RICHTERLICH ACADEMY

( JUNIOR CIVIL JUDGE, APP, TSAPP. CLAT, TSPGLCET, TS LAWCET, UPSC

LAW OPTIONAL)
2nd INTERNALS IMPORTANT QUESTIONS FOR
INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY RIGHTS
WRITTEN BY ROMANA ( BA.LLB, LLM, PGD)

The term “Intellectual Property Rights (IPR)” is used to refer to the bundle of
rights conferred by law on a creator/owner of intellectual property. These are the
rights that a person has over the creations of his mind. They seek to protect the
interests of the creators by rewarding their mental labour and allowing them to
retain property rights over their creations. The creators and inventors are thus
allowed to benefit from their creations. IP rights are the legal rights governing
the use of intellectual property

What are the 4 types of Intellectual Property?

The 4 main types of intellectual property are listed below.

1. Patents – It is used for protecting new inventions, ideas, or processes.

Patent holders need to pay periodic government renewal fees. An
approved patent is for a limited time period.

2. Copyrights – It protects the ideas, examples would be written works,

music, art, etc.

3. Trademarks – It is something that protects the symbols, colors, phrases,

sounds, design etc.

4. Trade Secrets – It may be strategies, systems, formulas, or other

confidential information of an organization that provides them a
competitive advantage in the market.
Copyright

The term ‘copyright’ concerns the rights of the creators/authors of literary and
artistic works. A copyright is also called a ‘literary right’ or ‘author’s right’.
Copyright gives an author exclusive rights to his creation and prevents the
copying and unauthorised publishing of his work. Copyright protection begins
at the very moment a work is created and expressed in some tangible form.
Copyright protection is granted to a work that is an original creation. Also, the
protection extends only to expressions. Mere ideas without any tangible
expression are not granted legal protection and do not form the subject matter of
copyright.

Patents

A patent is an exclusive right granted for an invention or innovation, which

might be a product, a method or a process, that introduces a novel way of doing
something or offers a new technical solution to a problem. In other words, it is a
right of monopoly granted to a person who has invented:

1. a new and useful article, or

2. improvement of an existing article, or

3. a new process of making an article.

TRADE MARK

A trademark is a symbol that is used to distinguish the goods of one enterprise

from its competitors. A trademark may consist of a single letter, logo, symbol,
design, or numerals and three-dimensional features such as shape and
packaging, etc. Section 2(zb) of the Trademarks Act, 1999 defines “trademark”
as a mark capable of graphical representation and which can be used to
distinguish the goods or services of one person from those of others. A
trademark may include the shape of goods, their packaging, and a combination
of colours. Hence, distinctiveness is the hallmark of a trademark.

Geographical Indications (GI)

A geographical indication (GI) is used to identify goods having a specific

geographical origin. These indications denote quality, reputation, or other
characteristics of such goods essentially attributable to their geographical origin.
Generally, geographical indications are used for foodstuffs, agricultural
products, wine, industrial products and handicrafts. Examples of GI include
Basmati Rice, Darjeeling Tea etc.

Industrial designs

An industrial design means the ornamental or visual aspects of an article. It may

consist of three-dimensional features, for instance, the shape of an article, or
two-dimensional features, such as lines, patterns, or colour. An industrial design
is purely aesthetic, non-functional, and has no utility. It is necessary to provide
legal protection to the creative originality of an industrial design to prevent
others from copying it.

Trade Secrets

Trade Secrets are IP rights on confidential information which may be sold or

licensed. A trade secret refers to any confidential business information and may
include designs, drawings, plans, business strategies, R & D related
information, etc. In order to qualify as a trade secret, the information should be
commercially valuable i.e. useful in a trade or business, known to a small
number of people, and subject to reasonable steps taken by the rightful holder of
the information to keep it secret.

Berne Convention for Protection of Literary and Artistic Works, 1886

The Berne Convention for Protection of Literary and Artistic Works adopted in
1886 is the most significant International Convention dealing with copyright
protection. It provides for a minimum term of protection of copyright i.e. life of
the author plus 50 years or an alternative of 50 years from the publication of
anonymous and pseudonymous works. The Convention is based on three basic
principles:

Principle of national treatment:

Principle of automatic protection

Principle of “independence” of protection:

World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO)

Established on 14th July 1967, WIPO is a global forum for intellectual property
(IP) services, policies, information, and cooperation. It aims to develop an
effective and balanced international IP system that encourages innovation and
creativity for the benefit of all. WIPO has 193 member states.

Objectives of WIPO

 Promoting intellectual property protection around the world through

state cooperation and partnership with any international organisation;
 Harmonising national intellectual property legislations and procedures;
 To provide services with regard to international applications for
intellectual property rights;
TRIPS Agreement

The WTO Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights

(TRIPS) 1994 is an international level multilateral agreement that deals with the
protection of intellectual property rights. The TRIPS Agreement recognizes the
importance of IP in international trade and also provides a dispute resolution
and prevention mechanism for trade-related IP issues. Every member of WTO is
required to observe the provisions of TRIPs and provide a minimum level of IP
protection in their national laws.

The Paris Convention on the Protection of Industrial Property

The Paris Convention on the Protection of Industrial Property adopted in 1883

is the oldest international convention and was the first major step taken towards
the protection of IP rights. The Convention contains 30 Articles dealing with
various aspects and types of industrial property including patents, trademarks,
service marks, utility models, industrial designs, geographical indications, and
the repression of unfair competition. The Convention was revised in July 1967
in Stockholm.The Convention is based on three guiding principles:

National treatment:

Right of priority:

Uniform rules:

Patent Co-operation Treaty, 1970

The Patent Co-operation Treaty (PCT) was concluded on 19th June, 1970 and
came into effect on 24th January, 1978. The treaty aims to simplify the
procedure of filing patent applications in states that are party to the treaty
agreement. It provides a system for filing a patent application and entitles the
nationals of a contracting state to obtain patents in multiple countries around the
world on the basis of a single patent application.