Intellectual Property Rights

Objective
To give a general introduction to the
concept of Intellectual Property Rights

Dr. Rashmi Bohra

Director
VMOU, Kota
 Introduction…..

•Intellectual Property is a property that arises

from the human intellect. It is a product of
human creation.
•Intellectual property is the creation of the human
intellectual process and is therefore the product
of the human intellect .
•Intellectual property (IP) refers to creations of
the mind, such as inventions; literary and
artistic works; designs; and symbols, names
and images used in commerce.
 Intellectual property………..
 Intellectual property is an intangible property or proprietary asset, which applies to any
product of the human intellect that has commercial value.
 Intellectual Property Rights (I P Rights) are one’s legal rights in respect of the ‘property’
created by one’s mind – such as an invention, or piece of music, or an artistic work, or a
name or slogan or symbol, or a design, which is used in commerce, in the form of books,
music, computer software, designs, technological know-how, trade symbols, etc.
 These rights are largely covered by the laws governing Patents, Trademarks, Copyright and
Designs. These various laws protect the holder of IP rights from third party encroachment of
these rights. It also allows them to exercise various exclusive rights over their intellectual
property.
 Intellectual property laws and enforcement vary widely from jurisdiction to jurisdiction.
There are inter-governmental efforts to harmonise them through international treaties such as
the 1994 World Trade Organization (WTO) Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of
Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPs), while other treaties may facilitate registration in more
than one jurisdiction at a time.
 With companies, institutions and individuals constantly forging ahead in newer fields and
geographical territories and with path breaking inventions becoming the norm, the field of
Intellectual Property Rights has assumed primordial importance, especially in emerging
economies like India
 Intellectual Property Examples

 Intellectual property examples are:

 Art and Designs
 Literary works
 Music
 Symbols, images, and names used for businesses
 Intellectual property is that which has been created by the
human mind, either intellectual or creative. Intellectual
property is considered an intangible asset. Owners of
intellectual property have exclusive rights that are
protected against unauthorized use for certain periods of
time that are determined by the type of intellectual
property in question.
 Intellectual Property Right

 It is an intangible form of Property.

 It is a personal Property.
 It is a basic form of property.
 It is based on information.
 It is possible to own physical objects.
 Most intellectual property rights don’t actually ensure
that the right holder may do something, but the right
holder may forbid others from doing something .
 Definition of Intellectual Property

“Intellectual Property shall include the rights relating to

 literary, artistic and scientific works,
 performances of performing artists, phonograms, and
broadcasts,
 inventions in all fields of human endeavour
 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.”
(WIPO Convention)
 Overview…….

 Law governing IP
 Meaning of Intellectual Property Rights
 Type of IP
 Patent
 Trademark
 Copy Right
 Design Right etc.
 Geographical Indications
 Protection of Undisclosed Information (Trade
Secret)
National Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) Policy

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley released India’s National

Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) Policy recently. The
Policy which is in compliance with WTO's (World
Trade Organisation) agreement on TRIPS (Trade
Related aspects of IPRs), aims to sustain
entrepreneurship and boost Prime Minister Narendra
Modi's pet scheme 'Make in India.' Here are the
highlights:
 The Policy aims to push IPRs as a marketable financial
asset, promote innovation and entrepreneurship, while
protecting public interest.
 The plan will be reviewed every five years in consultation
with stakeholders.
 In order to have strong and effective IPR laws, steps
would be taken — including review of existing IP laws —
to update and improve them or to remove anomalies and
inconsistencies.
 The policy is entirely compliant with the WTO’s
agreement on TRIPS.
 Special thrust on awareness generation and effective enforcement of
IPRs, besides encouragement of IP commercialization through
various incentives.
 India will engage constructively in the negotiation of international
treaties and agreements in consultation with stakeholders. The
government will examine accession to some multilateral treaties
which are in India's interest, and become a signatory to those treaties
which India has de facto implemented to enable it to participate in
their decision making process, the policy said.
 It suggests making the department of industrial policy and
promotion (DIPP) the nodal agency for all IPR issues. Copyrights
related issues will also come under DIPP’s ambit from that of the
Human Resource Development (HRD) Ministry.
 Trademark offices have been modernised, and the aim is to reduce
the time taken for examination and registration to just 1 month by
2017. The government has already hired around 100 new examiners
for trademarks. Examination time for trademarks has been reduced
from 13 months to 8 months, with the new target being to bring the
time down to one month by March 2017.
 Films, music, industrial drawings will be all covered by copyright.
 The Policy also seeks to facilitate domestic IPR filings, for the
entire value chain from IPR generation to commercialization. It
aims to promote research and development through tax benefits.
 Proposal to create an effective loan guarantee scheme to encourage
start-ups.
 It also says “India will continue to utilise the legislative space and flexibilities available
in international treaties and the TRIPS Agreement.” These flexibilities include the
sovereign right of countries to use provisions such as Section 3(d) and CLs for ensuring
the availability of essential and life-saving drugs at affordable prices.
 The policy left the country’s patent laws intact and specifically did not open up Section
3(d) of the Patents Act, which sets the standard for what is considered an invention in
India, for reinterpretation.
 On compulsory licensing (CL), India has issued only CL for a cancer drug. Mr. Jaitley
said, “We rarely exercise this power.” The statement assumes significance as developed
countries, including the US, have raised concerns over India issuing the CL. As per the
WTO norms, a CL can be invoked by a government allowing a company to produce a
patented product without the consent of the patent owner in public interest. Under the
Indian Patents Act, a CL can be issued for a drug if the medicine is deemed
unaffordable, among other conditions, and the government grants permission to
qualified generic drug makers to manufacture it.
 The IPR policy favoured the government considering financial support for a limited
period on sale and export of products based on IPRs generated from public-funded
research.
 1.Copyrights are creative works that have been fixed
in a tangible form.

 For example, these may include writings, songs,

photos, video, paintings, sculptures, or audio
recordings. “Fixed in a tangible form” means that it
isn’t just in your head or something you speak or
perform—it has been saved in some physical way
(which may include in an electronic form). When
multiple people create a work together, they may
hold copyrights over their part of the creation (such
as the lyricist and the composer of a song), or they
may jointly hold the copyrights, such as two authors
who collaborate on the writing of a novel.
 2. Patents are grants from the government that give you exclusive rights over
your invention for a specific amount of time, in exchange for full disclosure.

 The moment the patent expires (twenty years from filing

in the United States), anyone else can make generic
versions of your work. Patents typically cover inventions
like machines, electronics, methods of production,
software, methods of doing business, chemicals, and
pharmaceuticals. An idea isn’t patentable by itself. It must
be novel, not obvious, useful, and “reduced to practice”
(someone skilled in your industry must be able to read
your information and make the product).
 3. Trademarks are words, symbols, colors, sounds, or smells
that someone is using in conjunction with a product or service.

 Examples include the name Pepsi, the Just Do It tag

line, the Apple logo, or the shape of a Coca Cola
bottle. In some ways, trademarks are not property,
exactly, because trademark law is designed to protect
consumers from confusion and counterfeits—not to
reward businesses for their tag lines and logos.
Unlike copyrights and patents, trademark protection
can theoretically last forever, as long as the business
is still using the trademark in conjunction with their
product or service. Trademark rights are limited to
the particular use, such as for marketing consulting
or in the sale of folding chairs.
4. Trade secrets are secret information used by a business that derives its value
from being secret, and where the business is invested in protecting that secrecy.

 Two commonly cited examples include the recipes

for Coca Cola and for the KFC “original recipe”.
Other types of common trade secrets include
manufacturing processes, client lists, ingredients,
systems, sales methods, launch strategies, and
business plans. While it is difficult to protect the
secrecy of a trade secret, the benefit is that the
protection can theoretically last forever
 5. Right of publicity is defined as your right to control how your name,
likeness, and persona are used by others.

