MODULE V

Intellectual property is a property that arises from human intellect. It is a product of human
creation.

Two kinds of IP

1. Copyright and related rights

2. Industrial property

Intellectual Property Rights

"Intellectual Property Rights" refers to the legal rights granted with the aim to protect the
creations of the intellect.

Types of IP

1. Patents

2. Copyright

3. Industrial design

4. Trademarks

5. Geographical indications

6. Semiconductor and layout Designs

7. The protection of new Plant Varieties

8. Undisclosed Information/ Trade secret

Intellectual Property related laws in India

1. The Copyrights Act, 1957 (“Copyright Act”)

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

3. The Patents Act, 1970 (“Patents Act”)

4. The Design Act, 2000 (“Design Act”)

5. The Semiconductor Integrated Circuits Layout- Design Act, 2000 (“SICLD Act”)
 6. The Geographical Indications of Goods (Registration and Protection) Act, 1999 (“GI
Act”)

7. The Protection of Plant Varieties and Farmer’s Rights Act, 2001 (“Plant Varieties
Act”)

Interface b/w IP and Cyber laws

The Intellectual Property Rights protect the original work in fields of art, literature,
photography, writing, paintings, even choreography in written format, and audio, or video
files. The IPR protects these works both in tangible and intangible form. Patent, Copyright,
Trademarks, Trade Secrets, Industrial and Layout Designs, Geographical Indications are
intellectual property rights for which legal remedies are available even for online
infringements. The IT Act has addressed the misuse of technology in form of cybercrimes.
The IP rights and cyber technology go hand in hand but it Act has not recognized the IPR
violations within the IT Act. The crimes addressing the misuse of technology and IPR are not
addressed as crime IT Act, 2000.

Intellectual Property Rights in Cyberspace

● Copyright
● Patent
● Trade mark
● Trade Secrets

Copyright law protects expressions of ideas rather than the ideas themselves. It protects
original works of ownership. It gives an exclusive right to do or authorize others to do certain
acts in relation to literary, dramatic, musical, and artistic works, cinematography, and sound
recordings. Thus, Computer programs are also included in literary works.

Copyright Infringement

Copyright protection is granted to the owner of any published artistic, literary, dramatic, or
scientific work over his work in order to prevent others from using that work under his own
name and profiting from it. Infringement of these copyrights includes unauthorised use,
creating and distributing copies of software, unauthorised sale of the same, and illegal
copying from websites or blogs.
Online Copyright Violations

1. Caching

Caching is the process in which material is duplicated from a unique source to the
cache. Such material would be accessible to the user for a temporary timeframe.

2. Plagiarism

The stealing of ideas, words, expressions, illustrations, tables, figures, thoughts are
very much too difficult to identify. This type of stealing are regarded as Plagiarism. It
could be deliberate or unintended. It is one of the most serious academic writing
violations. The English word "plagiarism" comes from the Latin word "plagiare,"
which meaning "to kidnap or abduct." Plagiarism is defined as stealing and passing
off another's ideas or words as one's own. It is literary theft and can be considered
fraud because it contains both aspects, namely stealing someone else's work and then
lying about it.

3. Protection of Database

4. Software Piracy

Software piracy is the act of creating unauthorised copies of computer software that is
protected under the Copyright Act of 1957.

The categories of piracy are as follows:

a) Soft- lifting entails sharing a programme with an unauthorised person without a

licence agreement.

b) Software Counterfeiting - programme counterfeiting is the production of fraudulent

copies of software that imitate the original and are less expensive than the original
programme. This includes delivering the box, CDs, and manuals, all of which are
customised to seem as close to the original as feasible.

c) Renting entails someone renting a copy of software for temporary use without the
consent of the copyright holder, which is a violation of the software licence
agreement.
 Linking

Linking refers to directing a user of a website to another webpage by action of

clicking on a text or image without leaving the current page. It poses a threat to rights
and interests of the owner of the website and the owner can lose the income as it
related to the number of users visiting the websites. It may lead users to believe that
the two websites are linked and are under same domain and ownership.

Patent and cyberspace

Patent is a monopoly right granted to the owner of an invention to make, use,

manufacture and market the invention. Patent can be given to product/ process. Any
kinds of practical application in the computer device is known to be patentable.

Program algorithms, Program language translations, Menu arrangements, OS

functions, Editing functions and interface features, Display presentations are all
patentable things in cyberspace.

Trademark and Cyberspace

A trademark is a sign which can distinguish the goods and services of one trader from
those of another for example, a sign includes logos, pictures or a combination of
these.

Characteristics

• It must be distinctive or the goods or services for which the trademark is applied for

• It must not be deceptive or contrary to any law, public policy, morality

• It must not be similar or identical to any earlier marks from the same or similar
goods or services.

Domain Name

A domain name is the linguistic counterpart of what we call an Internet Protocol (IP)
address. A domain name is the text that a user types into a browser window to reach a
particular website.

E.g. The domain name for Google is ‘[Link]’.

Domain names are typically broken up into two or three parts, each separated by a dot.
 1. The section to the right of the last dot in a domain name is the top-level domain
(TLD).

2. To the left of the TLD is the second-level domain (2LD)

3. To the left of the 2LD, it is called the third-level domain (3LD)

Eg. US domain name, ‘[Link]’

’.com’ is the TLD (most general)

’google’ is the 2LD (most specific)

Purpose of Domain name

1. They are much easier to remember than IP addresses, thus making Internet user
friendly.

2. This allow the Internet to operate efficiently because the various levels in domain
names are hierarchical. Different servers maintain the addresses for different levels of
a domain name.

Domain name Disputes

1. Cybersquatting

2. Reverse Cybersquatting

3. Typo Squatting

4. Meta tags

⮚ Cyber Squatting
A cyber squatter is the person who registers a domain name that is similar to a registered
trademark. They try to extract money from the trademark holder in exchange of domain
name. This is also termed as domain name piracy, Cyber Piracy or Cyber squatting.
Cybersquatting is a type of cybercrime that involves the replication of a domain name in
such a way that the produced domain name can fool users of the famous one, with the
purpose of profiting from it. This is accomplished by registering, selling, or trafficking a
well-known domain name in order to cash in on its goodwill. When two or more persons
compete for the right to register the same domain name, a domain name dispute occurs. A
domain name dispute also occurs when a trademark that has already been registered is
registered by another individual or organisation that is not the owner of the trademark that
has already been registered.

⮚ Reverse CyberSquatting
It means depriving a Domain name owner from their Domain Name. When a trade mark
owner tries to secure a domain name by making false claims against DN owner through
legal action forcing the other parties to surrender their Domain name.

⮚ Typo squatting
Registering a domain name which is mirror variation or common typographical
permutations of already registered domain names to divert the attention of internet users
to their websites by typing errors.

Eg. [Link] and [Link]

Registering [Link] where [Link] is registered

⮚ Meta tagging is a technique to increase the number of users accessing a site by

including a word in the keyword section so that the search engine picks up the
word and direct the users to the site despite the site having nothing to do with that
word. This may result in trademark infringement when a website contains meta
tags of other websites thereby affecting their business.