PROTECTION OF INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY RIGHTS (IPR)

Intellectual property (IP) is one of the intangible property that is created by the human mind. It refers to mental creations or results of the human intellect, such as innovations, designs, literary and creative works, and commercial symbols, names, and pictures.

Intellectual property rights (IPR) are the legal rights that may be granted to the inventor or creator to safeguard his or her invention or creation for a set time. These legal rights grants the inventor/creator or his assignee the sole right to exploit his invention/creation for a specified time fully. IPR is required for improved invention or creativity identification, planning, marketing, rendering, and protection. IPR contributes to a country's economic development by supporting healthy competition and stimulating industrial development and economic prosperity.

There are several ways to protect IPR, and some of them are as follows:

COPYRIGHT

Literary works, music, theatrical works, choreographic works, sculptural, pictorial, and graphic works, sound recordings, creative works, architectural works, and computer software are all protected by copyright. The copyright holder has the exclusive right to edit, distribute, perform, create, exhibit, and duplicate the work.

The Copyright Act governs copyright. The original work is protected by copyright as soon as it is created. Generally, there is no need to register or apply for copyright because it exists naturally, but registration grants exclusive rights to the owner of the copyright which enables owners to seek monetary damages and the legal expenses in the event of a lawsuit and can assist in enforcing their rights against infringement through litigation.

In India, copyright protection lasts during the author's lifetime and then for 60 years after his death.

Section 51 of the Copyright Act 1957 outlines what constitutes copyright infringement:

When someone does an act that only the owner of the copyright has the right to do or uses a location for commercial purposes to communicate a work to the public, which constitutes an infringement of the work's copyright or when they do so without a license or in violation of the terms of that license, they are said to be infringing on the owner's exclusive rights to do so.

Infringing copies of work may not be made, sold, rented, shown, offered for sale or rental, distributed, displayed in public, imported into India, or used for commercial purposes in a manner that would be unfair to the copyright owner.

Section 52 of the act describes the actions that do not violate copyright, such as fair dealing of works for personal use, private use, or research, duplicating works for legal purposes, and replication done by a teacher or student during research.

PATENT

A patent grants exclusive rights to their inventions. It gives the creator the exclusive right to prohibit others from creating, using, selling, or importing the protected invention without permission, which might be a product or a process that provides a novel way of doing something or offers a new and better solution to a problem. The criteria to get a patent for an invention are that:

• It should be in novel form.

• It should have inventive steps, or it must be non-obvious.

• It should be incapable of Industrial applications.

A person's innovation can be patented only if they follow the methods and fulfill the requirements mentioned in the Patents Act of 1970. The act establishes a precise system for acquiring a patent, beginning with the filing of an application and ending with the grant of a patent. Section 3 of the act includes a list of inventions that are not patentable and cannot be given a patent.

The act also includes provisions regarding the patentee's rights and obligations, the period of the patent, the transfer of the patent, its surrender, revocation, and restoration of the patent, as well as its infringement and its remedies. The act grants patent protection for 20 years, after which the technology or innovation becomes public domain.

A patent is violated whenever the patentee's rights are violated, like when the invention is colorably imitated, or its key characteristics are appropriated. Some of the remedies for patent infringement are as follows:

• Injunction

• Damages or account of profit

• Delivering or destroying counterfeit products

• Validity Certificate

TRADEMARK

Trademarks can be used to protect words, phrases, symbols, and emblems to identify one's goods or services. Trademark registration can remain indefinitely as long as it is used in commerce and is renewed every ten years. As a result, trademarks are one of the most important IP protections for enterprises, as trademark registration allows the owner of the mark exclusive rights to use it and bans others from using similar marks that may cause consumer confusion.

The Trademarks Act of 1999 was passed to ensure the registration of trademarks for goods and services, improve their protection, and stop using fraudulent or fake marks. The common type of trademark infringement is covered under Section 29 of the Trademark Act.

The following conditions must be met to constitute an infringement of the registered trademark:

• The individual is not authorized to use the trademark.

• The infringing trademark is similar or identical, or deceptively similar to an already registered trademark.

• The infringing trademark is must be used in the ordinary course of the registered proprietor's or user's business.

• The infringing trademark must be printed in advertisements, invoices, or bills because simple oral use of a trademark does not constitute infringement.

• Using the entire registered trademark or an adopted trademark with a few additions and changes.

INDUSTRIAL DESIGN

Industrial Designs safeguard a product or object's decorative or aesthetically pleasing features. They cover the aesthetic elements that give a product a distinctive appearance, such as shape, arrangement, pattern, or decoration. Unauthorized copying and imitation are prevented by industrial design protection.

The protection provided by Industrial Design is that the owner of the registered industrial design has the right to forbid others from producing, distributing, or importing goods with designs that are copies of or strikingly similar to the protected design.

The products eligible for industrial design protection include - industrial goods, handmade things, domestic products, lighting equipment, jewellery, electronic devices, textiles, etc.

The law relating to the protection of designs in India is the Designs Act of 2000. The act intends to encourage the creation of unique and original designs while balancing competing interests by allowing the owner of a registered design a limited-time monopoly right to use that design. The act comprises provisions related to design registration, copyright in registered designs also, moreover industrial and international exhibitions, the restoration of expired designs, the fine for violating registered design rights, etc.

The Designs Act of 2000 protects designs that are registered under the act. It protects the design for ten years, which can be extended for another 5 years, but it should be done before the expiration of the 10 years.

It is essential to protect your Intellectual Property before it's too late!

Kirti Jaiswal

BBA LL.B

ALS Patna