Ipr & Patents - Unit - I Notes

IPR & PATENTS – UNIT I | DIVYA GUDAPATI
UNIT – I
Introduction To Intellectual Property Rights
Syllabus: Concept of Property – Introduction to IPR – International Instruments and IPR –
WIPO – TRIPS – WTO -Laws Relating to IPR – IPR Tool Kit – Protection and Regulation –
Copyrights and Neighbouring Rights – Industrial Property – Patents – Agencies for IPR
Registration – Traditional Knowledge –Emerging Areas of IPR – Layout Designs and
Integrated Circuits – Use and Misuse of Intellectual Property Rights.
Introduction to IPR:
In ancient days creative persons like artists, musicians and writers, composers etc
composed or wrote their works for fame and recognition than to earn a living. They never
thought of to sell their products of their mind. They were not aware of that their work, which
is the result of their intellectual efforts, can be protected to use by others. Thus, the question of
property right never arose. But after the invention of some new technologies like printing press,
etc which enabled the reproduction of original work, creators were able to think over the
concept of their property right. Thus, with the passage of time, creator became aware that
protection of their property can give some benefit to them if it is protected. This awareness on
the part of the creators have given rise to what is known as "Intellectual Property Right".
MEANING:
Literally speaking, "intellect” means the product of human brain Property is that
concept which is claimed by a person and he is the sole owner of that property Thus, IP is a
product/Property of one's intellect it is similar to the property consisting of movable or
immovable things like a house or a car, where in the proprietor or owner may use his property
as he wishes and nobody else can lawfully use his/her property without their permission.
Right refers to the holding over that property. So, IPR refers to the creation of human
intellect and the right for protections or control over this property / product. It is a well settled
principle of law that no one can gain benefit of a thing which has been produced by the labour,
skill and efforts of others. So, everyone has an inherited right to protect his/her intellectual
property. It is the legal expression of privileges granted by the state for use of creation IP is
inherently intangible, it relates to items of knowledge and to the information which can
eventually be incorporated or embodied in limitless number of tangible things or goods all over
the world.
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We can say that any property movable or immovable has to be protected in order to
prevent it from piracy Similarly the rights in the property, resulting from the intellectual efforts
of an individual need also to be protected to prevent it from infringement The result of such
effort is to be known as IPR The right m the, IP is protected by the appropriate legislation of
the country.
“Intellectual Property” is a field of law that aims at protecting the knowledge created
through human effort in order to stimulate and promote further creativity.
Concept of Property:
Property has a very broad meaning in its real sense. It is not only just restricted to
financial wealth and other tangible (physical) things of value, but it even includes intangibles
(non-physical) such as intellectual property rights, stocks & so. Both these tangibles and
intangibles can be anything which serves as a source of income or wealth.
If an individual owns a property, then the most common legal property rights are the
right of possession, control, the right of exclusion, derive income, and disposition. So, property
usually refers to anything a person or a business has a legal title over. On having a legal title,
an owner can enforce rights over it.
Types of Property Under Law:
• Movable property and Immovable property.

• Tangible property and Intangible property.
• Private property and Public property.
• Personal property and Real property.
• Corporeal property Incorporeal property.
1. Movable Property
Movable property can be moved from one place to another without causing any damage. These
are the legislations which define movable property.
➢ Section 2(9) of the Registration Act, 1908- “Movable property” includes standing
timber, growing crops and grass, fruit upon and juice in trees, and property of every
other description, except immovable property."
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➢ Section 22 of India Penal Code,1860- “Movable property” are intended to include

corporeal property of every description, except land and things attached to the earth or
permanently fastened to anything which is attached to the earth.”
➢ Section 3(36) of the General Clause Act,1897- “Movable property” shall mean the
property of every description, except immovable property.”
2. Immovable Property:
Immovable property is one that cannot be moved from one place to another place. This is the
property which is attached to the earth or ground.
➢ Section 2(6) of the Registration act, 1908 states that an “Immovable property means
and includes land, buildings, hereditary allowances, rights to ways, lights, ferries,
fisheries, or any other benefit to arise out of the land, and things attached to the earth
or permanently fastened to anything which is attached to the earth, but not standing
timber, growing crops nor grass.”
➢ This property of a value of more than Rs. 100/- is needed to be registered for which a
registration fee and stamp duty are to be paid.
➢ This property can be considered an ancestral joint property.
3. Tangible Property
Tangible property has a physical existence and can be touched. This type of property can be
moved from one place to other, without causing any damage, from this, we can say that this
property is movable in nature.
Examples: cars or other vehicles, books, timber, electronic devices, furniture, etc.
4. Intangible Property
Intangible property does not have any physical existence. These are properties with current or
potential value, but no intrinsic value of their own & cannot be touched or felt but holds value.
Examples include intellectual property like copyright, patent or GI, stock and bond certificates.
Franchises, securities, software& many more.
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5. Public Property
Public property, as we can easily predict, means the property owned by the State for the Indian
citizens. It belongs to the public with no claim from an individual. The government or any
assigned community generally manages these properties for public utility.
A few common examples can be Government hospitals, parks, public toilets, etc.
6. Private Property
As the name suggests, private property permits a non-government body to own the property. It
is property owned by a juristic person for their personal use or benefit which can be of any
nature tangible or intangible, movable or immovable.
Examples: apartments, securities, trademarks, private wells, etc.
7. Personal Property
The personal property acts like an umbrella which includes all types of property. Individuals
own this kind of property, be it either tangible or intangible.
8. Real Property
Real property, also called real estate property, includes land and any development made on
such land. This kind of property is covered in immovable property. But why is this covered in
immovable property? See, for example, roads, mines, buildings, factory, crops, etc, which is
created by development, are all fixed with the land. This is immovable property, + any
development on it, a further deliberation of immovable property is a real property.
Examples: Building (attached to the earth) using materials like cement, steel, mines, crops, etc.
9. Corporeal Property
Don’t get confused here. Corporeal property is any tangible property that can be touched and
felt, If this is similar to tangible property, then why a separate type of corporeal property came
into existence? This is a tangible property but it is mainly the right of ownership in material
things of such property. All kinds of tangible property can be considered corporeal property. it
can be divided into two categories: movable and immovable property and personal and real
property as it is ownership rights.
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10. Incorporeal Property

Incorporeal property means all kinds of intangible property. Again, then why such a category
is brought up? This type of property is also called intellectual property. It is an incorporeal
right, meaning having legal rights over things that cannot be touched or felt.
Types of Intellectual Property:

There are many other forms of intangible property known as intellectual property that
have been recognized under the law and granted protection against infringement.
Under intellectual property law, owners are granted certain exclusive rights to a variety
of intangible assets, such as musical, literary, and artistic works; discoveries and inventions;
and words, phrases, symbols, and designs.
The eight main categories of intellectual property.
 Patents
 Copyrights
 Trademarks
 Designs
 Semiconductor integrated circuit layouts
 Geographical Indications
 Trade Secrets
 Plant Varieties & Farmer Rights
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1. The Patents Act, 1970 (“Patents Act”):
A ‘Patent’ is an intellectual property right which protects any new invention. It is an

exclusive right that protects the rights of the inventor and prevents other people to
unauthorizedly use and misappropriate the registered patent.
. It is important to note that patent for a new invention is registered only if the invention
is ‘novel’ and ‘original’ i.e. it has not been introduced in the public domain in India or anywhere
in the world; is ‘capable of industrial application’ which refers to the ability of the invention to
be used in an industry; and is an invention that requires to employ a process of ‘inventive steps’,
which is defined as ‘a feature of an invention that involves technical advance as compared to
the existing knowledge or having economic significance or both and that makes the invention
not obvious to a person skilled in the art’, under the Patents Act.
A patent is granted for a term of 20 (twenty) years from the date of filling of the
application. In addition, the Regulation on Supplementary Protection Certificates (SPCs),
grants “patent extensions” of up to 5 years to pharmaceutical and plant products, providing as
much as 25 years of patent life for originator medicines. Further, India is a signatory to the
Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) which permits an applicant to file an application for
registration of an international patent. Upon filing such application, an inventor can obtain
patent protection in multiple countries (members of PCT), simultaneously.
It is through registration of a patent that the inventor can bear the fruits of his creative
mind and receive benefits, which may or may not be limited to monetary gains alone. Once the
patent is registered in the name of the patent holder, no other person can commercially
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manufacture, use, distribute, import or sell the subject of that patent without the authority of
patent holder. In the event of unauthorized usage or infringement, the patent holder can enforce
his rights in a court against the infringer. On one hand, the registration helps in keeping a check
on the exclusive rights, on the other hand, it also empowers the patent holder to grant a license
of his invention to any third party as per the mutually agreed terms. The registrant may also
benefit from assignment or sale of his invention to a third person, who can become the owner
of that patent after the legal formalities are complied with.
On the expiry of the period of registration of a patent, its exclusivity is terminated and
the invention enters into the public domain. Thereafter, the invention can be commercially
exploited by any person without requiring permission or authority from the patent holder.
Patents are usually classified into three broad categories as per the protection accorded
to patents: Utility, Design, and Plant Patents.
Different Types of Patents:

