Module 3

Introduction To Intellectual Property

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 INTRODUCTI
ON
• Curiosity and creativity are the two traits that separate humans from animals.
• These two human characteristics have driven the creation of
countless inventions that have transformed our society.
• Over the course of just 3000 years, we have evolved from an uncivilized state
to
a cultured and enlightened society.
• The past 500 years, in particular, have been a golden age of innovation,
with breakthroughs in science, art, and technology.
• As we look to the future, it is exciting to think about the possibilities that lie
ahead.
• With our insatiable curiosity and boundless creativity, there is no limit to what
we can achieve.
• Intellectual Property (IP) represents the progress and potential of
human achievement.
• The laws governing Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) are crucial
for creators and protecting their work.
• These rights allow creators to benefit commercially from their inventions
and prevent others from infringing upon their rights.
• It is important to recognize and respect the value of Intellectual Property, as it
 Introduction To Intellectual Property
• Intellectual Property (IP) is a special category of property created by
human intellect (mind) in the fields of arts, literature, science, trade, etc
• Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) are the privileges accorded to
the creator/inventor (of IP) in conformance with the laws.
• These rights are given to the creator/inventor in exchange for revealing
the
process of creation/invention in the public domain.
• The inventor is conferred with the special rights to use, sell, distribute, offer for
sale, and restrict others from using the invention without his prior permission.
• These rights do not apply to the physical object (e.g. book or computer or mobile
phone) in which the creation may be embodied but attributed to the intellectual
creativity.

 IP comprises of two branches

i. Copyrights and Related Rights: Refer to the creative expressions in the fields of
literature and art (such as books, publications, architecture, music, wood/stone carvings,
pictures, portraits, sculptures, films, and computer-based software/databases.)
ii. Industrial Property Rights: Refers to Patents, Trademarks, Trade Services, Industrial
Designs and Geographical Indications.
 Role of IP in the Economic and Cultural
Development of the Society
• It is crucial for us to recognize the importance of intellectual property rights
(IPR) and support its implementation.
• By safeguarding the rights of creators and innovators, we not only promote
a culture of creativity but also foster economic growth and social progress.
• IPR acts as a catalyst for innovation, inspiring individuals to push boundaries and
• explore new possibilities.
• In order to strike a balance between the interests of creators/inventors &
the community, various laws, exceptions, and limitations have been enacted.
• These measures aim to address the potential drawbacks of IPR and ensure a fair
& equitable system for all stakeholders involved.
• Compliance with the Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property
Rights (TRIPS) Agreement.
 Role of IP in the Economic and Cultural
Development of the Society
Farmers “rights under the Protection of Plant Varieties and Farmers” Rights (PVP&FR)
Act, 2001 entitles them to many privileges, such as ‗Rights on seeds’ provides rights to the
farmers to save seeds, use seeds and share, exchange or sell seeds to other farmers and
‗Right to protection against accusations of infringement’ protects the farmers from
infringement and other legal accusation levied upon them due to his legal ignorance in using
other‘s plant varieties.

The use of copyrighted material for education and religious ceremonies is exempted from the
operation of the rights granted in the Copyright Act.

India is enriched with massive biodiversity and genetic resources and their use is
embodied in what is referred to as Traditional Knowledge (TK).

With initiatives like Make in India‘, Atmanirbhar Bharat‘ and supporting local
homegrown brands, and an easy as well as accessible approach to patents and trademark
registration, it is possible to reap the benefits of our resources.
 IP
Governance
• IP is an integral component of human society, each and every nation has
dedicated agencies for laying out the guidelines, implementation and
enforcement of IP-related matters.
• In India, many organizations/agencies deal with various aspects of IP.
• The governance of all categories of IP, except the Plant Variety and Farmers‘ Rights Act,
is carried out by the Department for Promotion of Industry & Internal Trade (DPIIT)
under the aegis of Ministry of Commerce and Industry, GoI.
• Other dedicated organizations/departments established by the government to promote
patent-ecosystem (patent awareness, patent filing and patent commercialization) in India.
Example:
 Technology Information Forecasting and Assessment Council (TIFAC),
 National Research Development Corporation (NRDC),
 Cell for IPR Promotion and Management (CIPAM), etc.
 IP
Governance
• For a hassle-free exchange of IP related activities amongst all the nations, it is

imperative to have minimum standards of rules and regulations pertaining to all

aspects of IP including rights, empowerment, exceptions, etc.

• To achieve this goal, the United Nations (UN) has established an organization

called the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO).

• This agency is at the forefront of imparting knowledge about IP and governs

international filing and registration of IP through various Conventions and

Treaties like Paris Conventions, Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT), Rome

Convention, Berne Convention, etc.

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 IP as a Global Indicator of
Innovation
• IP, especially patents, is considered one of the important cogs in assessing the innovation
index of a nation.
• The global ranking organizations always have IP or a subset of IP as one of the
parameters for understanding and grading the Science, Technology, and Innovation (STI)
ecosystem of a nation.
• Scimago (publically available online portal which ranks journals and countries based on
the data taken from Scopus) 2020 report ranked India at 4th position in the parameter of a
number of ‘Research Publications’, and 50th position in the parameter of ‘Intellectual
Property Rights’.

