Introduction to Intellectual Property

 Intellectual property (IP) is a category of property that includes intangible creations of the
human intellect and
 intellectual property right protects the interest of creators by providing them property rights
over their creations.
 Intellectual property rights are bundle of rights which allow the right holders to exclude
unauthorised people from exploiting the creation commercially for a given period of time.

Objectives of Intellectual Property Rights

 The main purpose of intellectual property law is to encourage the creation of a wide variety of
intellectual goods for consumers.
 To achieve this, the law gives people and businesses property rights to the information and
intellectual goods they create, usually for a limited period of time.
 Because they can then profit from them, this gives economic incentive for their creation.
 The intangible nature of intellectual property presents difficulties when compared with
traditional property like land or goods.
 Unlike traditional property, intellectual property is indivisible – an unlimited number of people
can "consume" an intellectual good without it being depleted.
 Additionally, investments in intellectual goods suffer from problems of appropriation – while a
landowner can surround their land with a robust fence and hire armed guards to protect it, a
producer of information or an intellectual good can usually do very little to stop their first buyer
from replicating it and selling it at a lower price.
 Balancing rights so that they are strong enough to encourage the creation of information and
intellectual goods but not so strong that they prevent their wide use is the primary focus of
modern intellectual property law. By exchanging limited exclusive rights for disclosure of
inventions and creative works, society and the patentee/copyright owner mutually benefit, and
an incentive is created for inventors and authors to create and disclose their work.

TYPES OF INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY

1. Copyrights

Copyright is a type of intellectual property that protects original works of authorship as soon as an
author fixes the work in a tangible form of expression. Copyright Act, 1957 is the Related Domestic
Law

2. Trademarks
A trademark is any word, name, symbol, or design, or any combination thereof, used in
commerce to identify and distinguish the goods of one manufacturer or seller from those of
another and to indicate the source of the goods. Trade Marks Act, 1999 is the Related Domestic
Law
 3. Patents
A patent is an exclusive right granted for an invention, which is a product or a process that
provides, in general, a new way of doing something, or offers a new technical solution to a
problem. To get a patent, technical information about the invention must be disclosed to the
public in a patent application. Patents Act, 1970 is the Related Domestic Law
4. Geographical Indication
A geographical indication (GI) is a sign used on products that have a specific geographical origin
and possess qualities or a reputation that are due to that origin. In order to function as a GI, a
sign must identify a product as originating in a given place. Geographical Indications of Goods
(Registration and Protection) Act, 1999 is the Related Domestic Law
5. Industrial Design
According to the Section 2 (d) Designs Act, 2000 an Industrial Design is defined as
“the features of shape, configuration, pattern or ornament or composition of lines or color or a
combination thereof applied to any article whether 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 and are judged solely by the eye.”

Simply put, a design is the overall visual appearance of the product that is unique to the product.

The shape, combination of colors, composition of lines, and the like may render the uniqueness of the
appearance.

Trade Marks Act, 1999

 Brief history of law of Trademark in India

The law of trademark in India before 1940 was based on the common law principles of passing
off and equity as followed in England before the enactment of the first Registration Act, 1875.
The first statutory law related to trademark in India was the Trade Marks Act, 1940 which had
similar provision like the UK Trade Marks Act, 1938. In 1958, the Trade and Merchandise Marks
Act, 1958 was enacted which consolidated the provisions related to trademarks contained in
other statutes like, the Indian Penal Code, Criminal Procedure Code and the Sea Customs Act.
The Trade and Merchandise Marks Act, 1958 was repealed by the Trade Marks Act, 1999 and is
the current governing law related to registered trademarks.
 Reason behind the enactment of the Trade Marks Act, 1999
The 1999 Act was enacted to comply with the provisions of the TRIPS. Though some aspects of
the unregistered trade marks have been enacted into the 1999 Act, but they are primarily
governed by the common law rules based on the principles evolved out of the judgments of the
Courts. Where the law is ambiguous, the principles evolved and interpretation made by the
Courts in England have been applied in India taking into consideration the context of the legal
procedure, laws and realities of India.
  Definition of Trade Marks
Trademark defined under Section 2 (zb) of the Trade Marks Act, 1999 as, "trade mark means a
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 shape of goods, their packaging
and combination of colours." A mark can include a device, brand, heading, label, ticket, name,
signature, word, letter, numeral, shape of goods, packaging or combination of colors or any such
combinations
 Symbols associated with Indian trademarks.
The two symbols associated with Indian trademarks ™ (the trademark symbol) and ® (the
registered trademark symbol) represent the status of a mark and accordingly its level of
protection. While ™ can be used with any common law usage of a mark, ® may only be used by
the owner of a mark following registration with the relevant national authority.
 The new Trademark Rules
With effect from 6th March 2017, the new trademark rules came into existence. The intention
is to simplify the whole trademark registration process and make it hassle-free and quick. Some
of the features of the new rules are sound marks are made registrable; 3D marks are made
registrable; e-filing is promoted; provisions pertaining to well-known mark; separate fees
structure for an individual/startup/small enterprise and for others; expedited processing of
application; hearing via video conferencing; and the number of forms has been cut down to 8
from the existing around 75 forms.

