What is Intellectual Property?

Now a days protection of Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) has become an important and
powerful tool for development of trade and commerce of a country. Intellectual Property
is the creation of mind which add commercial value to the product. IPR may be of two
categories, (1) Industrial Property and () !opy Right. Industrial Property includes
Patents for inventions, Industrial designs, "rademar#s, $ervice %ar#s, &tility model,
'eographical indications, (ayout design of integrated circuit and "rade $ecret. !opy
Right includes literary wor#s such as novels, poems and plays, films, musical wor#s,
artistic wor#s such as drawings, paintings, photographs and sculptures and architectural
designs.
What is Trade Marks?
) trademar# is a sign capable of distinguishing the goods or services produced or
provided by one enterprise from those of other enterprises.
*enefit derived from "rademar#s
"rademar#s+
ensure that consumers can distinguish between products,
enable companies to differentiate their products,
are a mar#eting tool and the basis for building a brand image and reputation,
may be licensed to provide a direct source of revenue through royalties,
are a crucial component of franchising agreement,
may be a valuable business asset,
encourage companies to invest in maintaining or improving product -uality,
may be useful for obtaining financing.
What is Design?
)n industrial design, in general items, is the ornamental or aesthetic aspects of a useful
article. "his aspect may depend on the shape, pattern or color of the article. "he design
must have visual appeal and perform its intended function efficiently. %oreover, it must
be able to be reproduced by industrial means, this is the essential purpose of the design,
and is why the design is called industrial.
In a legal sense, industrial design refers to the right granted in many countries, pursuant
to a registration system, to protect the original, ornamental and non.functional features
of a product that result from design activity.
Patents:
%ost laws dealing with the protection of inventions do not actually define the notion of
an invention. ) number of countries, however, define inventions as new solutions to
technical problems. "he problem may be old or new, but the solution, in order to merit
the name of invention, must be a new one. %erely discovering something that already
e/ists in nature, such as a previously un#nown plant variety, is not an invention. 0uman
intervention must be added. $o the process for e/traction of new substance from a plant
may be an invention. )n invention is not necessarily a comple/ item. "he safety pin was
an invention which solved an e/isting 1technical2 problem. New solutions are, in essence,
ideas, and are protected as such. "hus protection of inventions under patent law does
not re-uire that the invention be represented in physical embodiment.
Utility Model:
3hile not as widespread as patents, utility models are also used to protect inventions.
&tility models are found in the laws of more than 45 countries, as well as in the regional
agreements of the )frican Regional Industrial Property 6rgani7ation ()RIP6) and the
6rgani7ation 1africaine de la propriete intellectualle2 (6)PI). In addition, some countries,
such as )ustralia and %alaysia, provide for titles of protection called innovations
patents or utility innovations, which are similar to utility models. 6ther countries, li#e
0ong 8ong, Ireland and $lovenia, have a short.term patent that is e-uivalent to the
utility models.
Geographical Indications:
) geographical indication is a sign used on goods that have a specific geographical origin
and possess -ualities or a reputation that are due to that place of origin.
)gricultural products typically have -ualities that derive from their place of prodcution
and are influence by specific local factors, such as climate and soil.
"he use of geographical indications is not limited to agricultural products. "hey may also
highlight particular -ualities of a product, which are due to human factors found in the
place of origin of the products, such as specific manufacturing s#ills and traditions.
Copyrights:
!opyright relates to artistic creations, such as poems, novels, music, paintings, and
cinematographic wor#s. In most 9uropean languages other than 9nglish, copyright is
#nown author:s rights. "he e/pression copyright refers to the main act which, in respect
of literary and artistic creations, may be made only by the author or with his
authori7ation. "hat act is the ma#ing of copies of the literary or artistic wor#, such as
boo#, a painting, a sculpture, a photograph, or is the creator of the artistic wor#, its
author:s, thus underlining the fact, recogni7ed in most laws, that the author has certain
specific rights in his creation, such as the right to prevent a distorted reproduction, which
only he can e/ercise, whereas other rights, such as the ritgh to ma#e copies, can be
e/ercised by other persons, for e/ample, a publisher who has obtained a license to this
effect from the author.