FUNDAMENTALS OF PATENTS AND COPYRIGHT

3. A patent is a set of exclusive rights granted by a sovereign
state to an inventor or assignee for a limited period of time in
exchange for detailed public disclosure of an invention.
An invention is a solution to a specific technological problem
and is a product or a process.
It empowers the owner of an invention to prevent others from
manufacturing, using, importing or selling the patented
invention.

4. WHAT CAN BE PATENTED
• In order to be patentable , an invention must pass
four tests;
1. The invention must fall into one of the five “statutory
classes’: Processes, Machines , Manufactures
Compositions of matter, and New uses of any of the
above
2. The invention must be “useful”
3. The invention must be “novel”
4. The invention must be “nonobvious’

5. • Both product and process patent provided
• Term of patent – 20 years
• Examination on request
• Both pre-grant and post-grant opposition
• Fast track mechanism for disposal of appeals
• Provision for protection of bio-diversity and traditional
knowledge
• Publication of applications after 18 months with facility
for early publication
• Substantially reduced time-lines

6. • Elaborate definition of invention
• No product patents for substances intended for use as food,
drugs and medicines including the product of chemical processes
• Codification of certain inventions as non-patentable
• Mandatory furnishing of information regarding foreign
application

7. Patent System Should…
 Benefit the public interest;
Enhance the freedom to operate;
 Reduce the costs of negotiating licenses with many
partied for many patents.

8. Evolution
• Italy
• Rights were set by
rulers to encourage
the creation of more
luxuries.
500 B.C.
• England
• Flemish-born John
was empowered a
20-year monopoly
power by Henry VI.
1449 • Venice
• The first world’s
patent law was
enacted there.
1474

9. Evolution
1623
• The British
Parliament
passed the
Statute of
Monopolies.
1790
• The United
States
enacted
the first
Patent Law.
1791
• France
promulgated
its Patent
Law.
19th
• A boom
century for
patent system
development.
Holland, Sweden, Spain, Germany, Mexico, India,
Brazil and Japan respectively established their
own patent systems by enacting patent law in
1809, 1819, 1826, 1877, 1840,1859, 1859, 1885.

10. i) Utility patents
It can be granted to anyone who invents or discovers any
new and useful process, machine, manufacture or composition of
matter, or any new and useful improvement thereof.
Utility period is of 20 years.

11. ii) Design patents
It can be granted to any one who invents a new, original
ornamental design for an article of manufacture.
A design patent protects the ornamental design of the article.
A design patent has duration of 14 years from the date of filing.
iii) Plant patents
Plant patent can be granted to any one who invents or discovers
and reproduces a new variety of plant.

12. A patent gives you the ability to take legal action to try to stop
others from copying, manufacturing, selling, and importing your
invention without your permission.
The existence of your patent may be enough on its own to stop
others from trying to exploit your invention.
If it does not, the patent gives you the right to take a legal action
under civil law to try to stop them exploiting your invention.

13. The patent also allows
 sell the invention and all the intellectual property (IP) rights
 license the invention to someone else but retain all the IP rights
 discuss the invention with others in order to set up a business
based around the invention.
The public also benefit from your patent because we publish it
after 18 months. Others can then gain advance knowledge of
technological developments which they will eventually be able to
use freely once the patent ceases.

15.  Copyright is a form of protection given to
authors/creators of original works.
 This property right can be sold or transferred to others.

16. • Copyright is a form of intellectual property that gives the author
of an original work exclusive right for a certain time period in
relation to that work.
• Copyright applies to any expressible form of an idea or
information that is substantive and discrete and fixed in a
medium.
• Copyright is described under the umbrella of intellectual
property along with patents and trademarks.

17. Copyright is a set of exclusive rights granted to the author or
creator of an original work, including the right to copy,
distribute and adapt the work.

18. Right to be credited for the work.
To determine who may adapt the work.
Who may financially benefit from it.

19. Literary Works
Musical Works
Dramatic Works
Choreographic Work
Pictorial, Graphic, and
Sculptural Works
Motion Pictures and AV
Sound Recordings
Architectural Works
Computer work
Work on the Web
Business work

20.  Copyright covers both published and
unpublished works.
 Copyright protection is automatic at the moment
the work is created and fixed in a tangible form
that it is perceptible.

21. Not everything is protected by copyright law.
 Copyright does not protect facts, ideas, systems, or
methods of operation.

22.  Copyright protects original works of authorship, while a patent
protects inventions or discoveries.
 They want to provide “universal access” to research, education and
culture.
 Copyright was created long before the emergence of the Internet, and
can make it hard to legally perform actions we take for granted on the
network: copy, paste, edit source, and post to the Web.

23.  The default setting of copyright law requires all of these actions
to have explicit permission, granted in advance, whether you’re
an artist, teacher, scientist, librarian, policymaker, or just a
regular user.
 In order for Creative Commons to achieve the vision of
universal access. They provide a free, public, and standardized
infrastructure that creates a balance between the reality of the
Internet and the reality of copyright laws.

24.  The general rule is that copyright lasts for 60 years.
 In the case of original literary, dramatic, musical and
artistic works the 60-year period is counted from the date
of publication.

25.  First Act in 1914, followed by the Copyright Act 1957.
1957 Act: adopted many English provisions, introduced new
ideas and concepts.

26. Valid from 21 January 1958
Created Copyright Office and Copyright Board
Introduced civil and criminal remedies against infringement
 Definition of categories in which copyright actually subsists
 International copyright