Intellectual Property Rights

( I. P. R.)

By Tanisha Gangrade
 We will learn in this lecture…
➢ What is Intellectual Property
➢ Intellectual Property Rights (IPR)
➢ Objectives of IPR
➢ History of IPR in INDIA
➢ Trade Secret Trade
Secret
➢ Trademark ™
➢ Industrial Design Industrial
➢ Patent Design

➢ Copyright
➢ Plant Variety Protection Plant
Variety
➢ Geographical Indication (GI) Protection
 Intellectual Property

Intellectual Property - IP is an
idea, a design, an invention, a
manuscript etc. which can ultimately
give rise to a useful product and
application.

PROPERTY
 Intellectual Property Rights

Intellectual Property Rights - Right of an inventor

to derive economic benefits from his intellectual
property; this right is called as Intellectual Property
Rights.
OR
Intellectual Property Rights (IPRs) are legal
rights that protect creations and/or inventions
resulting from intellectual activity in the
industrial, scientific, literary or artistic fields.
 Objectives of Granting IPR

1. It helps in protecting the ownership and originality of the individuals’

creation.
2. It provides recognition to the concerned person or authority.
3. It allows owners of intellectual property to have financial benefits from
the property they have created.
4. They are provided financial incentive for the creation of and also to incur
the cost of investment in intellectual property.
5. Such rights motivate individuals’ creativity and thus also contribute to
economic growth.
6. It can also offer some economic aid to the holder of the right, through the
monopoly of their creations.
7. It improves the financial status of the individual as well as of the economy
of the country.
8. To enhance the performance levels of institutions.
9. To create competition among the researchers and institutions for quality
of research.
 History of Intellectual Property Rights

The first law on patent was passed in Venice in 1474 which gave
monopoly rights to artisans for their inventions.

Legislations covering IPRs in India

➢ Patents: The Patents Act, 1970 and was amended in 1999 and 2002. The
amended Act after the amendments made in 2002 came into force on
May 20, 2003.

➢ Design: A new Design Act 2000 has been enacted superseding the earlier
Designs Act 1911.
➢ Trade Mark: A new Trademarks Act, 1999 has been enacted
superseding the earlier Trade and Merchandise Marks Act, 1958. The Act
came in force from September 15, 2003.

➢ Copyright: The Copyright Act, 1957 as amended in 1983, 1984 and

1992, 1994,1999 and the Copyright Rules, 1958.

➢ Protection of Undisclosed Information: No exclusive legislation exists

but the matter would be generally covered under the Contract Act, 1872.
➢ Geographical Indications (GI): The Geographical Indication of Goods
(Registration and Protection) Act 1999.

➢ Protection of Plant Varieties and Farmers’ Rights Act 2001

(PPV&FR - 2001): Sui generis system of plant varieties protection.

➢ National Biological Diversity Act 2002: It shall provide legal protection

to our biodiversity.
 Trade Secret
When an individual organization owning and intellectual property does not
disclose the property to anyone and keep it as a closely guarded secret, it is
called a Trade Secret. Trade secret may relate to formulae, processes or
materials. The best guarded secret of the modern time concerns the
formulation of Coca Cola. (Merchandise 7X, the "secret ingredient" or
"secret formula" in Coca-Cola) [NFL Exam 2021]. The ingredient has
remained a secret since its invention in 1886 by John Pemberton.
Trade secrets offer following advantages

➢ They are for unlimited duration.

➢ It is not necessary to satisfy the rather stringent requirement
for protection under patents.
➢ The cost of filing, contesting and enforcing patent is saved.
➢ The risk of someone improving upon the product, process etc
is minimised.
 Drawbacks of trade secret

➢ Maintaining a trade secret itself a costly affair.

➢ It offers no protection from independent innovation invention.

➢ Nondisclosure of the invention, innovation does not give others a chance

to improve upon the original invention.
➢ It cannot be applied to many inventions example equipment designs,
plant varieties, books etc.
 Trade Mark

A “Trademark” [TM] is defined under Section 2(zb) of the

Indian Trademarks Act, 1999 as “Mark capable of being
represented graphically and which is capable of distinguishing
the goods or services of one person from those of others and
may include a shape of goods, their packaging, and combination
of colors.”
➢ Simply put, a trademark may include a Device, Brand, Heading, Label,
Ticket, Name, Signature, Word, Letter, Numeral, Shape of goods,
Packaging or Combination of colors or any such combinations. The only
qualification for a trademark being its capacity to distinguish the goods
or services of one person from that of another.

➢ For example, one can identify the products of Reebok / LG / Whirlpool

/ Godrej through their logo, which is embossed on their products.
Another example can be the logo of NGO’s like WHO, UNICEF and
so on which differentiates these institutions with each other.
 Industrial design

These aesthetic aspects can be hugely important in the modern

economy. Nowadays consumers face an enormous choice of
products, including many that offer the same basic functionality. So
they will tend to choose the one with the design they find most
attractive within their price range.
Industrial designs are applied to a wide variety of industrial products
and handmade goods: cars, telephones, computers, packaging and
containers, technical and medical instruments, watches, jewelry,
electrical appliances, textile designs, and many other types of goods.
 What designs can be protected?

