Intellectual Property Rights Overview

Study Notes

Intellectual Property Rights (IPR)

IPR are legal rights protecting intellectual activity in industrial, scientific, literary, and artistic fields.
IPR safeguards creators and producers of intellectual goods & services by granting them limited rights to control their use.
IPR can be traded, owned, sold, or bought.
IPR are intangible and non-exhausted consumption.

Types of IPR

Patents: exclusive rights granted for inventions (products or processes), protecting the owner for 20 years.
- Protects inventions from unauthorized commercial use, such as making, using, distributing, or selling.
- Owners can license or sell their patent rights.
- After expiration, the invention enters the public domain, allowing anyone to use it commercially.
Trademarks: distinctive signs identifying goods or services produced by a specific person or enterprise.
- Can be words, letters, numerals, drawings, symbols, 3D signs (shape, packaging), sounds, fragrances, or colors.
- Grants exclusive right to use the trademark to identify goods or services.
- Helps consumers recognize and purchase products/services based on their quality and trademark.
- Registration provides prima facie proof of ownership and grants statutory rights.
- Initial registration is for 10 years, renewable indefinitely.
Copyright and related rights: legal rights for creators of literary and artistic works.
- Include: literary works (novels, poems, plays, etc.), databases, films, music, choreography, artistic works, architecture, advertisements, maps, technical drawings.
- Copyright subsists upon creation, registration is not mandatory but recommended for evidence of ownership.
- Creators often sell rights to their works for royalties (payments based on actual use).
- Economic rights have a time limit: life of the author plus 60 years after their death (except for photographs).
Geographical Indications (GI): signs used on goods with a specific geographical origin, possessing qualities or reputation due to that origin.
- Typically agricultural products with qualities derived from their place of production (climate, soil, manufacturing skills, traditions).
- Grants exclusive rights to a community, benefits shared by all members.
- Examples: Chanderi Sarees, Kullu Shawls, Wet Grinders.
Industrial Designs: creative activity resulting in the visual appearance of a product.
- Protects the ornamental, aesthetic, and functional features of a product.
- Grants exclusive rights to use the design for a certain period.
- Helps manufacturers to differentiate their products in the market.