IPR

1. Intellectual Property Rights
Presented by
Dr. B.Rajalingam
Assistant Professor
Department of Computer Science & Engineering
Priyadarshini College of Engineering & Technology, Nellore
Revision (Unit 1)
Introduction to Intellectual Property Law

2. Syllabus
• Introduction to Intellectual Property
• Types of Intellectual Property
• International Organizations, Agencies and Treaties
• Importance of Intellectual Property Rights
Introduction of IPR: Dr. B.Rajalingam12 May 2020 2

3. Introduction to Intellectual Property
• There are three distinct types of property that individuals and companies can
own: real property, personal property & intellectual property.
• Real Property refers to land or real estate.
• Personal Property refers to specific items and things that can be identified, such
as jewelry, cars, and artwork.
• Intellectual Property refers to the fruits or product of human creativity,
including literature, advertising slogans, songs, or new inventions.
• Property that is the result of thought, namely, intellectual activity, is called
intellectual property (IP).
• In some foreign countries, intellectual property (especially patents and
trademarks) is referred to as industrial property.
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4. Cont…
• Many of the rights of ownership common to real and personal property are also
common to intellectual property.
• Intellectual property can be bought, sold, and licensed.
• Similarly, it can be protected against theft or infringement by others.
• Nevertheless, there are some restrictions on use.
• For example, if you were to purchase the latest bestseller by John Grisham, you
would be entitled to read the book, sell it to another, or give it away.
• You would not, however, be entitled to make photocopies of the book and then
distribute and sell those copies to others.
• Those rights are retained by the author of the work and are protected by
copyright law.
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5. The Rationale for Protection of Intellectual Property
• Intellectual property is a field of law that aims at protecting the knowledge created
through human effort in order to stimulate and promote further creativity.
• Authors who write books and musicians who compose songs would be unlikely to
engage in further creative effort unless they could realize profit from their
endeavors.
• If their work could be misappropriated and sold by others, they would have no
incentive to create further works.
• Pharmaceutical companies would not invest millions of dollars into research and
development of new drugs unless they could be assured that their inventions
would enable them to recover these costs and develop additional drugs.
• Thus, not only the creators of intellectual property but the public as well benefit
from protecting intellectual property.
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6. Cont…
• On the other hand, if the owner of intellectual property is given complete and
perpetual rights to his or her invention or work, the owner would have a monopoly
and be able to charge excessive price for the invention or work, which would harm
the public.
• Intellectual property law attempts to resolve these conflicting goals so that owners’
rights to reap the rewards of their efforts are balanced against the public need for a
competitive marketplace.
• Thus, for example, under federal law, a patent for a useful invention will last for
only 20 years from the date an application for the patent is filed with the USPTO.
• After that period of time, the patent expires, and anyone is free to produce and sell
the product.
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7. Types of Intellectual Property
• The term intellectual property is usually thought of as comprising four separate,
but often overlapping, legal fields:
1. Trademarks
2. Copyrights
3. Patents
4. Trade secrets
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8. 1. Trademarks and Service Marks
• A trademark or service mark is a word, name, symbol, or device used to indicate
the source, quality, and ownership of a product or service.
• A trademark is used in the marketing of a product (such as REEBOK® for shoes),
while a service mark typically identifies a service (such as STARBUCKS® for retail
outlet services).
• A trademark or service mark identifies and distinguishes the products or services
of one person from those of another.
• In addition to words, trademarks can also consist of slogans (such as THE KING
OF BEERS® for Budweiser beer), designs (such as the familiar “swoosh” that
identifies Nike products), or sounds (such as the distinctive giggle of the Pillsbury
Doughboy).
• Trademarks provide guarantees of quality and consistency of the product or
service they identify.
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9. Federal Registration of Trademarks
• Interstate use of trademarks is governed by federal law, namely, the U.S. Trademark Act
(also called the Lanham Act).
• Additionally, trademarks are provided for in all 50 states so that marks that cannot be
federally registered with the USPTO because they are not used in interstate commerce can
be registered in the state in which they are used.
• In the United States, trademarks are generally protected from their date of first public use.
• Registration of a mark is not required to secure protection for a mark, although it offers
numerous advantages, such as allowing the registrant to bring an action in federal court for
infringement of the mark.
• Applications for federal registration of trademarks are made with the USPTO.
• Registration is a fairly lengthy process, generally taking anywhere from 10 to 24 months or
even longer.
• The filing fee is $325 per mark per class of goods or services covered by the mark if the
application is filed electronically.
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10. Cont…
• A trademark registration is valid for 10 years and may be renewed for additional 10-year
periods thereafter as long as the mark is in use in interstate commerce.
• Additionally, registrants are required to file an affidavit with the USPTO between the fifth
and sixth years after registration and every 10 years to verify the mark is in continued use.
• Marks not in use are then available to others.
• Trademarks are among the most visible items of intellectual property, and it has been
estimated that the average resident of the United States encounters approximately 1,500
different trademarks each day and 30,000 if one visits a supermarket.
• A properly selected, registered, and protected mark can be of great value to a company or
individual desiring to establish and expand market share.
• There is perhaps no better way to maintain a strong position in the marketplace than to
build goodwill and consumer recognition in the identity selected for products and services
and then to protect that identity under federal trademark law.
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11. 2. Copyrights
 Copyright is a form of protection governed exclusively by federal law granted to the
authors of original works of authorship, including literary, dramatic, musical, artistic, and
certain other works.
 Thus, books, songs, plays, jewelry, movies, sculptures, paintings, and choreographic works
are all protectable.
 Computer software is also protectable by copyright.
 Copyright protection is available for more than merely serious works of fiction or art.
 Marketing materials, advertising copy, and cartoons are also protectable.
 Copyright is available for original works; no judgment is made about their literary or
artistic quality.
 Nevertheless, certain works are not protectable by copyright, such as titles, names, short
phrases, or lists of ingredients.
 Similarly, ideas, methods, and processes are not protectable by copyright, although the
expression of those ideas is.
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12. Federal Registration of Copyrights
• Neither publication nor registration of a work is required for copyright protection,
inasmuch as works are protected under federal copyright law from the time of their creation
in a fixed form.
• Registration, however, is inexpensive, requiring only a $35 filing fee (for applications filed
electronically), and the process is expeditious.
• In most cases, the Copyright Office processes electronically filed applications in about three
months.
• Generally, copyrighted works are automatically protected from the moment of their
creation for a term generally enduring for the author’s life plus an additional 70 years after
the author’s death.
• After that time, the work will fall into the public domain and may be reproduced,
distributed, or performed by anyone.
• The policy underlying the long period of copyright protection is that it may take several
years for a painting, book, or opera to achieve its true value, and, thus, authors should
receive a length of protection that will enable the work to appreciate to its greatest extent.Introduction of IPR: Dr. B.Rajalingam12 May 2020 12