• The global ranking can be improved by sensitizing the teaching and

scientific communities about the importance of IP and creating infrastructure for the
same in the
institutes of higher learning. 12/5/2023 9
 History of IP in
• The history of the IndianIndia
patent system dates back to the pre-independence era of
British rule.
• The first patent related legislation in India was Act VI of 1856, adapted from the
British Patent Law of 1852.
• The objective of this legislation was to encourage the inventions of new and
useful manufactures. The rights conferred to the inventor were termed as
‘Exclusive Privileges’.
• In 1859, certain amendments were made to the Act, such as:
 History of IP in
India
• The new Act was rechristened as ―The Patterns and Designs Protection Act under
Act XIII of 1872.
• This Act was further amended in 1883 (XVI of 1883) to include the provision
of
protection for ‘Novelty’ in the invention.
• At the beginning of the 20th century, all the earlier Acts related to inventions and
designs were done away with the introduction of ‘The Indian Patents and Designs
Act, 1911’ (Act II of 1911).
• As per this Act, the governance of patents was placed under the management
of the Controller of Patents.
• In the next three decades, many amendments were introduced for reciprocal
arrangements with other countries for securing priority dates.
• These amendments dealt with
 History of IP in
India
• In 1947, many patent reviewed the Indian Patents and Designs Act, of 1911
by keeping the national interest (economic and political) in mind.
• A dedicated committee, chaired by a renowned Justice Bakshi Tek Chand (retired
Judge of Lahore High Court), was constituted in 1949 to review the advantages of
the patent system.
• The committee submitted a plethora of recommendations, including:
 History of IP in
India
• In 1947, many patent reviewed the Indian Patents and Designs Act, of 1911
by keeping the national interest (economic and political) in mind.
• A dedicated committee, chaired by a renowned Justice Bakshi Tek Chand (retired
Judge of Lahore High Court), was constituted in 1949 to review the advantages of
the patent system.
• The committee submitted a plethora of recommendations, including:
 History of IP in
India
With the rapidly changing scenario of IPR at a global level, a need was felt to further
amend the Patent Act, 1970.
The highlight of the Patents (Amendments) Act 2005 were:
 Product patent for inventions in all fields of technology.
 New forms of known substances excluded to prevent
evergreening of the patent.
 Rationalization of the opposition procedure.
 Introduction of pre-grant opposition by representation.
 Introduction of post-grant opposition.
 Compulsory license for export purposes.
 Compulsory license for manufacture.
Extension of grace period from 6 months to 12 months for filing a patent, if published in
government exhibition.

• India is a member of all prominent Conventions and Treaties related to the facilitation
of the inventors for international filing and protecting the rights over inventions
globally.
• The important international agreements to which India is a signatory party are the
TRIPS Agreement (1995), Paris Convention (1883), PCT (1970) Budapest Treaty
(1977), and many more.
 Major Amendments in IP Laws and Acts
in India
• To fill the gaps existing in the IP Laws and Acts and also to introduce new
guidelines/directions based on the current scenario (socially and politically), each
nation keeps on updating the concerned IP Laws and Acts.

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Major Amendments in IP Laws and Acts
in India

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Major Amendments in IP Laws and Acts
in India
 Patents
A patent is a grant from the government which confers on the
guarantee for a limited period of time the exclusive privilege of
making, selling and using the invention for which a patent has
been granted

Conditions for Obtaining a Patent Protection

There is a set criterion, as provided in Section 2(1)(j) of the Patents Act, 1970,
which must be fulfilled for a product or a process to qualify for the grant of a patent.
i. Novelty: Not part of ‘State of the Art
ii. Inventive step: Not obvious to the person (s) skilled in the art.
iii. Capable of industrial application: For the benefit of society
 To Patent or Not to Patent an
Invention
• Once an invention has been developed, the inventor has to decide whether to
exploit the invention for personal benefits as provided by the statutory laws
of the country or put it in the public domain.
• If the owner of an invention wishes to seek monetary gains, he can choose from
either of the two options, i.e. patenting or Trade Secret.
• If the inventor is absolutely sure of maintaining the secrecy of the invention for a
very long period (maybe 100 years or more) and the probability of
reverse engineering of the technology is nil or very low, then the Trade Secret
category is preferred.
• If the invention has a short life span or can be kept secret only for a small
period of time (a couple of years or so) or the probability of reverse engineering
is high once the invention is in the public domain, then the patent category is
preferred.
 Non-Patentable Matters
Patent Act, 1970, there are some exclusions (product and processes) that cannot be
patented, such as:
 Patent
Infringements
Patent
Infringements

Direct Infringement Indirect Infringement

when a product is substantially close to When some amount of deceit or accidental

any patented product or in a case where the infringement happens without any intention
marketing or commercial use of the invention is of infringement.
carried out without the permission of the owner The following reliefs are made available to
of the invention. the patentee:
Process of
Patenting
Process of
Patenting
 Some sources for the
reference

Source: https://copyright.gov.in/frmDownloadPage.aspx

Source: https://copyright.gov.in/frmWorkFlow.aspx (slightly modifie

Source: http://Copyright.gov.in/frmFeeDetailsShow.aspx

Source: Annual Reports, Office of CGPDTM, Mumbai (2011-20)

(https://dipp.gov.in/sites/default/files/annualReport-English2020-21.pdf)

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Any
Queries?

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