IPR-Intellectual Property Rights: Trade Marks
IPR-Intellectual Property Rights: Trade Marks
Introduction
Intellectual property (IP) is a legal field that refers to creations of the mind such as musical, literary,
and artistic works; inventions; and symbols, names, images, and designs used in commerce,
including copyrights, trademarks, patents, and related rights. Under intellectual property law, the
holder of one of these abstract “properties” has certain exclusive rights to the creative work,
commercial symbol, or invention by which it is covered.
Intellectual property rights are a bundle of exclusive rights over creations of the mind, both artistic
and commercial. The former is covered by copyright laws, which protect creative works such as
books, movies, music, paintings, photographs, and software and gives the copyright holder exclusive
right to control reproduction or adaptation of such works for a certain period of time.
The second category is collectively known as “industrial properties”, as they are typically created and
used for industrial or commercial purposes. A patent may be granted for a new, useful, and non-
obvious invention, and gives the patent holder a right to prevent others from practising the invention
without a license from the inventor for a certain period of time. A trademark is a distinctive sign which
is used to prevent confusion among products in the marketplace.
An industrial design right protects the form of appearance, style or design of an industrial object from
infringement. A trade secret is an item of non-public information concerning the commercial
practices or proprietary knowledge of a business. Public disclosure of trade secrets may sometimes
be illegal.
The term “intellectual property” denotes the specific legal rights described above, and not the
intellectual work itself.
The importance of intellectual property in India is well established at all levels- statutory,
administrative and judicial. India ratified the agreement establishing the World Trade Organization
(WTO). This Agreement, inter-alia, contains an Agreement on Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual
Property Rights (TRIPS) which came into force from 1st January 1995. It lays down minimum
standards for protection and enforcement of intellectual property rights in member countries which
are required to promote effective and adequate protection of intellectual property rights with a view
to reducing distortions and impediments to international trade. The obligations under the TRIPS
Agreement relate to provision of minimum standard of protection within the member countries legal
systems and practices.
The Agreement provides for norms and standards in respect of following areas of intellectual
property:
Copyrights and related rights
Trade Marks
Geographical Indications
Industrial Designs
Lay out Designs of Integrated Circuits
Protection of Undisclosed Information (Trade Secrets)
Patents
Plant varieties
Essential Elements of Intellectual Property Rights
IPR is a broad term for covering –
1) Patents for inventions
4) Trade secrets
In general these properties are termed as “Intellectual Property”. Intellectual Property is an asset
that can be bought or sold, licensed and exchanged. But of course unlike other properties,
intellectual property is intangible; rather it cannot be identified by its specific parameters. These
properties are protected on a national basis.
Basics of IP
Intellectual Property (IP) means the property, which is created with intellect such as
inventions, books, paintings, songs, symbols, names, images, or designs used in
business, etc.
It is a very important issue to plan to protect the intellectual property rights. The
major needs are to:
Prevent plagiarism.
Prevent others using it.
Prevent using it for financial gains.
Fulfill obligation to funding agency.
Support income generation strategy.
IMPORTANCE OF IPR
a) Give the inventors exclusive rights of dealing.
e) A registered intellectual property right is property, just like your capital assets.
However, it is an asset that can be leveraged through licensing and can therefore be
highly valuable. It can also greatly enhance the value of a business when it is sold.
Sectors that rely on IPR represent a significant part of developed and developing
economies, in terms of GDP, employment, tax revenues and strategic importance. IPR
also promotes foreign direct investment (FDI) and technology transfers in developed
and developing countries.
g)Promotes innovation
Effective IPR increases funding for research and development and other innovation,
including by helping firms realize more value from innovations that are protected by IPR
than those that are not. IPR underpins development of cultural expression and
diversity, and promotes broader dissemination of innovations through publication and
licensing.
h) “Open source” relies on IPR
Open source mechanisms are becoming popular in certain sectors such as software (cf.
GPL licences, etc.). While the common perception is that such mechanisms are
characterized by the absence of any IP protection, it is worth noting that a typical GPL
(General Public) licence actually relies on IP rights as it is typically a copyright license
which remains valid as long as certain conditions are complied with (e.g. freedoms
received by the licensee must be passed on to subsequent users, even where the
software is modified).
i) Providing guarantees regarding the quality and safety of products
Many counterfeit products place our children’s and citizens’ safety or health at risk, for
instance where vehicle spare parts or drugs are concerned. Enforcing IP rights in
respect of such products guarantees at least that the products’ origin is known and that
the products are genuine, whereas counterfeit products often do not comply with the
applicable safety standards. This is especially true for trade marks, but patent licensing
contracts, for instance, may also include quality insurance clauses.
Intellectual Property Rights in India
To protect the intellectual property rights in the Indian territory, India has defined the formation
of constitutional, administrative and jurisdictive outline whether they imply the copyright, patent,
trademark, industrial designs, or any other parts of the intellectual property rights.
Back in the year 1999, the government passed an important legislation based on international
practices to safeguard the intellectual property rights. Let us have a glimpse of the same −
The Patents (Amendment) Act, 1999, facilitates the establishment of the mail box
system for filing patents. It offers exclusive marketing rights for a time period of five
years.
The Trade Marks Bill, 1999, replaced the Trade and Merchandise Marks Act, 1958
The Copyright (Amendment) Act, 1999, was signed by the President of India.
The sui generis legislation was approved and named as the Geographical Indications
of Goods (Registration and Protection) Bill, 1999.
The Industrial Designs Bill, 1999, replaced the Designs Act, 1911.
The Patents (Second Amendment) Bill, 1999, for further amending the Patents Act of
1970 in compliance with the TRIPS.
The Concerned IP Act for Semiconductor Integrated Circuits Layout-Design Act, 2000
The Concerned IP Act for the Protection of Plant Varieties and Farmers’ Rights
(PPV&FR) Act, 2001
INTERNATIONAL AGREEMENTS:-
India is a member of the World Trade Organisation and committed to the Agreement on
Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property. India is also a member of World
Intellectual Property Organization, a body responsible for the promotion of the
protection of intellectual property rights throughout the world.
India is also a member of the following important WIPO-administered International
Treaties and Conventions relating to IPRs:
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