13. 3. Patents
• A patent is a grant from the U.S. government that permits its owner to prevent
others from making, using, importing, or selling an invention.
• There are three types of patents:
• Utility patents, which are the most common patents and which cover useful
inventions and discoveries (such as the typewriter, the automobile, and genetically
altered mice).
• Design patents, which cover new, original, and ornamental designs for articles
(such as furniture).
• Plant patents, which cover new and distinct asexually reproduced plant varieties
(such as hybrid flowers or trees).
• Patent protection is available only for useful, novel, and nonobvious inventions.
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14. Federal Registration of Patents
• Patents are governed exclusively by federal law.
• To obtain a patent, an inventor must file an application with the USPTO that fully describes
the invention. Patent prosecution is expensive, time-consuming, and complex.
• Costs can run into the thousands of dollars, and it generally takes about three years for the
USPTO to issue a patent.
• Patent protection exists for 20 years from the date of filing of an application for utility
patents and plant patents and 14 years from the date of grant for design patents.
• After this period of time, the invention falls into the public domain and may be used by any
person without permission.
• Patents promote the public good in that patent protection incentivizes inventors.
• After the patent expires, any member of the public is free to use, manufacture, or sell the
invention.
• Thus, patent law strikes a balance between the need to protect inventors and the need to
allow public access to important discoveries.
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15. 4. Trade Secrets
• A trade secret consists of any valuable business information that, if known by a competitor,
would afford the competitor some benefit or advantage.
• There is no limit to the type of information that can be protected as trade secrets; recipes,
marketing plans, financial projections, and methods of conducting business can all
constitute trade secrets.
• There is no requirement that a trade secret be unique or complex; thus, even something as
simple and nontechnical as a list of customers can qualify as a trade secret as long as it
affords its owner a competitive advantage and is not common knowledge.
• If trade secrets were not protectable, companies would have no incentive to invest time,
money, and effort in research and development that ultimately benefits the public.
• Trade secret law thus promotes the development of new methods and processes of doing
business in the marketplace.
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16. Protection of Trade Secrets
• Although trademarks, copyrights, and patents are all subject to extensive statutory schemes
for their protection, application, and registration, there is no equivalent federal law system
for trade secrets, and no formalities are required to obtain rights to trade secrets.
• Trade secrets are generally protectable under various state statutes and cases and by
contractual agreements between parties.
• For example, employers often require employees to sign confidentiality agreements in which
employees agree not to disclose proprietary information owned by the employer.
• If properly protected, trade secrets may last forever.
• On the other hand, if companies fail to take reasonable measures to maintain the secrecy of
the information, trade secret protection may be lost.
• Thus, disclosure of the information should be limited to those with a “need to know” it so as
to perform their duties; confidential information should be kept in secure or restricted areas;
and employees with access to proprietary information should sign nondisclosure
agreements.
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17. Thank You
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