Intellectual Property Rights

INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY RIGHTS:

·        Intellectual Property is a product of the human intellect that has commercial value

·        Many of the rights of the ownership common to real and personal property are also common to Intellectual Property

·        Intellectual Property can be bought, sold, and licensed

·        Similarly it can be protected against theft and infringement by others Patent, Design &  Trademark  together with Copyright   form           TOTAL   INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY:

Patent

1.  Derived from the Latin word „LITTERAE PATENTES‟ which means „Open Letters‟ or „Open Documents‟ to confer rights and privileges.

2. A contract between an Inventor and the Government

3. An exclusive privilege monopoly right granted by the Government to the Inventor

4. Invention may be of an Industrial product or process of manufacture

5. Invention should be new, non-obvious, useful and patentable as per Patents Act

6. The right to the inventor is for limited period of time and valid only within the territorial limits of a country of grant.

Examples: a drug compound, a tool, maybe software effects

Design

·        Meant for beautifying an industrial product to attract the consumer public

·        Shaping, Configuration or Ornamentation of a vendible Industrial product

·        Exclusive „Design Rights‟ to the originator for a limited term

·        Patents & design embrace the production stage of an industrial activity

Trade Mark

·        Trade Mark is a name or symbol adopted for identifying goods

·        Public can identify from the Trade Mark from whom the product is emanating

·        Trade Marks protection is given for an industrial product by the Government

·        Examples: Channel No.5‟s smell, Jacque Villeneuve‟s face!

COPY RIGHTS

·        The right to original literary and artistic works

·        Literary, written material

·        Dramatic, musical or artistic works

·        Films and audio-visual materials

·        Sound recordings

·        Computer Programmes/software

·        SOME databases

·        Example: Picasso‟s Guernica, Microsoft code, Lord of the Rings

Need For A Patent System

·        Encourages an inventor to disclose his invention

·        Encourages R & D activities as the industries can make use of the technology, & avoids redundant research

·        Provides reasonable assurance for commercialisation.

·        Provides an inducement to invest capital in the new lines of production and thus , help for technical development and up gradation.

·        One may get a very good return of income through Patent Right on the investment made in R & D.

Effect of Patent

·        A patentee gets the exclusive monopoly right against the public at large to use,sell or manufacture his patented device.

·        A patentee can enforce his monopoly right against any infringement in the court of law for suitable damages or profit of account.

·        The Government ensures full disclosure of the invention to the public for exchange of exclusive monopoly patent right to the inventor.