IP Law Overview PDF

LESSON 1 (cont.) IP LAW: GENERAL OVERVIEW 1. Introduction 2. Types of rights 3.Global, regional and national protection 1  1. Intro...

LESSON 1 (cont.) IP LAW: GENERAL OVERVIEW 1. Introduction 2. Types of rights 3.Global, regional and national protection 1  1. Introduction A) Concept of Intellectual Property Right (IPR): Legal rights which result from intellectual activity in the industrial, scientific, literary and artistic fields Those rights do not apply to the physical object in which the creation may be embodied but instead to the intellectual creation as such Rights that are born through registration (with some exceptions) and that are time-limited B) Terminology: Intellectual Property vs. Industrial Property Common law: “intellectual property" includes all those rights à traditionally divided in 2 branches: ”industrial property" (Patents, Trademarks, Design...) and “copyright” (“authors’ rights” and “connected rights”) Civil Law Tradition (continental Europe): “intellectual property” only for “authors’ rights” and “connected rights”, and “industrial property” for the rest (Patents, Trademarks, Design...) 2  1. Introduction C) Examples of IPR Patents: inventions / examination and registration Trademarks: distinction of products and services/ examination and registration Design: esthetical external appearance / registration (with some exceptions) Copyright (authors’ rights): literary and artistic creations 3  1. Introduction D) Rationale for regulation: to protect the moral and economic rights of creators on their creations, and regulate the rights of the public in access to those creations, in order to promote creativity and the dissemination and application of its results, and to encourage fair trading which would contribute to economic and social development Otherwise, risk to disincentivise investments (time and resources) for the creation and invention of new products ( “free-ride” problem) à need for protectionà IPR economic importance: Pharmaceutical Dolby noise reduction system: patent: DNA copy process: TM estimated value: TM estimated value : 87% Company’s income 105 billon $ between patent sold for 266 million € 70,2 billon € 263.4 billion $ 1997-2009 4  2. Types of rights A) Introduction IPR can be classified in 2 fields: “authors’ rights” and “connected rights” (“intellectual property” in the Civil Law terminology): authors’ rights (copyright): rights on literary and artistic works, such as novels, poems, theatre plays, movies, musical works, drawings, paintings, photography, sculptures... connected rights (= rights connected to the author’s rights): rights of artists who interpret or execute the works, of phonograms’ producers and of broadcasting organizations Industrial property: Distinctive signs: trademarks, trade names, indications of provenance Protection of inventions: patents, utility models, topographies of semiconductor products, plant variety rights... Design: industrial designs (on aesthetic creations) 5  2. Types of rights B) Trademarks any sign, capable of being represented on the Registry, which distinguishes the goods and services of one undertaking from those of another Key concept: distinctive capacity (its absence is grounds for absolute prohibition of registration à ex officio examination by the relevant Office) Several types of signs can be used as TM: graphical signs, numbers, figures, colours, shapes, textures… very often several types in combination (mixed TM) Procedure: examination and registration Protection against unauthorized use 6  2. Types of rights B) Trademarks: one undertaking can be the owner of multiple TM 7  2. Types of rights C) Patents they protect inventions that solve technical problems they grant an exclusive right to prevent others to produce, use or market the invention (in the corresponding territorial scope and during a limited time – usually 20 years) In return, the invention must be made public (in the patent application à Patent registration = public) Products or processes may be patented 8  2. Types of rights D) Design Protects the external (aesthetic) appearance of a product Grant an exclusive right to prevent others from using it (in the corresponding territorial scope and during a limited time – maximum 25 years) Possibility of limited protection without registration (unregistered community design..> maximum 3 years) 9  3. Global, regional and national protection A) Global/International Protection Basic principles of IPRs: Principle of territoriality Principle of independence International Protection: International Agreements, of general or specific scope General: minimum protection in all contracting parties à Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property (1883), WTO Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) Specific: procedural (single application for protection in all contracting parties à different agreements for different IPRs (trademarks, patents, design...) 10  3. Global, regional and national protection A1) General agreements: Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property (1883): https://www.wipo.int/treaties/es/ip/paris/summary_paris.html principle of national treatment right of priority (12 months for patents; 6 months for trademarks and design) minimum common standards for patents, trade marks, design, trade names, indications of provenance and unfair competition Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS): https://www.wto.org/spanish/tratop_s/trips_s/t_agm0_s.htm Part I (general provisions and basic principles): national treatment and most-favoured-nation treatment Part II: Minimum Basic Standards for Industrial Property, Copyright and Trade Secrets Part III: Procedures, Measures and Remedies to Ensure IPR Protection 11  3. Global, regional and national protection A2) Specific agreements Trademarks Madrid Agreement Concerning the International Registration of Marks (1891) and the Protocol Relating to that Agreement (1989) https://www.wipo.int/treaties/en/registration/madrid/ Nice Agreement Concerning the International Classification of Goods and Services for the Purposes of the Registration of Marks https://www.wipo.int/treaties/en/classification/nice/ Trademark Law Treaty (1994) https://www.wipo.int/treaties/en/ip/tlt/ Appellations of Origin: Lisbon Agreement for the Protection of Appellations of Origin and their International Registration (1958) https://www.wipo.int/treaties/en/registration/lisbon/ 12  3. Global, regional and national protection A2) Specific agreements (cont): Patents and utility models: Patent Cooperation Treaty (1970) https://www.wipo.int/pct/en/index.html Strasbourg Agreement Concerning the International Patent Classification (1971) https://www.wipo.int/treaties/en/classification/strasbourg/ Patent Law Treaty (2000) https://www.wipo.int/treaties/en/ip/plt/summary_plt.html Industrial design: Hague Agreement Concerning the International Registration of Industrial Designs (1925) https://www.wipo.int/treaties/en/registration/hague/index.html Locarno Agreement Establishing an International Classification for Industrial Designs (Locarno Classification) (1968) https://www.wipo.int/classifications/locarno/en/index.html 13  3. Global, regional and national protection B) Regional (supranational) protection: Europe Trademarks: https://euipo.europa.eu/ohimportal/en/home (EU Intellectual Property Office) Regulation (EU) 2017/1001 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 14 June 2017 on the European Union trade mark. Patents: http://www.epo.org (European Patent Office) The European Patent Convention (Munich Convention) 1973 “Unitary Patent”: Regulations 1257/2012 and 1260/2012 + Agreement on a Unified Patent Court https://www.epo.org/applying/european/unitary.html Industrial design: https://euipo.europa.eu/ohimportal/en/home (EU Intellectual Property Office) Council Regulation (EC) No 6/2002 of 12 December 2001 on Community designs 14  3. Global, regional and national protection C) National protection: Spain http://www.oepm.es (Oficina Española de Patentes y Marcas) Trademarks: Ley 17/2001 de marcas (modified by Real Decreto-ley 23/2018, 21 december) Patents: Ley 24/2015 de Patentes Design: Ley 20/2003 de protección jurídica del diseño industrial Other IPRs: Ley 11/1988, de protección jurídica de las topografías de los productos semiconductors (Layout Designs (Topographies) of Integrated Circuits) Ley 3/2000, de protección de las variedades vegetales (plant varieties) 15