Intellectual property rights (IPR)

Intellectual property, being intangible property, indicates the creation of the human
mind. The creation of the human mind mainly includes inventions and literary and
artistic works, including symbols, names, images, and designs used in commerce.
There are three components to intellectual property rights –
 It is related to the intelligence of the human mind, which is new and unique.
 It is an intangible commodity that is protected. The most important difference
between any other form of property and intellectual property is that intellectual
property is intangible and does not qualify to be defined or identified by the
medium of physical parameters.
 The idea per se is not protected. The idea has to be published as a form of
intellectual property, and only then is it granted protection.
The meaning and scope of intellectual property are, with time, evolving and thus are
involved with the inclusion of newer forms of intellectual property in addition to its four
separate and distinct types, namely, patents, trademarks, copyrights and trade secrets.
In current times, the protection of geographical indication, protection of varieties of
plants, the protection of semiconductors and integrated circuits and undisclosed
information have been covered under the ambit of Intellectual Property Rights
Principles of the international intellectual property regime

Paris Convention
It was first adopted in 1883 and has undergone several revisions since then. The
Convention currently has 177 member countries and is one of the oldest and most
significant international agreements on intellectual property. –
Key Principles National Treatment Priority
It establishes rules for their protection and provides guidelines for member countries to
follow. Trademarks and Trade Industrial Designs Patents Enforcement
The Convention has played a crucial role in harmonizing and facilitating international
intellectual property protection, promoting innovation, and supporting international
trade.

It was with the Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Properties, 1883, which
is commonly known as the Paris Convention, that the principles of intellectual property
rights began to take shape. It was followed by the Convention for the Protection of
Literary and Artistic Works, 1886 which is infamously known as the Berne Convention.
Both the above-mentioned conventions were negotiated and also re-negotiated as well
as amended throughout the years, and eventually, they were finally incorporated and
advanced in Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) through the
Uruguay Round of Negotiations from 1986 to 1994, which came into effect from the 1st
of January 1995. Let’s understand each convention in detail.

The Paris Convention covers all forms of industrial property, such as patents,
trademarks, industrial designs, utility models, geographical indications, service marks,
trade names, and the prevention of unfair competition.
The Paris Convention was created with two goals, which are-
 first, to prevent the unforeseen loss of patent protection eligibility by publishing
81 patent applications and taking part in international exhibitions before
submitting national patent applications; and
 second, to some extent, harmonise the various patent laws of the various
countries.
Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property
This convention facilitates in seeking protection for various types of industrial property in
countries that are signatories to this convention. The date of filing the first application in
a convention country (e.g., India) may be claimed as the priority date in other
convention countries if the application for protection in those countries is filed within 6 or
12 months of filing the first application (12 months for patents; 6 months for industrial
designs and marks). The main advantage is that when an applicant desires protection in
several countries, he is not required to present all his applications at the same time in
those countries, but has an additional 6 or 12 months to decide in which countries to
seek protection.

Subject Matter of the Paris Convention:

The Paris Convention applies to industrial property, including patents, marks, industrial
designs, utility models, trade names, geographical indications and the repression of
unfair competition.

Main Provisions of the Paris Convention:

The substantive provisions fall into three main categories: national treatment, right of
priority and common rules.

 National treatment: Each contracting State must grant the same protection to
nationals of the other contracting States as it grants to its own nationals.
Nationals of non-contracting States are also entitled to national treatment if they
are domiciled or have a real and effective industrial or commercial establishment
in a contracting State.
 Right of priority: On the basis of a regular first application filed in one of the
contracting States, the applicant may, within a certain period of time (12 months
for patents; 6 months for industrial designs and marks), apply for protection in
any of the other contracting States; these later applications will be regarded as if
they had been filed on the same day as the first application, i.e., the later
application will have priority over applications which may have been filed during
the said period of time by other persons for the same invention, mark or
industrial design.
 Common rules: Certain rules which all the contracting States must follow. Some
of the important rules are as follows:
 Independence of patents: Patents granted in different contracting
States for the same invention are independent of each other - the granting
of a patent in one contracting State does not oblige the other contracting
States to grant a patent; a patent cannot be refused, annulled or
terminated in any contracting State on the ground that it has been refused
or annulled or has terminated in any other contracting State.
 Compulsory license for patents: legislative measures providing for the
grant of compulsory licenses must have certain limitations. For example, a
request for compulsory license based on failure to work the patented
invention may be filed only after 3-4 years of failure to work or insufficient
working of the patented invention and the request must be refused if the
patentee gives legitimate reasons to justify his inaction.
 Marks: no application for the registration of a mark filed by a national of a
contracting State may be refused, nor may a registration be invalidated,
on the ground that filing, registration or renewal has not been effected in
the country of origin.
 Industrial Designs: must be protected in each contracting State, and
protection may not be forfeited on the ground that the articles
incorporating the design are not manufactured in that State.
 Trade Names: Protection must be granted to trade names in each
contracting State without the obligation of filing or registration.
 Indications of Source: Measures must be taken by each contracting
State against direct or indirect use of a false indication of the source of the
goods or the identity of the producer, manufacturer or trader.
 Unfair Competition: Each contracting State must provide for effective
protection against unfair competition.