Industrial design law only protects those aspects of a

product that are ornamental; its technical features may be
protected by patent if they meet the requirements for
patent protection. A design may consist of three-
dimensional features, such as the shape or surface of an
article, or two-dimensional features such as patterns,
lines or colour.
 Industrial design rights

Industrial design rights entitle the right holder to control the

commercial production, importation and sale of products with the
protected design.

Industrial design rights last for a limited period. This varies among
countries, but the maximum period of protection in a country will be at
least ten years. In many countries, owners need to renew their
registration every few years if they want to keep the design protected for
the maximum possible period.
 Patents
Patents are rights related to new discoveries. Patents are
used to protect new product, process and apparatus.

A patent is the right granted by a government to an inventor

to exclude others from imitating, manufacturing, using or
selling the invention in question for commercial use during the
specific period.
Patents are granted for Patents requirement

1. An invention (including a product), The chief requirement for the grant of a patent
are follows.
2. Innovation/improvement in an
1. Novelty
invention,
2. Inventiveness
3. Process/product of an invention, 3. Industrial Application and Usefulness
4. A concept. 4. Patentability
5. Discloser

Novelty - The invention must be new and should not be already known to the public.

Inventiveness- The invention should not be obvious to a person skilled in the art, and
should represent an innovation
Industrial Application and Usefulness - The subject matter of the patent must have
an industrial application, either immediate or in the future that is useful to the
society/nation.

Patentability - The subject matter of a patent must be patentable under the existing
law and its current interpretation. For example, The Indian patent act of 1970
did not allow product patents in pharmaceutical foods and agro chemicals. But this
act has now been amended as Indian patent act 1999 and the new act allows product
patents except for some specified medicine drugs.

Disclosure - The inventor is required to describe his invention in sufficient detail so

that a person of normal skill is able to reproduce it.
 The property which cannot be patented

➢ A scientific principle or an abstract theory.

➢ A discovery of new property or new use for known substance.
➢ A method of agriculture or horticulture.
➢ Inventions relating to Atomic Energy are not patentable.

A famous example of Patent

A patent entitled BASMATI RICE line and grain for a novel, high
yielding, medium dwarf, photo insensitive rice having all the desirable
features of basmati rice was awarded to RiceTech Texas (USA) in USA on
September 2, 1997. These claims were challenged by India and the request
for re-examination of the patent was filed on April 28, 2000.
 Limitations of a Patent
There are 2 basic limitations of patent.

1. Limitation of Time - A patent is valid for a specific period i.e.

15-20 years.

2. Limitation of Space - A patent is valid only in the country of its

award and not in other countries.
Copyright
 Copyright

It provides protection for specified period and only from reproduction of

the copyright material. It however, does not prevent another person from
using either the idea or the information contained in a Copyright material.
Biotechnology Copyright protection is available for DNA sequences.

It is a right that is provided to the owner of a literary or artistic work. It is

an exclusive right to control the publication, distribution and adaptation of
creative works.
❖ Duration / Term of Copyright

➢ The right lies with the owner cum copyright holder for a certain period
of time. As time lapses, the work can be republished or reproduced by
others. In the case of original literary, dramatic, musical and artistic
works, the duration of copyright is the lifetime of the author or artist,
and 60 years counted from the year following the death of the author.

➢ In case of anonymous works, the right lasts for 95 years after

publication or 120 years after the creation.
What can be protected?
1. Literary or dramatic work.
2. A musical work.
3. An artistic work.
4. A cinematograph film.
5. A sound recording.
6. A photograph.
7. A computer generated work.
 Plant variety protection
Plant varieties and animal breeds should be regarded as intellectual
properties of the breeders who have developed them. It may be argued that
these entities are essentially derived from naturally occurring lines, but they
usually represent a considerable reorganization of the existing gene
combinations and skilful selection work.

In USA the following 3 different system of protection are available for IPR
related to plants.
Cont.…

1. The plant patents act 1930: covers varieties of asexually Propagated

crops, example ornamental and fruit trees.

2. The plant variety protection act of 1970 : is US version of the Plant

breeder’s rights system followed by European Union and several other
countries, including India. [PPV&FR – 2001]

3. The utility patent act 1985: was originally meant to cover men made
industrial inventions and process.
Geographical indication ( G I )

A geographical indication is a sign used on

products that have a specific geographical
origin and possess qualities or a reputation that
are due to that origin.
➢ Geographical indications are “indications which identify a good as
originating the territory of a member, or a region or a locality in
that territory, where given quality, reputation or characteristics of
the good is essentially attributable to its geographical origin.

➢ GI covers Agricultural goods, Natural products, Manufactured

products, Goods of Handicraft, and even Food products, but they do
not apply to intellectual properties.
➢ India has invented the Geographical Indications of Goods Act (1999)
which came into force on September 15, 2003. Darjeeling tea was the first
product to be tagged with GI in 2004-05 and 132 products including
Bikaneri bhujia from Rajasthan, Banarasi brocades and sarees had
become GI tagged up to September 2010.

Duration of GIs
The registration of a GI shall be for a period of Ten years but may be
renewed from time to time for an unlimited period by payment of the
renewal fees.
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