Statutory protection of trademark is administered by the Controller General of Patents, Designs

and Trade Marks, a government agency which reports to the Department of Industrial Policy
and Promotion (DIPP), under the Ministry of Commerce and Industry.
The law of trademark deals with the mechanism of registration, protection of trademark and
prevention of fraudulent trademark. The law also provides for the rights acquired by
registration of trademark, modes of transfer and assignment of the rights, nature of
infringements, penalties for such infringement and remedies available to the owner in case of
such infringement.
Geographical Indications

 Geographical Indication (GI) is a sign used on a product that originates from a specific
geographical location.
 The product must possess reputation and qualities of the place of origin.
 GI are generally registered on products produced by rural, marginal and indigenous
communities over generations that have garnered massive reputation at the international
and national level due to some of its unique qualities.
 GI tag gives the right to only those registered users the right to use the product name, and
prevents others from using the product name that does not meet the standards prescribed.

Geographical Indications – Type of Products

GI tags are used on the following types of products.

1. Handicrafts – Examples would be Madhubani Paintings, Mysore Silk

2. Food items – Example would be Tirupati Laddu, Rasgulla.
3. Wine & Drinks – Example would be Champagne, Cognac of France; Scotch Whisky of UK, Tequila
of Mexico.
4. Industrial Products
5. Agricultural Products – Basmati Rice

Geographical Indications – Laws & Treaties

There are many laws and treaties enacted by the World Intellectual Property Organisation
(WIPO) and World Trade Organisation (WTO) for the protection of Geographical Indications.

WIPO

3 main Treaties enacted for protection of Geographical Indications under WIPO are listed below.

1. Paris Convention
2. Madrid Agreement
3. Lisbon Agreement
WTO

The main Agreement under WTO for protection of Geographical Indications is listed below.

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

Geographical Indications – Law passed in India

Government of India enacted Geographical Indications of Goods (Registration and Protection)

Act, 1999. This act came into force in September, 2003.

Geographical Indication Registered Products – India

1. As of March 2020, India had registered 361 Geographical Indication Products.
2. Registration of GI’s began in the year 2004-05 after the above mentioned law came into effect in
2003.
3. Darjeeling Tea of West Bengal was the first product to receive the GI tag in India. Both the
product and the logo received the GI tag.
4. In the first year apart from Darjeeling Tea, the other products to receive GI tags were Aranmula
Kannadi a Handicraft from Kerala, Pochampalli Ikat a Handicraft from Telangana.
5. The latest 4 products to receive GI tags were Dindigul Locks, manufactured product from Tamil
Nadu, Kandangi Saree a handicraft of Tamil Nadu, Srivilliputtur Palkova Food stuff of Tamil Nadu,
and the 361st GI product (the last product to receive GI Tag as of March 2020), is Kaji Nemu an
agricultural product of Assam.
6. Out of 361 GI products registered in India, 15 products are originating from 9 different countries
– Italy, France, UK, USA, Ireland, Mexico, Thailand, Peru, Portugal.
Geographical Indications – Origin from Different States

1. There are some products which have its origins from different states, in such a scenario the
origin will be mentioned as India.
2. Phulkari Handicraft – Origin from Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan.
3. Warli Painting – Maharashtra, Gujarat, Daman & Diu
4. Malabar Robusta Coffee – Kerala & Karnataka
Geographical Indications – States in India

1. Karnataka has the highest registered GI products in India. It has 42 GI products.

2. Tamil Nadu has the 2nd highest GI registered products. It has 35 GI products.
3. Maharashtra has the 3rd highest GI registered products. It has 30 GI products.
4. Jharkhand has no GI’s registered.
5. Haryana and Punjab does not have GI products registered under its name individually.

The laws in force for the protection of intellectual work in India are, namely:
[Link] Act, 1957

2. Patents Act, 1970

3. Trade Marks Act, 1999

[Link] Indications of Goods (Registration and Protection) Act, 1999

[Link] Act, 2000

6. Semiconductor Integrated Circuits Layout-Design Act,2000

7. Protection of Plant Varieties and Farmers’ Rights Act, 2001

The international arrangements for the protection of intellectual property

are tabulated below.

Copyright

(a) Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic

Work, 1886

(b)Rome Convention for the Protection of Performers, Producers of

Phonograms and Broadcasting Organisations, 1961

(c) Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights

Agreement, 1994

(d) WIPO Copyright Treaty, 1996

(e) WIPO Performances and Phonograms Treaty, 1996

(f) Beijing Treaty on Audiovisual Performances, 2012

Patents

(a) Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property, 1883

(b) Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights Agreement,

1994

(c) Patent Cooperation Treaty, 1970

(d) Budapest Treaty, 1977

Trade marks

(a) Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property, 1883

(b) Madrid Agreement, 1891
(c) Nice Agreement Concerning the International Classification of
Goods and Services for the Purpose of Registration of Marks, 1957
(d) Vienna Agreement Establishing an International Classification of
the Figurative Elements of Marks, 1973
(e)Madrid Protocol, 1989
(f) Trade Mark Law Treaty, 1994
(g) Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights Agreement,
1994
(h) 5 Singapore Law Treaty on the Law of Trademarks, 2006

Geographical indications

(a) Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights Agreement,

1994

Semiconductor integrated circuits layout-design

 (a)Treaty on Intellectual Property in Respect of Integrated Circuits, 1989

(b)Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights Agreement, 1994

Designs

(a) Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property, 1883

(b)The Hague Agreement Concerning the International Registration of

Industrial Designs, 1934

(c) International Classification of Industrial Designs (the Locarno

Classification), 1968

(d) Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights Agreement, 1994

Protection of plant varieties

(a) Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights Agreement, 1994