Intellectual property rights

What are intellectual property rights?

Intellectual property (IP) is creation of the mind: inventions, literary and artistic works, designs, symbols and names. Intellectual property rights (IPR) give the creator exclusive rights for a limited period, so that creativity and innovation are rewarded. In return, the knowledge eventually becomes public. The WTO's TRIPS agreement sets minimum standards.

Types of IPR (Indian law)

• Copyright: protects original literary, dramatic, musical and artistic works, films, sound recordings and computer software. It protects the expression, not the idea. In India (Copyright Act, 1957) it generally lasts for the author's lifetime plus 60 years. Registration is not compulsory.
• Patent: protects an invention that is novel, involves an inventive step (not obvious) and is capable of industrial application. Term: 20 years from the filing date (Patents Act, 1970). The invention must be disclosed in the application.
• Trademark: a word, logo, symbol, shape or colour combination that distinguishes the goods or services of one firm from others. Registration lasts 10 years and can be renewed indefinitely (Trade Marks Act, 1999).
• Industrial design: protects the shape, pattern or ornamentation of a product (its look, not its function). Term: 10 years, extendable by 5 years (Designs Act, 2000).
• Geographical indication (GI): identifies a product as coming from a particular place whose qualities or reputation are due to that origin, for example Darjeeling tea (the first GI registered in India), Kanchipuram silk, Mysore silk, Pochampally ikat and Alphonso mango. India's GI Act was passed in 1999. A GI is a collective right of producers of the region.
• Trade secret: confidential business information, such as a formula or process, that gives a competitive edge. It is protected by keeping it secret and through contracts, not by registration, and lasts as long as it stays secret. A famous example is the Coca-Cola formula.

IPR and biopiracy

Biopiracy is the patenting of biological resources or traditional knowledge without consent or benefit-sharing. India successfully challenged a US patent on turmeric for wound healing (revoked in 1997) and a European patent based on neem, because the uses were already traditional knowledge. India created the Traditional Knowledge Digital Library (TKDL) to document such knowledge so patent offices can check prior art.

Key points

• Patent: novelty, inventive step, industrial application; 20 years.
• Copyright: expression of ideas; author's life + 60 years in India.
• Trademark: 10 years, renewable indefinitely.
• GI: link between product quality and place; Darjeeling tea was India's first.

Common mistakes

• Thinking an idea itself can be copyrighted; only its expression is protected.
• Calling a GI a private right of one firm; it belongs to all authorised producers of the region.