Intellectual property right (IPR) is the right given to the person over his/her creation. Creations can be new inventions, idea, literary and artistic work, symbols, names and images etc.  IPR allows the owner to benefit from their own creations. In case of infringement, it’s easier to take legal action against the infringing party if the creation is protected by IP. Intellectual property right is divided in to two categories.

Industrial Property:

This includes patent for inventions, trademarks, industrial designs and geographical indications.

Copy Rights:

Copy rights covers literary works (for e.g.; novels, poems and plays), films, music, artistic works (e.g.; drawings, paintings, photographs and sculptures) and architectural design.

Patent:

A patent is an exclusive right granted to the innovator over his/her new innovation. The new innovation could be a new product, technology or process. A patent is generally granted for 20 years and provides monopoly over the product for the grant duration. Patents are granted in the country where the invention takes place and are very expensive to apply for as well as to maintain. Therefore, it must be ensured that the innovation must be novel, non-obvious and useful. Its confidentiality should be maintained as per the IPR law of the country and commercially feasible. Patent can be used by the inventor or licensed to another party or multiple parties for exploitation commonly known as Technology Commercialization.

Trademark:

Trademarks are sign assigned to a products or services of a specific trader to distinguish it from another one. It can be in the form of slogan, logos, shapes, sounds and color. A registered trademark can be exclusively used by its owner or can be licensed to another party in exchange of a payment. Trademark protection often lasts for a period of 10 years and can be renewed on payment of additional fees.

Industrial Design:

Industrial design right is another form of IPR which protects the visual designs of the objects. Industrial design is a shape, configuration, a composition of pattern or color, containing aesthetic value assigned to a product. When an original design is created by an Industry for its products and it is  commercially successful, it is very important to legally protect the design from being copied or used by others.

Geographical Indication:

The products with specific geographical origin and have attributes due that origin can be assigned a geographical indication (GI) number. A GI rights permits the right holders to stop any third party from using the indication. However, a geographical indication right cannot stop others from making the same products even by using the same techniques. GI are typically used for agricultural products, foodstuffs, wines, spirit and drinks, handicrafts and industrial products.

Copy rights:

Copy rights comes under the category of automatic rights to intellectual property. You do not need to apply for copyrights to stop other from copying your work. Original artistic work, musical, dramatic and literary work are protected by copy rights. Furthermore, copy rights also protects computer programmes (software), broadcasts and recordings. The expression of idea is also protected by copyrights, not necessarily the idea itself. Copyrights also protects certain type of data and database, tables and compilations etc.

If you have any questions on Technology Commercialization, IPR or want to apply for patent, please write to us at aparajita.mhnty@gmail.com.