Intellectual Property: Development, Origins And Types

Abstract

Society values the creative fruits of the human mind, believing that they enrich the fabric of life for all of its members. Thus, a system of laws has been created that confers rights on the creators of these fruits. These rights are collectively known as intellectual property rights, which is generally referred to as ‘IPR.’ This research paper focuses on Intellectual property, types, and origin.

1. Introduction

Intellectual property could be defined as an immaterial right verifying modernly gainful consequences of human knowledge (Garner, 2009). Intellectual property is all about the results of human creativity. Its subjected and framed by new thoughts created by man. Their application to human needs and wants can be of significant advantage to humankind. Innovation can be embodied in familiar things such as books, music, and art, in industrial machinery and processes, in designs for household objects and commercial ventures, and all other sources of information (Colston, 1999).

TRIPS characterizes protected innovation rights as, the rights given to people over the manifestations of their brains. They usually give the creator an exclusive right over the use of his/her creation for a certain period of time (WTO, 2017) The subject matter of intellectual property is extensive and includes literary and films, artistic works, inventions, computer programs design and marks used by traders for their goods or services (Bainbridge, 2015)

Numerous hypotheses clarify it protected innovation over a period. The first is a specific hypothesis of property which guards the cases that normal actualities figure out what is property and who claims what. The second approach is, in fact, a broad class of theories that understand property as a social development approved regarding its instrumental ability to deliver or verify other moral objectives. The third approach is a working hypothesis that grounds property guarantees in gainful movement (Das, 2008).

The first understanding of the development of intellectual property rights is essential to have key learning on the advancement of licensed innovation at the global dimension. Worldwide shows on various classifications of licensed change give the uniform, universal gauges.

2. Development And Origin Intellectual Property

2.1 Berne Convention

Berne Convention was propounded in 1886, for the protection of Literary and Artistic Works. ‘To protect, in an effective and uniform manner as possible, the rights of the authors in their literary and artistic works’ is the aim of the Convention (WIPO, 2017). Berne Convention secures scholarly works, creative works, dramatic works, melodic works, and cinematographic works and it likewise ensures subordinate works dependent on other previous works, for example, interpretation, adjustments, courses of action of music and different modifications of general or aesthetic practice. Berne Convention states the duration of the copyright protection as 50 years after the author’s death. The Berne Convention was revised several times to cope up with the technological challenges that are, first revision took place in Berlin in 1908, followed by the review in Rome in 1928, in Brussels in 1948, in Stockholm in 1967, and Paris in 1971 (Ahuja 2015).

2.2 Madrid Agreement

Madrid Agreement was propounded on April 14, 1891, which manages International enrolment of Marks and Protocol identified with Madrid Agreement, concluded in 1989. Contracting countries to this Madrid Agreement, secure protection for their marks applicable to goods or services, registered in the state of origin, by filling the said marks at the International Bureau of Intellectual Property. The duration of the protection is valid for ten years and can be reformed by paying prescribed fees (Arora, 2016). Presently, all-out 100 individuals are under the Madrid Agreement covering 116 contracting nations. WIPO controls it.

2.3 Patent Co-operation Treaty

The Patent Co-Operation treaty is an international treaty, which assists applicants in seeking patent protection internationally for their inventions additionally helps patent workplaces with their patent allowing choices, and encourages the community to an abundance of specific data identifying with those developments. PCT was created at Washington on June 19, 1970, and the latest amendment to the PCT regulations was done on 1 July 2017. There are currently 152 contracting countries (Patent Cooperation Treaty, 2017).

2.4 TRIPS Agreement

TRIPS (Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights) Agreement is a multilateral concession to licensed innovation, which came into power on 1 January 1995. The outings Agreement is directed by WTO (World Trade Organization). It is an attempt to narrow the gaps in the way these rights are protected around the world, and to bring them under standard international rules (WTO, 2017). The agreement operates on a foundation of two of the existing conventions by embodying the substantive provisions of the Paris and Berne Conventions, as well as adding new rules (Colston, 1999). The types of intellectual property covered by the TRIPS Agreement are copyright and related rights, trademarks, including geographical indications, service marks, industrial designs, patents, layout designs of integrated circuits and undisclosed information, including trade secrets. It establishes minimum levels of protection that each government has to give to the intellectual property of fellow WTO members (WTO, 2017).

