Intellectual Property Rights (IPR)

Over the past two decades, Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) have risen to a stature where they play a major role in the growth of the global economy. Intellectual property is all around us — the music we listen to, the technology that runs our phones, the design of a car, the logo on our shoes. All of these are products of human creativity and skill: inventions, books, paintings, songs, symbols, names, images and designs used in business.

What is intellectual property?

• Every invention or creation begins with an idea. Once the idea becomes an actual product — that is, intellectual property — the creator can apply to the concerned authority under the Government of India for protection. The legal rights conferred on such products are called Intellectual Property Rights (IPR).
• Intellectual property (IP) refers to the creations of the human mind — inventions, literary and artistic works, symbols, names, images and designs used in business. Like other property, its owner can rent, give or sell it to others.
• Its most noticeable difference from other property is that IP is intangible — it cannot be defined or identified by its own physical parameters.

Two broad categories of IP

• Industrial property — includes inventions (patents), trademarks, industrial designs and geographical indications.
• Copyright — includes literary and artistic works such as novels, poems, plays and films; musical works; artistic works such as drawings, paintings, photographs and sculptures; and architectural designs.

An evolving field

The scope of IP keeps expanding to include newer forms. In recent times, integrated circuits (semiconductors), undisclosed information, protection of plant varieties and geographical indications have been brought under the IP umbrella. The types of IPR recognised in India are: Copyright, Trademark, Geographical Indication, Patent, Design, Plant Variety, and Semiconductor Integrated Circuit Layout Design.

Other forms of IP

• Traditional Knowledge (TK) — the knowledge, systems, innovations and practices of local communities, developed and passed down over generations. Homely remedies from grandparents are traditional medicines; Indian systems such as Ayurveda, Unani, Siddha and Yoga are examples. The Government of India has built a Traditional Knowledge Digital Library (TKDL) — a digital repository of this ancient knowledge, especially on medicinal plants and formulations — which helps prevent wrongful patenting of our traditional knowledge.
• Trade Secrets — any confidential information that gives a competitive edge; the recipe of Coca-Cola, known to only three people in the world, is a famous example. In India trade secrets are protected under the Indian Contract Act, 1872 and other acts enacted from time to time.

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