Concept, Nature, Introduction & background of IPR in India.

INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY RIGHT (IPR)

Concept, Nature, Introduction & background of IPR in India.

1.      CONCEPT

·         Legal property – intellectual activity – industrial, scientific and artistic fields.

·         Laws – 1. Statutory expression

                        2. Encourage fair trading

·         Time limited rights – control and use.

·         Traditionally 2 branches

 

 Industrial Property         Copyright

·         All levels – statutory, administrative and judicial.

·         WIPO

·         WTO

·         TRIPS – 1^st January 1995.

Following areas

-          Copyright and related rights

-          Trade Marks

-          Geographical Indications

-          Industrial Designs

-          Lay out designs of integrated circuits

-          Protection of Undisclosed Information (Trade Secrets)

-          Patents

-          Plant varieties

·         Not be possible to protect – applied.

·         India has to comply – implementation of laws.

·         Intangible properties.

·         Sold, licensed and exchanged.

2.       NATURE

1.       Ownership right.

2.       Giving an exclusive right to the owner.

3.       Assignable.

4.       Independence.

5.       Uniformity.

6.       Divisible (Fragmentation)

3.       BACKGROUND OF IPR IN INDIA

Development of Intellectual Property Law in India

Imported from the west.

The first Indian Patent Law was enacted in 1856

The Indian Trade and Merchandise Marks Act 1884,

Indian Patents and Designs Act in 1911

 Indian Copyright Act in 1914.

Trade and Merchandise Marks Act 1958

Copyright Act 1957

Indian Patent Act 1970

The Designs Act, 2000

1948 -  first committee - review the prevailing Patents and Designs legislation.

 1957 - Justice RajagobalaAyyangar Committee (RAC) - Patent Law.

RajagobalaAyyangar Committee - 1959, - preamble of the constitution -the process for Patenting of drugs - policy - The theory patent system is based on .acquiring exclusive rights . in four ways.

1. Encourages research and invention.

2. Induces an inventor to disclose his discoveries.

3. Offers award for the expenses of developing inventions.

4. Provides an inducement to invest capital in new lines of production which might not appear profitable.

RajagobalaAyyangar Committee report - Bill - 1965 - passed - LokSabha - lapsed RajyaSabha - lapsed in LokSabha 1966 - dissolution of LokSabha.

Reintroduced in 1967 - passed in 1970; the draft rules were incorporated in Patent Act and passed in the year 1971. The following steps are being suggested with particular reference to the situation in India regarding IPR in the national policy making.

·         Constitute an integrated single window National IPR commission to deal with IPR policy issues

·         Integrate national technology planning with IPR and trends in international technology trade

·         Implement a formal national IPR literacy mission

·         Set-up IPR training institutes to prepare technically qualified attorneys

·         Introduce an enabling national taxation policy to encourage innovation, building of IPR portfolio and its utilization in technology transfer and trade

·         Urgently modernize the IPR administrative structures in the country

·         Improve infrastructure for access and effective use of IPR information. There is an urgent need to harmonize the patent classification system to ease and optimize processes in patent searching

·         Re-structure the judiciary and enforcement machinery for professional and speedy response to IPR issues

·         Training of corporate and institutional managers on effective management of IPR

·         Standardize models for valuation and audit of IPR

·         Evolve national taxation polices of development, use and transactions linked to IPR.