Utility Patent
Utility patents refer to those patents in which the functional aspect of the patent is protected,
i.e. how the invention works. It is the most common of all the categories. Under utility patents,
the subject matter may include new and useful machine, process, compound, or any
improvement of any existing machine, process or compound. These patents can be further
divided into electronic, chemical, software, mechanical or any other field depending on the
invention.
Design Patent
Design patents refer to the patent on appearance, shape or configuration of the object. It is
important that this new design must be an integral part of that object.
Plant Patent
Plant patents, as the name indicates, refer to patent to protect a new and different variety of a
plant. In this case, the plant should be able to reproduce using grafting of cutting of that plant,
which is also termed as asexual reproduction.
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2. The Trade Marks Act, 1999 (“Trade marks Act”):

A trademark is a distinctive sign which helps the consumers in identifying the source
of particular goods or services. It can be in the form of text, word, numeral, phrase, symbol,
design, signature, smell, shape, colour, sound, packaging, texture or combination of any of
these elements. They can be registered nationally or internationally, enabling the use of the
symbol ®. An unregistered trade mark is followed by the letters ™.
➢ A trademark (™) is used in the marketing of a product. It is a superscript character,

which specifically indicates an unregistered trademark. The trademark symbol can
be used even if something is under the trademark registration process or has been
denied registration
➢ A Registered Trademark (®) means that a trademark is registered with an

applicable trademark office. The Registered Trademark Symbol (®) signifies that the
logo or brand name is fully protected and registered under trademark laws
➢ A Service Mark (SM) typically identifies a service such as STARBUCKS for retail
outlet services.
In addition, trademarks can also consist of
• Slogans
• Designs
• Giggle sound of Pillsbury Doughboy
A trademark application need not be filed in respect of marks which are in use (but can
also be filed in respect of marks which are intended to be used in the future). The primary
requirements for registration of a trademark includes that it should consist of a mark capable
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of distinguishing the goods/services from those of others and that it is capable of graphical
representation.
The Trade Marks Act provides for absolute grounds of refusal of registration such as –
(a) the mark not having a distinctive character;
(b) a mark being deceptive and confusing to the public;
(c) if a mark is hurtful to religious sentiments;
(d) the mark is offensive, scandalous, or obscure, etc.
In addition to the absolute grounds of refusal, the statute also provides for relative grounds of
refusal of registration (viz. similarity with pre-existing marks).
Further, India is a signatory to the Madrid Protocol under which a trademark can be
applied for and registered internationally. However, the prerequisite for filing and registering
an international application (under the Madrid Protocol) in a foreign jurisdiction is that the
mark needs to be first filed in India.
The validity of a trademark registration is for an initial period of 10 (ten) years which
can renewed perpetually for successive period of 10 years (subject to timely filing of renewal
applications).
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3. The Copyrights Act, 1957 (“Copyright Act”):

Copyright protects the expression of an idea rather than the idea itself. Under section
13 of the Copyright Act, a protection under copyright can be obtained for ‘original literary,
dramatic, musical and artistic works; cinematograph films; and sound recording’. Interestingly,
a copyright protection can also be obtained for computer programmes. A copyright is an
‘exclusive right’ that is granted to a person to do or authorize to carry out certain activities with
regards the copyrighted work. For eg: in case of a literary, dramatic or musical work, the owner
(or any person authorized by the owner) is permitted to perform the work; make translation(s)
of such work; make adaptations of the work, etc.
The Copyright Act, under section 17, clearly states that the author of the original work
(for which protection under copyright has been obtained) shall be the first owner of the work.
Further, the owner has the right to license the copyright of their work to third-parties through
a written agreement.
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In case of published literary works, dramatical works and artistic works, copyright
protection shall be provided to such works for a term of 60 (sixty) years in addition to the life
of the author.
Incidental to the protection awarded under a copyright, the Copyright Act, also confers
certain special rights on the author, under section 57. An author/ owner of the copyright work,
even after assigning the work to another person (wholly or partially), has the right to ‘claim
authorship of the work’ and the right to ‘claim damages’ with respect to any ‘distortion,
mutilation or modification’ of the author’s original work, in the event such distortion or any
other act is damaging to the author’s reputation.
4. The Design Act, 2000:

A ‘design’ under the Designs Act [section 2(d)] means and includes ‘only the features
of shape, configuration, pattern, ornaments 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 an are judged solely by the eye’.
An application for registration of an industrial design is to be made to the Controller-

General of Patents, Designs and Trade Marks. However, a design shall only be considered for
registration if – (a) it is novel and an original innovation i.e., it has not been produced before
or reproduced by anyone; (b) it has not been disclosed to the public anywhere in India or outside
the jurisdiction of India; and (c) it can be easily distinguished from other known designs.
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Furthermore, once a design is registered, the registered proprietor is afforded protection

for an initial period of 10 (ten) years, which is extendable (upon filing an application for
extension) for a further period of 5 (five) years.
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5. Trade Secrets:
Trade secrets are a company’s intellectual property that isn’t public, has economic
value, and carries information. They may be a formula, recipe, or process used to gain a
competitive advantage.
To qualify as a trade secret, companies must work to protect proprietary information
actively. Once the information is public knowledge, then it’s no longer protected under trade
secrets laws. According to 18 USC § 1839(3), assets may be tangible or intangible, and a trade
secret can involve information that’s:
• Business
• Financial
• Technical
• Economic
• Scientific
• Engineering
Two well-known examples include the recipe for Coca-Cola and Google’s search
algorithm. Although a patent is public, trade secrets remain unavailable to anyone but the
owner.
6. The Geographical Indications of Goods (Registration and Protection) Act, 1999

(“GI Act”):
Many goods in India are widely popular owing to their place of origin. For instance,
‘Darjeeling tea’ is unique and popular owing to many factors including but not limited to its
origin, the skill set of the tea farmers of Darjeeling and the weather prevailing in that area.
Other such examples of products which have a bearing of the place of origin (or factors specific
to the place of origin includes Banarsi Saree; Basmati Rice, etc).
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A ‘Geographical Indication’ is defined as ‘an indication which identifies such goods as

agricultural goods, natural goods or manufactured goods as originating, or manufactured in the
territory of country, or a region or locality in that territory, where a given quality, reputation or
other characteristic of such goods is essentially attributable to its geographical origin and in
case where such goods are manufactured goods one of the activities of either the production or
of processing or preparation of the goods concerned takes place in such territory, region or
locality as the case may be’. The GI Act covers only goods such as agricultural goods, food
stuff, handicraft goods, manufactured goods, and natural goods.
An application for registering a good under the GI Act requires a statement explaining
how the geographical indication affects to the origin of the good in terms of the quality,
characteristics, and reputation of the good; the class of goods; particulars with regards the
appearance of the geographical indication and the map of the territory/area/country where the
good has originated.
A registered geographical indication is awarded protection for a term of ten (10) years
with the option of renewing and extending such protection for further tenures of ten (10) years
from the date of expiration of the original registration.
7. The Semiconductor Integrated Circuits Layout- Design Act, 2000

(“SICLD Act”):
A ‘semiconductor integrated circuit’ is defined as ‘a product having transistors and

other circuitry elements which are inseparably formed on a semiconductor material or an
insulating material or inside the semiconductor material and designed to perform an electronic
circuitry function’.
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Semiconductor Integrated Circuit Layout Design (SICLD) Act, 2000, has come into
operation in India w.e.f. 4th September 2000. As per the provisions of this Act, Registrar
Semiconductor Integrated Circuits Layout-Design Registry under the Ministry of Electronics
and Information Technology (MeitY) has been appointed with its head office at Electronics
Niketan, 6 CGO Complex, Lodi Road New Delhi-110003.The Registry maintains the Register
of Layout-Designs and records in it the registered layout-designs with the names, addresses,
and descriptions of the proprietor and such other matters related to the registered layout-
designs.
Under the SICLD Act, all layout-designs capable of being registered are required to be
original; commercially unexploited anywhere in India and in any convention countries;
inherently distinctive and inherently distinguishable from other registered layout- designs. An
application for registration of design layouts has to be in writing and is required to be filed
before the Registrar in the Semiconductor Integrated Circuits Layout-Design Registry present
in the territorial limits of the principal place of business of the applicant.
As per SICLD Act, 2000, the registration of a layout-design is done only for ten years
w.e.f. from the date of filing an application for registration or from the date of first commercial
exploitation anywhere in India or any country, whichever is earlier.
The specific criteria for the protection under the Semiconductor Integrated Circuits
Layout Design (SICLD) Act, 2000 are:
• The layout design should be original.
• There must distinctiveness in the Design.
• The design must be novel and capable of distinguishing from any other layout Design
• The Design must not be exploited commercially anywhere in
India or a Convention Country.
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8. Protection of Plant Variety and Farmers Right Act, 2001 (PPVFR Act):
A plant variety represents a more precisely defined group of plants, selected from within
a species, with a common set of characteristics. Under the unique system of IPR, protection to
new plant varieties is provided through ‘Plant Breeder’s Right’ (PBR), granted to the breeder
of the new plant variety. A breeder is a person who bred, discovered, or developed a variety.
The PVP&FR Authority issues a Certificate of Registration’ for a new plant variety
under the PVP&FR Act, 2001 that grants exclusive rights to plant breeder (or
licensee/agent/successor) to produce, market, sell, import or export and distribute the registered
variety.
Rights available under the PPV&FR Act, 2001:

Breeders Rights: They will have exclusive rights to produce, sell, market, distribute, import
or export the protected variety.
Researchers Rights: A researcher can use any of the registered varieties under the Act for
conducting an experiment or research.
Farmers Rights: A farmer who has evolved or developed a new variety is entitled to
registration and protection in like manner as a breeder of a variety.
Conditions for Registration of New Plant Variety

• Novelty - Plant variety (propagated and harvested material) has not been exploited
earlier than one year in India and earlier than four years outside India.
• Distinctiveness - Plant variety is distinct in its essential characteristics from other
plant varieties.
• Uniformity - All plants of the plant variety show the same characteristics
(subjected to variation in generations due to propagation).
• Stability - Through many generations, the essential characteristics of the plant
should not change in terms of quality and content.
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Definitions for Understanding Purpose:
“Treaty” means an international agreement concluded between States in written form and
governed by international law, whether embodied in a single instrument or in two or more
related instruments and whatever its particular designation.
“Contracting State” means a State which has consented to be bound by the treaty, whether or
not the treaty has entered into force.
“Ratification”, “Acceptance”, “Approval” and “Accession” mean in each case the

international act so named whereby a State establishes on the international plane its consent to
be bound by a treaty
“Party” means a State which has consented to be bound by the treaty and for which the treaty
is in force.
“Third State” means a State not a party to the treaty
“Negotiating State” means a State which took part in the drawing up and adoption of the text
of the treaty.
“Contracting State” means a State which has consented to be bound by the treaty, whether or
not the treaty has entered into force.
“International Organization” means an intergovernmental organization.
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International Instruments Relating to Intellectual Property/ International

Treaties/ International Conventions for IPR Protection:
Under International Law - A treaty is any legally binding agreement between states (countries)
Intellectual property has a dual nature, i.e., it has both national and international
dimensions. For example, patents are governed by national laws and related country
regulations, while international conventions on patents protect minimum rights and provide
some measures for enforcement of rights by contracted states. Strong protection for intellectual
property rights (IPR) worldwide is really important for the future economic growth and
development of all countries. Because they include common rules and regulations, international
IPR treaties, in turn, are essential to achieving strong intellectual property protection that
promotes global economic expansion and the growth of new technologies.
The need for a system to protect IP internationally arose when foreign exhibitors refused
to attend an international exhibition of inventions in Vienna in 1873, because they were afraid
that their ideas would be stolen and exploited commercially in other countries. This led to the
creation of Paris Convention for the protection of Industrial Property (patents, industrial
designs, trademarks, service marks) in 1883. This is the first major international treaty. Later
in 1886 Berne Convention (copyrights) for the protection of literary and artistic works came
into existence.
1. Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property – 1883:

When there was no existence of any international convention in the field of industrial
property, it was difficult to obtain protection for inventions in different countries of the world
due to the diversity of laws. In addition, patent applications were filed at the same time in all
countries to prevent a publication in one country destroying the novelty of the invention in
other countries. These practical problems constituted a strong objective to overcome such
problems in the case of IPR.
The Paris Convention is administered by WIPO. It came into existence to provide some
international harmony in intellectual property laws and was adopted on March 20, 1883, at
Paris and enforced on July 7, 1884. It provides basic guidelines for the protection of intellectual
property such as patents, utility models, industrial designs, trademarks, service marks, trade
names, geographical indications at the international level. Since its inception, it has been
amended seven times and this convention has 177 contracting countries including India. This
treaty came into existence in India on December 7, 1998.
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The provisions of the Paris Convention can be subdivided into four main categories:
1. National Treatment: National treatment means that, as regards the protection of

industrial property, each country party to the Paris Convention must grant the same
protection to nationals of the other member countries as it grants to its own nationals.
The relevant provisions are contained in Articles 2 and 3 of the Convention. The
relevant provisions are included in Articles 2 and 3 of the Convention. Equal national
treatment should be given to citizens of countries that are not members of the Paris
Agreement if they are domiciled in a member country or if they have “legitimate and
efficient” industrial or commercial establishments in the country concerned.
Example: A Russian national applying for a patent in China will have the same patent
rights and level of protection in China as a Chinese national.
2. Right of Priority: The Convention provides for the right of priority in the case of
patents (and utility models where they exist), marks and industrial designs. If an
applicant files a patent application in his country, which is a signatory of the
Convention, he can file the same invention in another contracting country by claiming
the same priority date. The application should be filed within 12 months for patents and
6 months for Industrial Designs and Trademarks. Because of the ‘right of priority’ the
inventor gets ample time to decide where his invention should be protected so that he
can get maximum advantages out of its commercialization.
Example: A United Kingdom patent application is lodged on 1 January, 2002. On 1

January 2003, the same patent application is filed in Mexico. Mexico is a Convention
member and as a result, the Mexican application is treated as though it was filed on 1
January 2002.If, without the treaty, the patent in the example was treated as though it
was filed on 1 January 2003in Mexico, the invention would likely already have been
disclosed and thus un-patentable in Mexico. The right of priority means that in the
foreign Convention country, the patent application will be filed from the earliest date
of filing in the home country for purposes of cited or prior art. This is beneficial to an
inventor, as it allows the inventor to avoid detrimental effects of his or other's public
disclosure that occurred after the earliest application and before filing in foreign
countries.
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Example: A patent application for a video telephone is lodged in Djibouti. Eight

months after lodging the application, the inventor displays his video telephone at an
international conference. As a result of the conference worldwide publicity is generated
for both the invention and the inventor, and the specifications of the video telephone
become widely known. A lot of interest is generated in Australia, and it becomes
obvious to the inventor that it would be worthwhile to seek patent protection in
Australia.
In this example, the inventor has 4 months’ time to seek protection in Australia.
Even though he has publicly disclosed his invention throughout the world, he is still
able to seek protection in Australia, provided that he files an application in Australia
within 12 months of lodging his initial application in Djibouti.
3. Common Rules: This Treaty has put in place certain common rules related to industrial
property in all the contracting countries. The prominent common rules are:
• Patents - Patent granted (or rejected) in one contracting party is independent
(acceptance/rejection) in other contracting countries i.e. Patent granted in one
contracting country may be rejected in other contracting countries and vice
versa. The grant of a patent may not be refused, and a patent may not be
invalidated, on the ground that the sale of the patented product, or of a product
obtained by means of the patented process, is subject to restrictions or
limitations resulting from the domestic law.
• Trademarks: The registration of a mark obtained in one Contracting State
is independent of its possible registration in any other country, including the
country of origin; consequently, the lapse or annulment of the registration of a
mark in one Contracting State will not affect the validity of the registration in
other Contracting States. Where a mark has been duly registered in the
country of origin, it must, on request, be accepted for filing and protected in its
original form in the other Contracting States.
• Industrial Designs - The protection of Industrial Design will be given in each
contracting country and will not be rejected because it is not created in that
respective country.
• Indication of Source - The indication of source or GI of goods must be
protected in each country and the unauthorized distribution must be prohibited
to safeguard the rights of creators, producers, and traders.
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4. Administrative Framework: The Paris Union, established by the Convention, has an

Assembly and an Executive Committee. Every State that is a member of the Union and
has adhered to at least the administrative and final provisions of the Stockholm Act
(1967) is a member of the Assembly. The members of the Executive Committee are
elected from among the members of the Union, except for Switzerland, which is a
member ex officio. The establishment of the biennial program and budget of the WIPO
Secretariat – as far as the Paris Union is concerned – is the task of its Assembly.
The Paris Convention, concluded in 1883, was revised at Brussels in 1900, at
Washington in 1911, at The Hague in 1925, at London in 1934, at Lisbon in 1958 and
at Stockholm in 1967, and was amended in 1979. The Convention is open to all States.
Instruments of ratification or accession must be deposited with the Director General of
WIPO.
2. Bern Convention for Literary and Artistic Works – 1886:

The Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works is an
international agreement dealing with Copyrights. It was signed in 1886 in Berne, Switzerland.
Broadly, the main purpose of the Convention was to lay guidelines for the protection of works
(related to literature and art) as well as the rights of the concerned authors. India became a
signatory of the Berne Convention on April 1, 1928.
The convention’s three fundamental principles are:
1. Work published in one of the contracting states must be granted similar protection in
all the contracting states as being provided to the works of their own nationals.
2. The author of the Copyrighted material is granted rights for at least 50 years post-death
of the author. However, a longer duration can be provided by the contracting parties.
3. The protection and rights come into play as soon as the work is published i.e. no formal
registration of the work is needed to enjoy the protection and rights related to the work.
Minimum standards of protection relate to the works and rights to be protected:

• Works: Protection must include "every production in the literary, scientific and artistic
domain, whatever the mode or form of its expression" - Article 2(1).
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• Rights: The following rights must be recognized as exclusive rights of authorization.

