Intellectual Property
Rights
What is intellectual property?
Intellectual property refers to creations of the
mind. It can be an invention, a design, a brand
name or a literary and artistic work .
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.
Intellectualproperty rights (IPR) refers to the
legal rights given to the inventor or creator to
protect his invention or creation for a certain
period.
The definition of intellectual property rights is
any and all rights associated with intangible
assets owned by a person or company and
protected against use without consent.
Intangible assets refer to non-physical
property, including right of ownership in
intellectual property .
Types of IPR
1. Trademarks
Trademarks protect logos, sounds or symbols used by a company to distinguish
its service or product. Trademark is 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
colors…’.
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
2. 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.
3. Patent
A patent is a government-granted monopoly to build, sell, and use your
invention (and prevent others from doing so). A ‘Patent’ is an intellectual
property right which protects any new invention.
A patent is granted for a term of 20 (twenty) years from the date of filling
of the application. 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
4. Copyrights
Copyrights protect original works of authorship, such as paintings,
photographs, musical compositions, sound recordings, computer
programs, books, blog posts, movies, architectural works, and plays.
Further, the owner has the right to license the copyright of their work to
third-parties through a written agreement.
5. The Geographical Indications of Goods
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. The GI
Act covers only goods such as agricultural goods, food stuff, handicraft goods,
manufactured goods, and natural goods.
Eg: Banarsi Saree
6. Industrial Design
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 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’
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.
(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.
INFRINGEMENT OF IPR
Meaning:
The action of breaking the terms of a law, agreement, etc.; violation.
An intellectual property (IP) infringement is the infringement or violation of
an intellectual property right.
Copyright infringement can occur when you copy or upload an image, without
permission, that is not your own or is not licensed to you.
Trademark infringement is the unauthorized use of a trademark in a manner that is
likely to cause consumers to be confused as to the source of the product,
Patents may be registered with each jurisdiction’s regional patent office. Making,
using, selling, or offering to sell a patented invention or design without the
permission of the patent owner may constitute patent infringement.
REMEDIES FOR INFRINGEMENT
Injunctions
An injunction is the most common remedy for all IPR infringements.
Injunctions are court orders that require named individuals to refrain
from doing certain specified acts (eg using the IPR owner’s intellectual
property).
Damages or account of profits
Where a profit has been made as a result of the IPR infringement, the
IPR owner may be entitled to compensation.
Damages usually cover the value of the damage done to the IPR
owner, while an account of profits covers the profits that the
infringing party has made as a result of their infringement.