3. "Intellectual Property Rights" refers to
the legal rights granted with the aim to
protect the creations of the intellect.
These rights include Industrial
Property Rights (e.g. patents,
industrial designs and trademarks)
and Copyright (right of the author or
creator) and Related Rights (rights of
the performers, producers and
Intellectual property (IP) is a
category of property that includes
intangible creations of the human
intellect . Like tangible property , their
creation has a value and as with all
property it needs to be protected.
4. IPR are the exclusive right granted by the
State to the creator or owner of Intellectual
property to exclude others from exploiting
the same commercially for a given period of
time .
It allows the creator or owner to have benefits
from their work when these are exploited
commercially .
IPR are granted to an inventor or creator in
lieu of the discloser of his/her knowledge .
5. The Intellectual Property Rights were
essentially recognised and accepted all
over the world due to some very important
reasons :
To provide an incentive to individuals for
new creations.
To accord due recognition to the creators
and inventors.
To ensure material reward for intellectual
property .
To make available genuine and original
6.
7. Copyright is a form of intellectual property protection granted
under Indian law to the creators of original works of
authorship such as literary works (including computer
programs, tables and compilations including computer
databases which may be expressed in words, codes,
schemes or in any other form, including a machine readable
medium), dramatic, musical and artistic works,
cinematographic films and sound recordings.
Copyright means the exclusive right to do or authorize
others to do certain acts in relation to:
(1) literary, dramatic, musical and artistic works;
(2) Cinematograph film; and
(3) sound recordings.
Copyright law protects expressions of ideas rather than the
ideas themselves .
These rights include the right to reproduce the work, to
prepare derivative works, to distribute copies, and to perform
and display the work publicly.
8. Under Section 13 of the Copyright Act 1957, copyright
protection is conferred on literary works, dramatic works,
musical works, artistic works, cinematograph films and
sound recording.
For example, books, computer programs are protected
under the Act as literary works.
Further, Copyright refers to a bundle of exclusive rights
vested in the owner of copyright by virtue of Section 14 of
the Act. These rights can be exercised only by the owner of
copyright or by any other person who is duly licensed in this
regard by the owner of copyright. These rights include the
right of adaptation, right of reproduction, right of publication,
right to make translations, right to storage, communication to
public etc. Copyright does not extend to any right beyond
the scope of Section 14.
Copyright protection is conferred on all Original literary,
artistic, musical or dramatic, cinematograph and sound
recording works. Original means, that the work has not been
copied from any other source. Copyright protection
commences the moment a work is created, and its
registration is optional.
The copyright work is valid through the lifetime of the author
9. A patent is a form of industrial or intellectual property.
A patent is a right granted to a person who has
invented a new and useful article or an improvement
of an existing article or a new process of making an
article. Basically, it consists of an exclusive right to
manufacture the new article invented or manufacture
an article according to the invented process for a
limited period. After the expiry of the period for which
exclusive right is granted to the inventor, the invention
can be put to use by any person other than the one to
whom a patent had been granted. The person to
whom a patent is granted is called patentee.
A patent is to encourage and develop new technology
and industry. An inventor has exclusive right to keep it
secretly. He may disclose the new invention only if he
is rewarded.
Patent is valid for period of 20 years after which it
10. The patent owner holds the exclusive right for 20 years from
the date of registration. Unlike copyright, registration is a must
and without it, no rights regarding the intellectual property can
be claimed.
Patent law system is based on the theory that “the opportunity of
acquiring exclusive rights in an invention stimulates technical
progress in four ways:
i. That it encourages research and invention;
ii. That it induces an inventor to disclose his discoveries instead of
keeping it as trade secrets;
iii. That it offers a reward for the expenses for developing inventions to
the stage at which they are commercially practicable.
The protectable subject-matter of a patent is an invention. Section
2(1)(j) of Patents Act, 1970 provides- "invention" means a new product
or process involving an
-inventive step and
-capable of industrial application.
Capable of Industrial Application:
Industrial applicability is defined under Section 2(ac) of the Patents Act
as "the invention is capable of being made or used in an industry". ...
It must be capable of being applied in any industry, which means that
11. A trade mark is a visual symbol which may be a word
to indicate the source of the goods, a signature, name,
device, label, numerals, or combination of colours
used, or services, or other articles of commerce to
distinguish it from other similar goods or services
originating from another.
It is a distinctive sign which identifies certain goods or
services as those produced or provided by a specific
person or enterprise.The system helps consumers
identify and purchase a product or service because its
nature and quality, indicated by its unique trade mark,
meets their needs.
Functions of Trademark: Trademark performs four
functions –
• It identifies the goods / or services and its origin;
• It guarantees its unchanged quality;
12. “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 .
The essential purpose of design law is to promote and
protect the design element of industrial production. It is also
intended to promote innovative activity in the field of
industries. The Designs Act, 2000 and the Designs Rules,
2001 presently govern the design law in India. The object
of the Designs Act to protect new or original designs so
created to be applied or applicable to particular article to be
manufactured by Industrial Process or means. Sometimes
purchase of articles for use is influenced not only by their
practical efficiency but also by their appearance. Therefore,
it becomes much more important to extend protection to
such designs.
13. It may be confidential business information that
provide an enterprise a competitive edge . Usually
these are manufacturing or industrial secrets.
These include sale methods , distribution method ,
advertising strategies etc .
Trade secrets are protected without registration.
14. Geographical Indication are defined as indications
which identify goods as originating from a
particular region or locality where a given quality ,
reputation or other characteristic of the good is
essentially attributable to its geographical origin.
Example – Basmati rice , Nagpur orange,
Banarsee saree etc.