➢ Right to translate – Article 8
➢ Right to reproduce in any manner or form, including any sound or visual
recording – Article 9.
➢ Right to perform dramatic, dramatic, musical, and musical works – Article 11.
➢ Right to broadcast and communicate to the public via wire, re-transmission,
loudspeaker or any other means of communication, the right to make film
adaptations and to reproduce a work – Article 14.
The Berne Convention (1886) has been revised and amended many times, the latest
being in 1979. Nearly 180 nations, including India, are party to this Convention. All
ratifications or accession must be deposited with the Director General of WIPO.
3. World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) – 1967:

The World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) is an international organization
which grants worldwide protection to the rights of creators and owners of intellectual property.
It was adopted on July 14, 1967, at Stockholm and enforced on April 26, 1970. The prime focus
of WIPO is harmonizing, promoting, and protecting IP across the globe. It created mechanisms
that play an important role in bringing various countries and international organizations under
common rules and guidelines for IP protection.
Two major international Conventions, the Paris Convention, 1883 on ‘Protection of
Industrial Property’ and the Berne Convention, 1886 on ‘Protection of Literary and Artistic
Works’ led the foundation stone for the creation of WIPO to internationalize the IP system.
Both the Conventions provided for establishing an ‘International Bureau’ to provide
administrative support to their respective State Parties. The two bureaux combined in 1893 to
form the United International Bureaux for the Protection of Intellectual Property (BIRPI).
United International Bureaux was replaced by WIPO in 1970. In 1974, the UN established
WIPO as a specialized agency to promote creative intellectual activity and facilitate the transfer
of technology related to the industrial property to the developing countries to accelerate
economic, social, and cultural development through a balanced and effective international IP
system. WIPO has 193 Member States, including India. India became an official member of
WIPO on May 1, 1975. WIPO is headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland and it administers 24
treaties dealing with Intellectual Property.
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Functions of WIPO:
➢ Improve IP protection all over the world and to harmonize national legislation.
➢ Sign the international agreements on IP protection.
➢ Implement administrative functions discussed by the Berne and Paris Unions.
➢ Render legal and technical assistance in the field of IP.
➢ Conduct research and publish its results as well as to collect and circulate information.
➢ Ensures the work of services that facilitate the International IP protection.
Activities of WIPO:
➢ Legal Negotiations and Policy Discussions - WIPO provides a forum for Member States
to pursue legal negotiations and policy discussions that shape international rules and
practices on IP. The inter-governmental committee plays a facilitating role in harmonizing
global IP laws and policies. WIPO also plays a significant role in convening the
international Treaties, negotiations for new treaties and soft law instruments (such as
guidelines).
➢ Administration of Inter-governmental IP Treaties – WIPO’s Secretariat provides a
range of services to its Member States, other stakeholders and the public. The Secretariat
administers 26 international IP Treaties (plus the WIPO Convention) and their financial
arrangements.
➢ International IP Filing and Examination Services – WIPO offers Treaty-related services
that help applicants and holders of IP rights protect their IP across borders. It enables
applicants to seek patent protection and register trademarks and appellations of origin in
multiple countries by filing one international application. It also facilitates the registration
of industrial designs in multiple countries with minimum formalities and expenses.
➢ IP Information, Advisory and Training Services – WIPO provides information services
through a series of global databases of Patent documents (Patent Scope), brands (Global
Brands Database), Industrial Designs (Hague Express Database) and Laws and Treaties
(WIPO Lex), as well as statistics and economic research on IP and innovation. WIPO
assists developing countries in many ways, such as legal assistance on IP legislation, policy
advice and training and institutional support for national and regional IP offices. In 1995,
WIPO and WTO sealed an agreement wherein WIPO undertook to assist developing
countries for the implementation of the TRIPS Agreement.
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4. Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) – 1970:

The Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) is an international treaty with more than 153
contracting States, which is duly administered by the World Intellectual Property Organization
(WIPO). PCT provides patent protection in several countries through the filing of a single
common application. A patent application filed under the PCT is called an international
application, or PCT application.
The Treaty was signed in 1970 and came into effect in 1971 and amended in 1979. It
was modified in 1984 and 2001 (Amendments refer to the changes in the terms and conditions
of a contract after executed by all contracting parties, whereas modifications are any changes
after the contract have been signed). It is an effective way to file patents in many countries
with one application.
The PCT application is published by the International Bureau at the WIPO, based
in Geneva, Switzerland, in one of the ten "languages of publication": Arabic, Chinese, English,
French, German, Japanese, Korean, Portuguese, Russian, and Spanish. The publication
normally takes place promptly after 18 months from the filing date or, if a priority is claimed,
from the earliest priority date.
Advantages of PCT:
• The applicant has additional 18 months (after filing in the host country) to decide for
seeking protection in the foreign countries.
• PCT application cannot be rejected on formal grounds as it has been verified with
written explanation through ISA/IPEA.
• The written opinion and international search report contain important information about
the probable patentability of the invention, providing a strong basis for making a
business decision as to how to proceed with the invention.
• The applicant has the scope of amendments in the application during the optional
international preliminary examination.
• In the National Phase, the searching and examination work of the patent office can be
considerably reduced due to the international search report and the written opinion.
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• The examination procedures can be fast-tracked in the National Phase of contracting

states who have signed the PCT-Patent Prosecution Highway (PCT-PPH) agreements.
• As each international application is published together with an international search

report, third parties can easily evaluate the probable patentability of the invention
claimed.
• For an applicant, an online international publication notifies the world about the
invention.
• The applicant may also highlight his interest in concluding licensing agreements on
PATENTSCOPE.
5. Madrid Protocol - 1989:

Madrid Protocol is an extension of the Madrid Agreement, simplifying the
international registration of trademarks. Madrid Agreement was concluded in the year 1891 for
the international protection of trademarks. Madrid Protocol related to Madrid agreement was
adopted in 1989 entered into force on December 1, 1995 and came into operation on April 1,
1996. The protocol was signed to make the Madrid system more flexible for low-income
countries that cannot comply with the Madrid system. As of now, a total of 106 countries,
including India, are party to Madrid Protocol. The Madrid Protocol is administered by WIPO.
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6. Trademark Law Treaty (TLT) - 1994:

This Treaty was signed in 1994 in Geneva to simplify and harmonise the procedure of
filing trade and service marks in signatory countries. A total of 54 countries (excluding India)
are signatory to this Treaty. Implementation of this Treaty greatly stimulated international trade
between the countries.
7. Budapest Treaty on International Recognition of the Deposit of
Microorganism for Patent Procedure - (1977)
This Treaty addresses the issue regarding the safe deposit of microorganisms. If the
invention for which the patent has been granted involves the use of a microorganism (bacteria,
viruses, fungi, etc.), a culture of the microbe has to be deposited in a certified international
depository (Culture Collection Centre). The inventor has the choice of submitting the
concerned microorganism to any of the depository authorities who are signatory countries of
the Budapest Treaty. India is a member of this Treaty. The inventor does not need to submit
the microorganism in all the countries individually. This Treaty was a landmark decision in the
field of life sciences because it saved time and money for the inventor.
8. Patent Law Treaty (PLT) - 2000:
The Treaty was signed in 2000 at WIPO and came into force in 2005. The main
objective of the Treaty was to simplify and harmonise the procedure and requirements to file a
Patent application in many signatory countries. This Treaty facilitated the applicant to file a
Patent application with minimal requirements.
9. Singapore Treaty on the Law of Trademarks - 2006:
Singapore Treaty was signed in 2006 and came into force in 2009. The purpose of this
Treaty was to create to smoothen the administration of trademark registration. It has a wider
scope than the Trade Law Treaty (TLT) and addresses many developments occurring in the
domain of communication technologies.
10.Washington Treaty on Intellectual Property in Respect of Integrated
Circuits - 1989:
In 1989, a conference was held in Washington, D.C. (USA) to adopt Treaty on
Intellectual Property in Respect of Integrated Circuits (IPIC) and also suggested that layout
designs (topographies) of integrated circuits should be considered as a separate field in the
domain of IP protection. This Treaty has been incorporated into the TRIPS Agreement, subject
to a few modifications, including IP protection be extended to ten years (from the existing norm
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of 8 years) from the filing date of an application or 15 years from the formation of the layout
design.
11.Marrakesh VIP Treaty - 2013:
The Marrakesh VIP Treaty (formally the Marrakesh Treaty to Facilitate Access to
Published Works by Visually Impaired Persons and Persons with Print Disabilities,
colloquially MVT) is a Treaty on copyright. The Treaty became operational on 30 September
2016. All members of WTO are eligible to adopt this Treaty. As of now, 80 members have
signed MVT, and 20 have ratified this Treaty. India was the first country to ratify this Treaty.
12.Nairobi Treaty on the Protection of the Olympic Symbol - 1981:
The International Olympic Committee, a non-governmental organization, holds the
rights of the Olympic symbol. To prevent the misuse of an Olympic symbol, a Treaty was
signed in Nairobi in 1981, which came into force on September 25, 1982. A total of 37
countries, including India, is a signatory to the Treaty.
13. Agreement for International Registration of Industrial Designs (AIRD) – 1925:
The agreement facilitated the member countries in the international filing of industrial
designs. The 1960 Act is open to the members countries of the Paris Convention and currently,
only nine countries are signatory to it (excluding India).
14.WIPO Performances and Phonograms Treaty (WPPT) - 1996:

This Treaty is an extension of the Rome Convention (1961) to protect the rights of
performers like actors, singers, musicians and producers of phonograms. The Treaty was
concluded in 1996 but came into force in 2002. There are 106 contracting countries to it
including India. In addition, it is open to the WIPO members and the European Community.
15.Beijing Treaty on Audio-visual Performances 2012:

In order to incentivise audio-visual artists, a diplomatic conference on Beijing Treaty
on Audio-visual Performances was held in Beijing on June 20-26, 2012. This Treaty declared
IP rights for performers in audio-visual performances. The duration of protection is 50 years.
The economic rights include (i) the right of reproduction; (ii) the right of distribution; (iii) the
right of rental; and (iv) the right of making available. The moral rights include the right to
object to any distortion in the material which may harm the reputation of the rightful holder.
The limitations and exceptions of this Treaty are the same as mentioned in Berne Convention
(1886).
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16.Brussels Convention Relating to the Distribution of Programme -

Carrying Signals Transmitted by Satellite - 1974:
This Convention, jointly organized by UNESCO and WIPO in Nairobi (July 2-11,
1973), deliberated on the problems arising in the fields of Copyright, Protection of Performers’
rights, Producers of Phonograms and Broadcasting Organizations. The salient feature of the
Brussels Convention requires that each Contracting State must take adequate steps to avoid the
unlawful distribution on/from its territory of any programme-carrying signal transmitted by a
satellite. Unauthorised distribution refers to the transfer of signals without the consent of the
broadcasting organization of the contracting countries.
However, there are a few exceptions to the authorized distribution, such as:
• Any person (authorized or non-authorized) can use programme-carrying signals if the
signals carry short excerpts of current events or quotations.
• Developing countries can use programme-carrying signals for the purposes of teaching
and scientific research.
• Direct broadcasting of the signals from the satellite is also out of the scope of the
limitations and the exceptions.
17.Nice Agreement for the International Classification of Goods and Services

for the Purposes of Registration of Marks - 1957:
This agreement was signed to use a standard mode of classification for the trademarks
and service marks. The agreement has been subject to two amendments (Stockholm, 1967 and
Geneva, 1977). All official documents and publications must indicate the classification of the
trademark and service marks. These classification codes make it easy to identify the type of
goods and services in all signatory countries as they are following the same standard. Also,
WIPO has established a Union that has created an assembly to look after the program and the
budget of the Union. Every member state of the NICE Agreement (1957) and Paris Convention
(1883) are a member of the NICE agreement. A total of 88 countries, including India, are
signatory to this agreement.
18.Lisbon Agreement for the Protection of Appellations of Origin and their
International Registration - 1958:
The ‘Appellate of Origin’ is protected and registered under the Lisbon Agreement
(1958). Since then, it has been revised twice in 1967 and 1979. The Lisbon Agreement was
updated in 2015 to protect GI and was named as ‘Geneva Act of the Lisbon Agreement on
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Appellations of Origin and GIs’. The agreement was updated because it applies only to the
appellations of origin (the products having strong properties of the place of origin).
The agreement is open to all the member countries of the Paris Convention (1883).
The Assembly, created by WIPO, looks after the matters related to the agreement. The
instruments for ratification and accession are looked after by the Director-General of WIPO.
Currently, there are 29 contracting countries to this agreement. India is not a party to this
agreement.
19.Locarno Agreement Establishing an International Classification for
Industrial Designs, 1968:
Industrial properties like patents, trademarks, trade services, industrial designs, etc.
are classified under the specific classification codes. These codes are standard and the signatory
countries use these codes in the official documents. To establish the classification of industrial
designs, Locarno Agreement was concluded in 1968. The Agreement was amended in 1979.
The Agreement is open to all the contracting countries of the Paris Convention (1883). As of
now, a total of 58 signatories, including India, are party to this Agreement. An Assembly,
created by WIPO, looks after the matters related to biennial programmes and the budget of the
Union (WIPO). The contracting parties are obliged to mention the classification in their official
documents and any type of publications.
20. Strasbourg Agreement Concerning the International Patent Classification -
1971:
The Strasbourg Agreement was signed in 1971 to establish the International Patents
Classification (IPC). The agreement was amended in 1979. The standard classification of the
patents helps patent issuing authorities and inventors for prior art search as it makes searching
very simple as compared to the keywords. It is open to the signatories of PCT (1883). As of
now, 62 countries (excluding India) have signed the agreement and IPC is being used by more
than 100 patent offices. The signatory countries have to mention this classification for patents
in their official documents and any publications. In PCT filing, these classifications are decided
by the International Searching Authority (ISA).
21. Rome Convention for the Protection of Performers, Producers of
Phonograms and Broadcasting Organisations – 1961:
Prior to this Convention, the copyright agreement provided protection only to printed
material (by the authors). With the introduction of new physical manifestations of IP i.e. tape
recorders, audio cassettes, videocassettes, etc. which made the reproduction of sounds and
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images faster and less costly, a need was felt to provide protection to these entities. To respond
to these concerns, Rome Convention was held in 1961 and its recommendations came into
existence in 1964. India, along with other 25 countries, is a signatory to Rome Convention.
22. Geneva Convention for the Protection of Producers of Phonograms
against Unauthorized Duplication of their Phonograms - 1971:
The word ‘Phonogram’ means an exclusively aural fixation (it does not comprise, for
example, the sound tracks of films or video cassettes), in any form (disc, tape, etc.). The
protection to Phonograms is provided under copyright law, sui generis (related rights) law,
unfair competition law or penal law. The duration of protection is minimal for 20 years, either
from the date of the first fixation or from the first publication of the phonogram. However,
permission is not needed if the material is used for teaching or scientific research purposes.
WIPO, along with ILO and UNESCO, is responsible for the administration of this Convention.
The Phonograms Convention, held in October 1971, adopted that each contracting
State must make a provision for protecting the rights of a non-resident holder (authorized) of
Phonograms. Provisions should include:
• Prevention of creating duplicates without the consent of the producer.
• Not allowing the importation of such duplicates, where the making or importation is
for the purpose of distribution to the public.
• Prevention of distribution of such duplicates to the public.
23.World Trade Organization:
The World Trade Organization (WTO) is an intergovernmental organization that
regulates and facilitates international trade. WTO is the world's largest international economic
organization, with 164 member states representing over 98% of global trade and global GDP.
The WTO is the successor to the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT), which was
created in 1947.
WTO has six key objectives:
(1) To set and enforce rules for international trade
(2) To provide a forum for negotiating and monitoring further trade liberalization,
(3) To resolve trade disputes,
(4) To increase the transparency of decision-making processes,
(5) To cooperate with other major international economic institutions involved in global
economic management, and
(6) To help developing countries benefit fully from the global trading system.
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24. Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) Agreement -

