Essential Elements of Intellectual Property Rights
IPR is a broad term for covering –
1) Patents for inventions
2) Copyrights for material
3) Trademarks for broad identity and
4) Trade secrets
In general these properties are termed as “Intellectual Property”. Intellectual Property is an asset that can be bought or sold, licensed and exchanged. But of course unlike other properties, intellectual property is intangible; rather it cannot be identified by its specific parameters. These properties are protected on a national basis.
1) PATENTS
- A patent is a set of exclusive rights granted by a sovereign state to an inventor or assignee for a limited period of time in exchange for detailed public disclosure of an invention. An invention is a solution to a specific technological problem and is a product or a process.
- A government authority or license conferring a right or title for a set period, especially the sole right to exclude others from making, using, or selling an invention.
This refers to innovations – new or improved product and processes which are meant for industrial applications. This is a territorial right which requires registration for a limited time. Patent is a contract between an inventor as an individual and the society as a whole. The inventor has exclusive right to prevent anybody making use of and/or selling a patented invention. Of course, this is only for a specific duration till the inventor discloses the details of invention to the public.
The legal authority in this patent right is the World Trade Organization (WTO) agreement with respect to Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Right (TRIPS). This offers the international standard for the required duration of 20 years from the date of filing the patent. Once this period is over, people are free to make use of this invention as they like. However, though the member has a right to prevent others making use of his patented invention, the owner has no right to make use or sell the invention itself. Patents are granted under national laws and these rights are enforceable by civil laws rather than criminal proceedings.
Conditions to be satisfied by an invention to be Patentable:
- Novelty
- Inventiveness(Non-obviousness)
- Usefulness
1. Novelty
A novel invention is one,which has not been disclosed,in prior art where prior art means everything that has been published,presented or otherwise disclosed to the public on the date of patent.
2. Inventiveness(Non-Obviousness)
A patent application involves an inventive step if the proposed invention is not obvious to a person skilled in the art i.e skilled in the subject matter of the patent application.
3. Usefulness
An invention must posses utility for the grant of patent.No valid patent can be granted for an invention devoid of utility.