INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY RIGHTS FATHIMA HUSSAIN

BC0180014
CLASS REPORT

CHARACTERISTICS OF INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY

 Intangible
 Non rivalrous
 Territorial
 Rights and duties
 Assignability
 Exhaustion
 Dynamic
 Public policy
 Co – existence

Intangible:

IP is first a thought process and a mental expression which is eventually given a physical form,
after which we get intellectual property rights for it. This feature is unique to intellectual
property alone. IP = Mental process + Physical form (end result).

Non – Rivalrous:

Multiple copies of one single intellectual property can be made and hence there will be no
scarcity. Any number of copies can be made to supply the demand with the permission of the
owner. This is also a unique feature of IP.

Ex. Multiple copies of one single book can be made and sold.

Territorial:

All intellectual properties are territorial in nature i.e. they are recognized and given protection by
the laws of the land. In case of Indian laws, say the Patent Act, Copyright act, Trademark Act, GI
Act etc. the territorial limit is within India only. For example, in case of copyrights, for purpose
of protection, the work has to be created within the territorial limits only.

Beyond, these territorial limits protection is accorded based on international agreements. In case
of international protection, the international laws offer protection for which an international
application is to be made by the creator and the protection will be granted on the basis of
individual recognition or reciprocity. But here also, the protection extends only till the member
countries and not beyond that. Ex. The TRIPS agreement.

Rights and Duties:

The ownership rights granted to the creator/owner of IP and in return there are certain duties that
come attached. It is a two way process. Once IPR is granted, the right to economically exploit
comes attached. There is a duty to make sure that sufficient amount of product is available to
supply the demand. There are, however, checks and balances to make sure that the statutes are
not misused. Ex. Duty to disclose all the details that comes attached with the patents rights.

Assignability:

It is a concept where you can assign your rights that the statute has given you, to someone else
for a certain amount of consideration. The person to whom these rights are transferred then
becomes the owner and not the creator. Ex. The author of a book assigning the right to individual
publisher like amazon, to publish and sell his book for a consideration.

Exhaustion:

This principle is such that, the moment a copy/product is sold, all rights associated with the
product exhaust. For example, you cannot go dictate where a book is sold once it becomes a
second hand product. The rights exist only with respect to second hand transactions. Exhaustion
is the characteristic of patent, copyright and trademark but not that of GI, Trade secrets and plant
variety.

Dynamic:

IPR is not a static field in the sense, it changes over time i.e. whenever there are new types of
products or inventions IPR tries to expand its scope and brings them under its purview.
Copyright is the most dynamic/volatile field as it has been expanding since 1800s and it was
initially only for books but now it is for movies, audio tapes, songs etc. IP expands its horizons
with the development of technology.

Public Policy:

This characteristic is more like a limitation than a characteristics. IPR is not granted to a creation
that is against the public policy. Things used in creations or art forms that are of objectionable
natures are not granted protection. The extent or standard of public policy applicable, might not
be the same in all intellectual properties. For example, anything that affects aspects of ethics will
not be granted patents. Ex. The embryonic stem cell technique will not be granted intellectual
property as it is against the medical ethics.

Co-existence:

There can be several IPs granted to one single product i.e. multiple Intellectual Property
protections can co-exist in one particular creation.

Ex. Patent, copyright and various other Intellectual properties co-existing in the apple product.