 An example is that I have the right to prevent my

name and photo from being used to promote
someone else’s service, unless they obtain my
permission. This right is not recognized everywhere,
and in some places is pieced together from other
laws, such as in right to privacy laws, trademark law,
and truth-in-advertising regulations.
 Trade Secrets

 Some inventions, data, information cannot be protected by

any of the available means of IPRs. Such information is
held confidential as a trade secret.
 Trade secret can be an invention, idea, survey
method,manufacturing process, experiment results,
chemical formula, recipe, financial strategy, client
database etc.
 Nature of Intellectual Property

 Creation of human mind (Intellect)

 Intangible property
 Exclusive rights given by statutes
 Attended with limitations and exceptions
 Time-bound
 Territorial
 Intellectual Property Protection

 Entrepreneurs and business owners need to understand the basics

of intellectual property (IP) law to best protect hard-earned creations
and ideas from unfair competition. Intellectual property includes
distinctive items that someone has created and ones that give the
owner an economic benefit.
 An owner may seek professional experience from an intellectual
property attorney to help the company plan for success and avoid
theft of ideas, designs, and other concepts. Owners should also
investigate international patents as well as those registered in the
United States.
 Since filing and refiling IP applications can get expensive, and
waste time if done incorrectly, the owner must determine what to
protect when it comes to IP. The owner must also decide which
ideas fall under which specific protection option and file as quickly
as possible to reduce chances of losing out on protection
 Protection of IP
Value adding
Confidentiality or Nondisclosure
Ideas Agreements (Trade Secrets)

Collaborative Research
Research
Agreement

Technologies Patents

Products Technology Licen

Agreement
 Property Types

 Traditional Property
e.g. Land, building, natural resources etc.
 Intellectual Property – creations of the mind
e.g. Inventions, literary and artistic works, symbols and
design used in commerce
 IP Laws of India

Act Ministry/Department

The Copyright Act, 1957 Higher Education

The Patents Act, 1970 Industrial Policy & Promotion

The Designs Act, 2000 Industrial Policy & Promotion

The Trade Marks Act, 1999 Industrial Policy & Promotion

The Geographical Indications of Goods Industrial Policy & Promotion

(Registration and Protection) Act, 1999

The Semiconductor Integrated Circuits Information Technology

Layout-Design Act, 2000

The Protection of Plant Varieties and Agriculture and Cooperation

Farmers’ Rights Act, 2001
 Ethical Concerns

 What would be a concern of yours if you “owned” an

idea?
 Someone copying it illegally
 Selling for profit
 What are other concerns?
 Ethical Concerns

 Another person is benefitting from your creativity

and effort without paying
 Why would anyone want to create things if they
weren’t going to benefit financially and someone else
was?
 Are there any reasons why you would argue for
personal copying or posting content without
authorization?
 IPRs and Competitiveness

The commercial importance of IPRs has grown

considerably, especially since the 1970s
 Pressure on business and national economies to be
competitive, inter alia, through innovation and creativity 
new products, new services, differentiation between
products
 Technical knowledge, artistic creativity, reputation and
distinctiveness add market value to goods and services
IPRs help to maximize the opportunities for private appropriation
while minimizing the risks of “free-riding”
 Some observations

 Most SMEs do not have a deliberate strategy for the

creation, protection, commercialisation, management and
enforcement of IP rights.
 The general feeling (possibly justified), is that IP
protection and enforcement is expensive.
 IP is usually treated as a non-core aspect of the business.
 The policy environment in which SMEs operate does not
promote Intellectual Property as a tool for sustainable
competitive advantage
 What is an Industrial Design?

 ‘Design’ means only the features of shape, configuration,

pattern, ornament or composition of lines or colours
applied to any article whether in two dimensional or three
dimensional or in both forms, by any industrial process or
means, whether manual,mechanical or chemical, separate
or combined, which in the finished article appeal to and
are judged solely by the eye.
 What is a Geographical Indication?

 Geographical Indication is an indication which

identifies goods as agricultural goods, natural goods
or manufactured goods as originating, or manufactured
in the territory of country, or a region or locality in that
territory, where a given quality, reputation or other
characteristic of such goods is essentially attributable
to its geographical origin.
 Conclusion

 IP assets are very important business assets which

need to be harnessed, deployed and managed
effectively to attain and sustain competitive
advantage.
 SMEs in developing countries need to embrace and
leverage on creativity and innovation in order to gain
and grow their market share.
 The development of skills and competence to
manage intellectual property assets and to leverage
on their influence has become mandatory for
sustainable competitiveness.