1995:
In the later part of the 20th century, industrialization became the major objective of
many nations. As the industrialization process grew, so did the innovative products as well as
the trade amongst various countries. Many of the trading goods involved a high proportion of
the IP. Thus, IPR became a crucial component of international trade. As IP is a territorial
property and each nation has its own set of rights/rules/enforcements/punishments for IPR
related issues, it led to many confusions and disputes between developed and 174 developing
countries. The World Trade Organization (WTO) addressed this issue during the Uruguay
Round of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) between 1989 and 1990. As of
now, WTO has 164 members including, India and 24 observer governments (i.e. nations).
TRIPS agreement is an international legal agreement between all the member nations
of the World Trade Organization (WTO). It establishes minimum standards for the regulation
by national governments of different forms of intellectual property (IP) as applied to nationals
of other WTO member nations. TRIPS was negotiated at the end of the Uruguay Round of
the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) between 1989 and 1990 and is
administered by the WTO. The TRIPS agreement introduced intellectual property law into the
multilateral trading system for the first time and remains the most comprehensive multilateral
agreement on intellectual property to date.
The IPs covered under TRIPS are:
➢ Patents including the protection of new varieties of plants.
➢ Copyright and related rights.
➢ Trademarks.
➢ Geographical indications.
➢ Industrial designs.
➢ Layout designs of integrated circuits.
➢ Undisclosed information, including trade secrets and test data.
Main Features of TRIPS:
TRIPS Agreement is the most important multilateral instrument for the globalization
of IP Laws. The obligations under the Agreement are the same for each member country.
TRIPS Agreement has three main features:
Standards,
Enforcement and
Dispute Settlement
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Laws Relating to IPR:

Intellectual property (IP) laws are designed to protect the rights of creators and
innovators over their creations and inventions. The laws governing IP provide a framework to
safeguard the economic and moral rights of creators and encourage innovation, creativity, and
economic growth. In India, IP laws cover a wide range of rights including the Patent Act,
Copyright Act, Trademark Act, Design Act, GI Act, Trade Secrets Act, The Semiconductor
Integrated Circuits Layout Design Act and The Protection of Plant Varieties and Farmer’s
Rights Act each providing legal protection and remedies to the owners of against any potential
misuse, theft, or infringement. Understanding these laws is crucial for businesses,
entrepreneurs, and individuals who want to protect their innovations and creations.
The objective of Intellectual Property laws is to provide legal protection to different
forms of intellectual properties, and encourage innovation and creativity across various sectors.
Without this protection, individuals and businesses may be less likely to invest time and
resources into developing new and innovative ideas, since others could easily copy and profit
from their creations without any repercussions.
In India, the intellectual property laws offer various benefits to different stakeholders, such as:
1. Inventors and creators

Intellectual property laws provide legal protection to inventors and creators by granting them
exclusive rights to their creations. This ensures that they can benefit from the
commercialization of their ideas and prevent others from using their creations without
permission.
2. Investors and businesses

Intellectual property laws provide investors and businesses with the confidence to invest in and
develop new products and services. They can rely on the protection provided by these laws to
recover their investment and profits.
3. Consumers
Intellectual property laws ensure that consumers can benefit from high-quality and innovative
products and services. These laws encourage competition and the development of new
technologies, leading to better products and services for consumers.
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4. Society & Economy

Intellectual property laws promote innovation, creativity, and economic growth, which
contribute to the overall development of society. They also help to safeguard traditional
knowledge and cultural expressions, which are important for the preservation of cultural
heritage.
The Patent Act, 1970:

The Patent Act is a law that governs the registration and protection of patents in India.
A patent is a legal right granted to the inventor of a new, useful, and non-obvious product or
process, regarding the exclusive permission to make, use, and sell the invention for a certain
specified period of time. The purpose of the Patent Act is to promote innovation and
technological advancement in India, by providing the owners of newly invented products and
processes, a legal framework for protecting their inventions against misuse and forgery.
The Patent Act provides for the registration of patents with the Indian Patent Office,
and outlines the requirements for patentability, including novelty, non-obviousness, and utility.
Once granted, a patent provides the owner with the exclusive right to use, manufacture, and
sell the invention for a period of 20 years from the date of filing, provided that the annual
renewal fee is paid every year.
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The Act also provides for the enforcement of patent rights through civil and criminal
proceedings, and sets out penalties for infringement of those rights. In the case of infringement
of a patent, the owner of the patent can seek remedies such as injunctions, damages, and
account of profits. On the other hand, the infringer will be imposed with criminal penalties for
intentional infringement of patent rights, including fines and imprisonment.
India after signing the TRIPS agreement and forming part of the Agreement
establishing the World Trade Organization (WTO) for the purpose of reduction of distortions
and impairments to international trade and promotion of effective protection of intellectual
property rights, the Patent act as amended time to time in the year 1995, 1999, 2002 and 2005
to meet its obligations under the TRIPS agreement. Further, it has been amended to support the
various technological developments in India, to match with the development of the
International intellectual property laws, India has also made amendments in the Intellectual
property rights. The amendments were also aimed at making the Act a modern, harmonized
and user-friendly legislation for protection of national and public interests along with fulfilling
India’s international obligations under the TRIPS Agreement.
Subsequently the rules under the Patent Act have also been amended and these became
effective from May 2003. These rules have been further amended by Patents (Amendment)
Rules 2005 w.e.f 01.01.2005. Thus, the Patent Amendment Act, 2005 is now fully in force and
operative.
The Trademark Act, 1999:

The Trademark Act is a law that regulates the registration and legal protection of
trademarks in India. Trademarks are symbols, words, phrases, brand names, trade names, legal
names, domain names, label marks, device marks, logos, slogans and even typical sounds or
combinations of colours used to identify and distinguish the identity of an individual or
business entity.
The primary objective of the Act is to protect such trademarks against misuse, forgery
and deception in the marketplace, by giving their owners the exclusive rights to their ownership
and usage. In other words, the Act offers remedies to the owners of registered trademarks
against a potential theft or infringement of IPR rights.
Besides, the Act also defines what can and cannot be registered as a trademark and sets
out the procedure to be followed for trademark registration in India. Once a trademark is
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registered, it remains valid for a period of ten years, after which it can be renewed by following
a separate renewal process, also mentioned in the Trademark Act.
In India, the trademarks were protected for more than four decades as per the provisions
of the Trade and Merchandise Mark Act, 1958. India joined the World Trade Organisation from
its inception. One of the agreements in that related to the Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS).
In December, 1998 India acceded to the Paris Convention.
Also, The Trade Mark bill which was introduced in 1994, is the result of vast
modification made in Trade and Merchandise Marks Act, 1958. The said modification can be
called modernisation made for easy trading and commercial practices, to increase trading
overseas by globalisation and bring investment from overseas and most importantly to make
trademark management system as simple as possible and more recognition of the same in
judicial system.
The bill could not be passed but pointed out the areas where the huge changes were
required, thereafter the Trademarks Bill of 1999 was introduced with the fresh review of the
required development in various area, such as trade and commercial practices, globalisation
etc., the same was later passed in the Parliament and replaced with Trade and Merchandise Act,
1958 with assent of the President on the date of 30th December, 1999; the introduction of Trade
Marks Act, 1999 has been proved to be very fruitful to India for going global in trade and
commerce area.
The salient features of the Act mainly include as follows:
1. Earlier only goods and services covered was by the way of registration, but in this
Act the infringement has broaden the meaning as it also includes unauthorised use
of similar mark or confusingly similar mark where the goods and services which are
very similar and create confusion or chance of confusion stands.
2. Even though where the unauthorised use of trademark is made of any well-known
trademark of India and the interest of the owner is any way infringed, the action of
infringement can be taken against the same.
3. Further, it gave more power to police by authorising them to seize infringing

material without any warrant issued.
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The Copyright Act, 1957:

The Copyright Act, 1957 is one of the oldest existing intellectual property rights acts.
It has been amended quite a few times to align with global trade and commerce. The Copyright
Act is a law which regulates the registration and legal protection of copyrights in India. The
act relates to person creativity to, protects the right of literary, artistic, musical works and sound
recordings and cinematograph films. Under the copyright, the author not only get right to the
authorship but also get right under which without his prior permission his work cannot be
amended. If any amendment which may done against his will can be brought into the court by
the author, and he can get order to recover any kind of damages and stop such act immediately.
For instance, it provides the copyright to author for his lifetime and 60 years after his
death. It does not require to be qualitative work for being eligible for the registered under this
act, any unique work with very little in common with any other work can be considered as
eligible for this purpose.
Although registration under the Copyright Act is not mandatory for Copyright
protection, it can still be obtained for availing certain benefits like possessing legal evidence
for ownership of the copyrighted work, and being enabled to sue any third party for the
infringement of rights provided to the owner under the Copyright Act.
As far as the validity of the Copyright Registration is concerned, for literary, dramatic,
musical, and artistic works (other than photographs), the registration lasts for the lifetime of
the author plus 60 years after their death. For photographs, the copyright lasts for the lifetime
of the author plus 60 years after their death, but if the photograph is published, then the
copyright lasts for 60 years from the year of publication. For cinematographic films, sound
recordings, and government works, the copyright lasts for 60 years from the year of publication.
Once the copyright term has expired, the work enters the public domain and can be freely used
by anyone without the need for permission or payment to the original copyright owner.
The main purpose of the Copyright Act is to promote creativity and the dissemination
of knowledge by incentivizing creators to produce more new and original works and ensuring
that their efforts are well protected and compensated for.
A digital industry sees very big role of copyright, the computer programming was added
in the Act in 1984 as literary work to give recognition to computer programming and provide
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protection to the same. Though, the separate definition was provided for the same later in 1994.
Introduction of the Computer programming created lot of confusion for the inbuilt programmes
without which a computer cannot run, which could not be transacted for free with the computer.
Later in 1999 with amendment, it was possible to allow selling computers and other similar
equipment with the inbuilt programmes for free. It also ensured the growth of newly introduced
internet.
The Design Act, 2000:
The Industrial Designs Act is a law that governs the registration and protection of
industrial designs in India. The Act defines an industrial design as a unique and specific feature
of shape, configuration, pattern, ornamentation, or composition of lines and colours applied to
any product in three-dimensional or two-dimensional form. The Act aims to promote
innovation and creativity in industrial designs by providing legal protection to the owners of
such designs against misuse and forgery.
Besides, the Act sets out the requirements for registration of an industrial design,
including that the design must be novel, original, and not previously published or used in India.
The registration process involves filing an application with the Indian Patent Office and paying
the required fees. Once registered, the owner of an industrial design would have the exclusive
right to use the design and prevent others from using it without permission for as long as 10
years from the date of Registration.
The Act also provides for the enforcement of IP rights of the Industrial design owners,
through civil and criminal proceedings. In the case of infringement of his IP rights, the design
owner can seek remedies such as injunctions, damages, and account of profits. In addition, the
Act also provides criminal penalties, including fines and imprisonment, for intentional
infringement of rights by the infringer. The current Act is in line with the TRIPS agreement
and therefore line with globalisation of trade and commerce.
The Geographical Indications of Goods (Registration and Protection) Act,

1999:
Geographical Indication is new in India and recently introduced result of the event
where turmeric, neem and basmati were patented by persons outside India. To avoid letting
outside misuse the Indian Geographical indications and indicating the goods are not basically
indicated from Indian locality.
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After such instance it became necessary to have legislation for registration and
providing adequate protection to geographical indications. The bill introduced in the parliament
and passed and with the assent of the president the Geographical indication of Goods
(Registration and Protection) Act, 1999, came into force. The Act is administered by the
Geographical Indication Registry under the jurisdiction of the Controller General of Patents,
Designs and Trade Marks.
The Semiconductor Integrated Circuits Layout Design Act, 2000:

In past three decades, information technology and digital industry has seen biggest
development, the development also getting pace day by day, and can be called fastest growing
sector of the century. The industry has seen significant change in electronic equipment,
computers, telecommunication, etc. and also it has affected human life in the biggest manner
by providing advancement in many ways. Microelectronics, which primarily refers to
Integrated Circuits (ICs) ranging from, Small Scale Integration (SSI) to Very Large-Scale
Integration (VLSI) on a semiconductor chip - has rightly can be called the core, strategic
technology world-over, especially for Information Technology (IT) based society. Integrated
circuits require expertise knowledge and the effort to create one depends on complexity of the
output. Hence, it is very necessary to cover the same under IPR and it is also necessary to
encourage continue Research and Development in the field of microelectronics.
The copyright and patent were unable to provide enough meaning to the right due to
restrictions by definitions and purpose of those acts are not sufficient to cover this type of
complex right. As the concept of the originality is important, irrespective of the fact that the
same is novelty or not unlike patent law which requires both original and novel. Whereas the
copyright law was too general to accommodate the original ideas of scientific creation of
Layout-Designs of Integrated Circuits. Due to the same, the necessity to provide protection for
Layout-Designs of Integrated Circuits felt and to reward and encourage an adequate level of
investment of human, financial and technological resources.
The Protection of Plant Varieties and Farmers’ Rights Act, 2001:

India has seen the growth in the industry of research of plant breeds, to give protection
to researcher and to encourage their interest in discovering better breed of plants idea of the
Plant Breeder’s Right came in existence. It promises to sustain agricultural progress, as having
vast portion of land of India being agricultural land it is very essential.
39
In wake of TRIPS under Article 27 of it, it was necessary to give protection of plant
varieties by patenting or by an effective sui generis system or by any combination thereof, to
effect to the same the government introduced the Protection of Plant Varieties and Farmers’
Right Act, 2001, to encourage development of new breeds of plants. Though, the act requires
to more investment in research in both private and public sectors for better research of
discovering or developing new breeds. Further, it also promises to provide better growth in the
seed industry and making available to the Indian farmers better quality of seeds.
IPR Tool Kit:
IPR is a strong tool, to protect the investment, time, money, and effort invested by the
inventor/creator of the IP, as it gives the inventor/creator an exclusive right for a certain period
of time for the use of its invention/creation. Thus, IPR affects the economic development of a
country by promoting healthy competition and encouraging industrial growth and economic
growth. The present review presents a brief description of IPR with particular emphasis on
pharmaceuticals.
An IPR tool kit consists of different legal platforms for the protection of human
creativity and innovations, computer programs, literary or artistic works, products and services
and so on. The modern IPR tool kit comprises,
• Patents,
• Copyrights,
• Trademarks,
• Industrial Designs,
• Trade Secrets,
• Geographical Indications,
• Semiconductor Integrated Circuit Layout Design,
• Protection of Plant Varieties and Farmers rights.
Agencies for IPR Registration:
1. U.S Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO): The United States Patent and
Trademark Office (PTO or USPTO) is an agency in the United States Department of
Commerce that issues/grants patents to inventors and businesses for their inventions,
and trademark registration for product and intellectual property identification. USPTO
40
is one of 14 bureaus within the US Department of Commerce. The PTO, founded more
than 200 years ago, employs more than 10,000 employees and is presently located in
Alexandria, Virginia.
The USPTO website (http://www.uspto.gov) offers a wealth of information,
including basic information about patents and trademarks, fee schedules, forms, and the
ability to search and apply for trademarks. From 2005 – 2011, the number of trademark
applications received by the USPTO increased by 23%, and the number of patent
applications received increased 31%.
Legislation passed in 1997 established the PTO as a performance-based
organization that is managed by professionals, resulting in the creation of a new political
position. In brief, the PTO operates more like a business with greater autonomy over its
budget, hiring, and procurement. USPTO searchable database includes information about
all US patents from the first patent issued in 1970 to the most recent, with full information
of all patents. Since 1976 the text and images of more than three million are pending for
registration. Users can view, download and print the images of these patents and
trademarks. The PTO is continuing its transition filing from paper to electronic filing for
both trademarks and patents.
The PTO is led by the Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property
and Director of the United States Patent and Trademark Office (the “Director”), who is
appointed by the President. The Secretary of Commerce appoints a Commissioner for
Patents and a Commissioner for Trademarks.
2. Library of Congress: The Library of Congress, sometimes referred to as “Jefferson’s
Legacy,” was established in 1800 as a legislative library. It is America’s oldest and
largest library in the world. Thomas Jefferson is considered as the founder of the Library
of Congress. In his personal library, in 1814, the British burnt 3000 volumes. And the
next year Jefferson sold his personal library collection of 6487 volumes to the Library
of Congress.
The U.S Copyright office has been a part of the Library of Congress since 1870
and is in-charge of examining the approximately 6,00,000 copyright applications filed
every year, issuing registrations and maintaining copyright deposits.
41
The U.S Copyright office is located in Washington. Basic information about

copyrights, forms and other valuable information can be obtained for free and can be
downloaded from Copyright Office’s website (http://www.copyright.gov)
Traditional Knowledge:
Traditional Knowledge is a knowledge base which is developed by indigenous, local

or native community has been preserved and passed on to generations. Traditional knowledge
can be found in variety of concepts such as calculation of time, food article, plant properties,
spice uses, yoga practices etc. The most essential factor of Traditional Knowledge is that it
has ancient roots and it is often oral.
Need to protect traditional knowledge have increased with changing time, especially
in order to stop unauthorized and commercial misuse of such knowledge. It is important to
protect the indigenous people from such loss and also help them to preserve such ancient
practices. Protection to TK shall also promote its wider and efficient use.
The most difficult aspect of traditional knowledge is in its protection. There has been
a lot of debate to protect traditional knowledge under IP regime but that in itself faces a lot of
challenges such as;
a) under which IP under which traditional knowledge can be protected,
b) since every IP protection is provided for a limited period of time then how will
traditional knowledge have a continuous protection.
Protection of traditional knowledge is rooted in the problem of Bio-piracy. Bio-piracy occurs
when there is commercial utilization of traditional knowledge without proper authorization of
the indigenous or local people associated with such knowledge.
42
There are methods through which TK can be protected:
a) Positive Protection, and

