinguishing the goods or services of one

person from those of others
Concept of Distinctiveness
Term Protection
Renewable every 10 years
Provided the continued usage of mark in commerce is established at the time of
renewal.
Designs

Design means a feature or a pattern produced on a particular article by

any industrial process
Appears in a finished article and judged solely by eye appeal
It is a suggestion of form or ornament to be applied to a physical body
Criteria: New or Original
Geographical Indications

A specific place of production or manufacture.

Determines characteristic qualities of the product that originates from
that place.
Product derives its qualities and characteristics from that place.
Duration: 10 years & Renewabale
 TM and GI

TM GI

Denotes an enterprise Denotes place of origin

Exclusive right of an owner Common heritage of the
community
Ex: Ex:
Coca Cola Darjeeling Tea
Britannia Kanjeepuram Silk
 Duration of IPs
Patents Non Renewable 20 years
Copyright Non Renewable Life + 60 Years
Trademark Renewable Every 10 Years
GI Renewable Every 10 Years
Designs Non Renewable 10 + 5 Years
T.S As long it remains secret
 INDUSTRY & IPR CYCLE

INVESTMENT RETURNS

RESEARCH AND PROCESS / METHOD END PRODUCT MARKETING AND

DEVELOPMENT OF MANUFACTURING SALES

GLOBAL COMMONS PROCESS PATENT PRODUCT PATENT TRADEMARK

+ NEW IDEAS DESIGNS
COPYRIGHT
Concept of Property
What is Property?
 A thing or things belonging to someone
Possessions
Anything that is owned by a person or entity
Property Rights
Property rights entail relations between
one person and another
one person and many others
a person and an object

Contest for the control of objects

Either individually or as a group, depends.
 Contd.,

The right to property is a right to the aggregate of use of things

- Salmond
All property rights are limited by the rights of others.
Each property right is delineated and defined in order to balance it
with other property rights.
Where do property rights come from?

Culture and Community

[Defines and enforces]
 Why?

The sense of having and desire to own & control

To monopolize world resources
To dominate
 What do you mean by
public and private property?
Individualism & Society

One was looking to individualism to save society. The

other was looking to society to save the individual
- Professor Philbrick
 Limitations of Private Property

This land is mine, mine to use and enjoy, mine to treat as I wish
Private Property Rights (PPR) are shared with public
PPR is Limited and can change over time
What do you mean by tangible and intangible
property?
Knowledge as Property
Individual Labor in Unclaimed Nature
Exclusive - Alienable
 Justifying IP

Each type of IP is a bargain between society (in the form of State)

and the owner of the rights.
Positive & Negative Rights
what it is to have a right and what rights we ought to recognize?