Generally, Property is something which has a value and the same has been owned and possessed by individuals or collective persons. Property can be both tangible and intangible in nature; however it should hold some value when you own it. Similarly, Intellectual property also a type of property, which has been created and related to, minds of the human being. Some of them consider it is a thing created or made by human by using their minds. The concept of intellectual property has been derived from the Labor theory of property, the main object of the considering the intellectual properties is to give protection even to the intangible works which has been created by human through his hardship by way of his mind or intellectual function. The grey area of the intellectual property, lies on the protection and safeguarding it from infringement since, it’s been a intangible, the finding of infringement to it is quiet difficult however, there are been various classifications, measures, and steps were developed in order to protect the intellectual property of the human kind.
In India, the Intellectual properties are majorly divided into 5 types. Such as patent, copyright, design, trademark, and GI.
- Patent:
Patent is a protection given to an invention or inventive step made by human and exploiting the same for the commercial purposes. Patent also protects and confers right to the patentee (i.e the one who patented his invention) for the exploitation of the invention for commercial purposes and from infringement as well. It further restrains others from infringing the patented inventions and preserves the rights of the patentee. However, in order to attain patent rights, the patentee has to disclose the invention or inventive step, and it has to satisfy the three criteria namely novelty, non obviousness and it should be useful in some or the other way. In Indian legal system patent protection is regulated by the Patent act, 1970 and patent rules, 2003 and for the international regime the Paris Convention and Patent co-operation treaty sets the guidelines and renders the protection to patentable subject matters.
- Copyright:
Copyright is a bundle of rights given to the creators of various works like dramatic, musical, cinematographic, literacy, artistic and sound recording. However it also protects the works of reproduction, broadcasting, cover version etc. In order to get protection under copyright the work has to be original and it be expressed in any form however, mere idea doesn’t get any protection. In India, the protection in respect to copyright is served by Copyright act, 1957 and Copyright rules, 1958 and in the international level the Berne convention rules are applicable to it.
- Design:
Design is the protection given to the goods or things with unique designs or pattern or layout and which makes it distinctiveness from other similar goods. It has to satisfy the criteria of novelty and it should be applied or been on a thing which should be useful for some purpose. In India we have Design act, 2000 and Rules, 2001 and in International level we have Hague agreement to protect the design rights.
- Trademark:
A Trademark defines itself by its name; the mark used for the trade of goods and services. Since the goodwill and reputation of any goods or services will be denoted on the mark or name of the goods or services, in order to protect such rights, the trademark protection were given. Hence, by registering the trademark the registered proprietor will get exclusive right over the trademark and can restrain other from using such mark in order to trade on reputation of the registrant. Trademark is a right available to protect the logo, name, label etc. which used to make their brand well-known in respect to their goods and services. Trademark has to satisfy the criteria of non-descriptive, non-generic, not identical or same or similar to any other mark, and should not directly indicate the nature of the business. However the prior user always gets the advantage over such mark. In India, we have Trademark act, 1999 and Trademark Rules, 2002, and in the International level we have the Madrid system, 1891 and the Madrid Protocol in respect to Trademark.
- Geographical Indication:
Due to environment and the nature differences between the geographical limits of the world, every land owns certain unique characteristics and it makes the lands, soils different in natures from other lands and soils. And such unique quality of lands or place makes unique goods and services which leads to gain reputation and good will. Hence, in order to show the goods and services, belongs to the specific territory or origin, and also in order to protect such rights of the origin, the Geographical indication protection has been given by way of allowing them to express the goods and services with the name of the origin or the place where it belongs, which indirectly explains the quality of the goods and services of the specific territory. Not only that, even some of the goods and services well-known only by the name of the origin or the place where it has been made or created, in order to get indicated by the name of the origin and to express the quality attained, the GI has been given protection to adduce the name of the place or origin with the goods and services and to restrain others from using the same. In India, GI of Goods act, 1999 and GI of goods rules, 2002 serves the aforesaid function. In international level, the Lisbon agreement on the protection of appellations of origin and TRIPS protects and confers such rights.