b) Defensive Mechanism.
Positive protection means protecting TK by way of enacting laws, rules and regulations,
access and benefit sharing provisions, royalties etc.
Defensive Mechanism means steps taken to prevent acquisition of intellectual property

rights over traditional knowledge.
India, for example, followed by the well-known case of USPTO, wherein patent was
granted on healing properties of turmeric and with much difficulty CSIR proved the prior
existing knowledge of such properties of turmeric with help of numerous ancient scriptures and
documents, has adopted a Defensive mechanism to protect its traditional knowledge by way of
setting up a Traditional Knowledge Digital Library (TKDL) in 2001, in collaboration between
Ministry of Ayush and CSIR.
Unlike other categories of intellectual property rights, India has no substantive act or
law to protect traditional knowledge but other IP acts contain provisions with respect to
traditional knowledge such as the Patents Act, 1970, Section 25 and Section 64, gives one of
the grounds for revocation of a patent application on the basis of traditional knowledge. Under
the Copyright Act, 1957, has not specific mention of protecting traditional cultural, literary or
artistic work or folklore but Section 31A provides for protection of unpublished Indian work,
nonetheless Copyright protection in for a limited time period and also demands certain criteria
to be fulfilled, therefore under this IP as well protection of traditional knowledge doesn’t have
much scope.
Past few years it has been seen that India has actively participated in TK conventions
and has made efforts to protect its TK at international level. Access to Indian TK is available
at USPTO and EPO and CSIR is day by day improving the efficiency of TK database.
Use and Misuse of Intellectual Property Rights:
Intellectual property theft or misuse can be described as the use of your ideas and
creations by others without your permission. Within the stiffening competition, IP rights
43
violation is easy. Hence, businesses must be proactive in dealing with IP infringement to

safeguard their valuable assets.
Intellectual property rights have great importance in the growth of a country. he IPR
can play both negative and positive growth in economic development. It is very important to
protect the interest and rights of people to evolve in innovation and creation which is directly
linked to the development and growth of the country.
The Connection between Intellectual Property and Economy
The role of Intellectual property in the economy are:
• To provide exclusive rights and to protect the interest of the creator and encourage
investment in research and information creation;
• Forbid the competitors or anybody from exploiting or misuse the property without the
permission of the creator; and
• To create a market for that invention so that it could be given to good use and will
motivate others to innovation and creation.
Drawback and Misuse of IPR on Economic Development
The biggest drawback of IPR is it sometimes it restricts the technology to be used in

the best suitable way. The person who is holding rights sometimes misuses their rights. They
can charge according to their will and because of protection under IPR that innovation cannot
be used by the competitors. Competition is the most important factor for the development of
an economy. The spirit of competition keeps check and balance on price and as well as on the
quality of the product. But IPR laws are against the principle of competition.
IPRs laws create a monopoly in the market. It supports monopoly, Law like copyright,
trademark, and patents are creating barriers for the competitor to use the innovation.
Competition makes sure that producer must think about the benefit and satisfaction of the
consumer, because if the consumer is not satisfying then he or she can shift to other competitors
in the market. The producer can charge any price and it can directly affect the consumer and
the market. This is the law of demand that if the price is high then the demand will be low. But
this law does not apply when there is a monopoly in the market. The consumer will get no other
options and have to buy the product at the price determined by the producer. Due to
competition, the producer is forced to charge not much more than the marginal cost.
44
Layout Designs and Integrated Circuits:

An integrated circuit (IC) layout design is the three-dimensional arrangement of the
components and interconnections that make up the IC. An integrated circuit (IC) is an electronic
circuit in which the circuit's parts are integrated into some media and act as a single unit. A
solid semiconductor, generally silicon, is utilized as the medium. The circuit may be
incorporated into a small, thin piece of silicon that is as thin as a wafer thanks to the
manufacturing process. A "silicon chip" is a chunk of silicon like this. Because all commercial
integrated circuits now accessible are manufactured from semiconductors, mainly silicon, the
words "semiconductor" and "silicon chip" have been used interchangeably with "integrated
circuit." Many devices use integrated circuits, including watches, TVs, traffic lights, and, of
course, computers. Original layout designs are protected under the Semiconductor Integrated
Circuits Layout-Design Act of 2000 and the Semiconductor Integrated Circuits Layout-Design
Rules of 2001.
The terms "semiconductor integrated circuit" and "layout-design" are defined as follows in
the Act:
A product with transistors and other circuitry elements that are inseparably produced
on semiconductor material, an insulating material, or inside the semiconductor material and
designed to execute an electronic circuitry function is referred to as a semiconductor
integrated circuit.
45
A layout of transistors and other circuitry parts, including lead wires linking such
elements, represented in any way in a semiconductor integrated circuit is referred to as layout
design.
Criteria of registrability of Layout Design
Original, distinct, and able to stand out from other layout designs.
A layout design is unique if it is the outcome of the creator's own intellectual work
and is not widely used among layout designers and integrated circuit makers at the time of its
development. A layout design that consists of a common combination of parts and
interconnections among layout-design makers and manufacturers of semiconductor integrated
circuits is deemed original if the combination as a whole is the result of the creator's own
intellectual work.
The Act prohibits the registration of layout designs that are not original; or that have
been commercially exploited anywhere in India or in a conventional country; or that are not
inherently distinctive; or that are not inherently capable of being distinguished from any other
registered layout design.
Provided, however, that for the purposes of this Act, a layout design that has been
commercially exploited for not more than two years from the date on which an application for
46
its registration has been filed either in India or in a conventional country is treated as not having
been commercially exploited.
A layout design can only be registered for ten years from the date of submitting an
application for registration or the date of first commercial exploitation anywhere in India or in
any nation, whichever comes first.
The Indian Semiconductor Integrated Circuits Layout-Design Registry is now based in
New Delhi and is administered by the Department of Information Technology (DIT), Ministry
of Communications and Information Technology.
47

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IPR & PATENTS – UNIT I | DIVYA GUDAPATI

Types of Property Under Law:

• Movable property and Immovable property.

➢ Section 22 of India Penal Code,1860- “Movable property” are intended to include

Examples: apartments, securities, trademarks, private wells, etc.

10. Incorporeal Property

Types of Intellectual Property:

1. The Patents Act, 1970 (“Patents Act”):

A ‘Patent’ is an intellectual property right which protects any new invention. It is an

Different Types of Patents:

2. The Trade Marks Act, 1999 (“Trade marks Act”):

symbol ®. An unregistered trade mark is followed by the letters ™.

➢ A trademark (™) is used in the marketing of a product. It is a superscript character,

➢ A Registered Trademark (®) means that a trademark is registered with an

In addition, trademarks can also consist of

• Giggle sound of Pillsbury Doughboy

3. The Copyrights Act, 1957 (“Copyright Act”):

4. The Design Act, 2000:

An application for registration of an industrial design is to be made to the Controller-

Furthermore, once a design is registered, the registered proprietor is afforded protection

6. The Geographical Indications of Goods (Registration and Protection) Act, 1999

A ‘Geographical Indication’ is defined as ‘an indication which identifies such goods as

7. The Semiconductor Integrated Circuits Layout- Design Act, 2000

A ‘semiconductor integrated circuit’ is defined as ‘a product having transistors and

Rights available under the PPV&FR Act, 2001:

Conditions for Registration of New Plant Variety

Definitions for Understanding Purpose:

“Ratification”, “Acceptance”, “Approval” and “Accession” mean in each case the

“Third State” means a State not a party to the treaty

“International Organization” means an intergovernmental organization.

International Instruments Relating to Intellectual Property/ International

1. Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property – 1883:

1. National Treatment: National treatment means that, as regards the protection of

Example: A United Kingdom patent application is lodged on 1 January, 2002. On 1

Example: A patent application for a video telephone is lodged in Djibouti. Eight

4. Administrative Framework: The Paris Union, established by the Convention, has an

2. Bern Convention for Literary and Artistic Works – 1886:

The convention’s three fundamental principles are:

Minimum standards of protection relate to the works and rights to be protected:

• Rights: The following rights must be recognized as exclusive rights of authorization.

3. World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) – 1967:

4. Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) – 1970:

• The examination procedures can be fast-tracked in the National Phase of contracting

• As each international application is published together with an international search

5. Madrid Protocol - 1989:

6. Trademark Law Treaty (TLT) - 1994:

14.WIPO Performances and Phonograms Treaty (WPPT) - 1996:

15.Beijing Treaty on Audio-visual Performances 2012:

16.Brussels Convention Relating to the Distribution of Programme -

17.Nice Agreement for the International Classification of Goods and Services

24. Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) Agreement -

Laws Relating to IPR:

1. Inventors and creators

2. Investors and businesses

4. Society & Economy

The Patent Act, 1970:

The Trademark Act, 1999:

The salient features of the Act mainly include as follows:

3. Further, it gave more power to police by authorising them to seize infringing