2.5 Paris Convention

Paris Convention is an International Convention, which gives the necessary stage to the assurance of mechanical property in different nations of the world. Preceding the presence of any universal show in the field of common property, looking for reliability for mechanical property in different countries was troublesome because of the assorted variety of their laws.

Paris Convention for the protection of Industrial property was convened in Paris in 1883 and was formally signed by 11 states (WIPO, 2017) Convention was revised at Brussels in 1900, at Washington in 1911, at The Hague in 1925, at London in 1934, at Lisbon in 1958 and at Stockholm in 1967 and was amended in 1979 (WIPO, 2017).

The Paris Convention addresses industrial design rights, patents, trademarks, well-known marks, names, and unfair competition (Colston, 1999). The Republic of India is a member of the Paris Convention since December 7, 1998. At present total, 177 member countries are part of the Paris Convention.

3. World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO)

WIPO is the global forum for intellectual property services, policy, information, and cooperation, which was set up in the year 1967. The mission of the WIPO is to lead the advancement of an open and compelling universal licensed innovation (IP) framework that empowers development and innovativeness to assist all. WIPO has 191 member states, and headquarters are in Geneva, Switzerland. WIPO administers conventions namely, PCT-The International Patent System, Madrid-The International Trademark System, Hague- The International Design System, Lisbon- The International system of Appellations of Origins, and Budapest-The International Microorganism Deposit System (WIPO, 2017).

4. Types Of Intellectual Property

According to WIPO, Intellectual property is segregated into two categories that are, Industrial Property and Copyright. Industrial property includes industrial designs and geographical indications, trademarks, patents for inventions. Copyright covers literary works (such as novels, poems, and plays), music, films, artistic works (e.g., drawings, paintings, photographs, and sculptures) and architectural design. Rights related to copyright include those of performing artists in their performances, producers of phonograms in their performances, producers of phonograms their recordings, and broadcasters in their radio and television programs (WIPO, 2017).

4.1 Trademarks

According to WIPO, a trademark is a sign capable of distinguishing the goods or services of one enterprise from those of other enterprises. An item can be replicated by a contender and can wind up obsolete by the presentation of new items. However, an exchange imprint is one of a kind. A successful trademark is timeless, and the most important source of market power and enables its owner to diversify in products and geographic markets (Bansal, 2014).

4.2 Industrial Designs

As per WIPO, a mechanical plan may comprise three-dimensional highlights, for example, the state of an article, or two-dimensional highlights, for example, patterns, lines or shading. In a legitimate sense, a mechanical structure comprises the elaborate or tasteful part of an article. Registered proprietors for a registered design will have a copyright in the drawing for ten years from the date of registration (The Designs Act of 2000). Copyright in the model can be extended for five years, if, before the expiration of the ten years, application for the extension of the period of copyright made to the Controller in the prescribed manner (The Designs Act of 2000).

4.3 Geographical Sign

‘ Geological sign,’ in connection to merchandise, implies a sign which recognizes such products as rural merchandise, regular merchandise or made merchandise as the beginning or fabricated in the region of a nation. However an area or region in that domain where a given quality, notoriety or another standard for such merchandise is essentially inferable from its topographical starting point.

WIPO expresses geographical indication (GI) as a sign used on products that have a specific geographical origin and possess qualities or a reputation that are due to that origin. Geographical indications are typically used for agricultural products, foodstuffs, wine and spirit drinks, handicrafts, and industrial products (Geographical Indications WIPO, 2017).

4.4 Copyright

Copyright was recognized only after the invention of printing in the 15th century, which enabled the reproduction of books in large numbers. Before that, musicians, creative writers, artists wrote, composed or done their works for fame and recognition rather than to earn a living and the question of copyright never arose because copying was a laborious and expensive process (Narayana, 2013). WIPO characterize, Copyright (or author’s right) is a legal term used to depict the rights that makers have over their literary and artistic works. Works commonly protected by copyright throughout the world include:

1. computer programs, databases;
2. films, musical compositions, and choreography;
3. architecture; and advertisements, maps, and technical drawings (WIPO, 2017);
4. literary works such as novels, poems, plays, reference works, newspaper articles;
5. artistic works, such as paintings, drawings, photographs, and sculptures.

Conclusion

Intellectual property rights are like any other property right. Grant creators, or owners, of licenses, trademarks or copyrighted endeavors to benefit by their work or enthusiasm for creation. These rights are laid out in Article 27 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which accommodates the privilege to profit by the protection of moral and material interests resulting from authorship of scientific, literary or artistic productions.

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