Intellectual property rights refer to the rights given to people over the creations of their minds.
They usually give the creator an exclusive right over the use for a certain period of time.
Patents
- Patent is one of the most important IPR under which protection is granted for an exclusive right to exploit an invention.
- The invention must be a product or a process that provides a novelty and must have commercial application.
- The owner of a patent is usually granted 20 years of patent protection.
Product Patent
Article 28 of TRIPS confers on the owner of a product patent an exclusive right to prevent third parties without his consent, from the acts of making, using, offering for sale, selling or importing that product.
Process Patent
The TRIPs regulation provides for registration of both the product patent as well as a process patent under the new patent regime.
Copyrights
Copyrights include the right of the author of computer programs and cinematographic works apart from the general work of art and literature. Article 12 provides for protection of copyrights for at least fifty years.
Trade marks
- It means any sign or any combination of signs capable of distinguishing the goods or services from those of other undertakings.
- The term of protection is for seven years and is renewable indefinitely.
- The owner of a registered trademark has the right to assign his trademark with or without the transfer of his business.
Geographical Indications
- ‘Geographical Indications’ mean any indication that explains the goods having origin in country’s territory or a region in the territory or say locality in territory, given aqualitative reputation or other goods features is in essence attributed to its geographical root.
- This means that the geographical indication has to indicate that a good of a particular origin has a stated quality or reputation or some other characteristics, which in essence attributed to its geographical root.
Industrial Designs
Design broadly implies to the characteristics of shape, pattern, configuration, or composition of lines or colours which is tested to any commodity by any industrial process or means, which is judged by eyes.
Trade Secret
- Trade secrets with commercial value must be protected against breach of confidence, breach of contract, inducements and other acts contrary to “honest commercial practices”.
- Furthermore, reasonable steps must be taken to keep the information secret.
- Governments must protect against unfair commercial use test data submitted to obtain marketing approval for new pharmaceutical or
- agricultural chemicals.