INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY RIGHTS
Agreement in relation to Intellectual Property Rights lays down minimum standards for protecting and enforcing intellectual property rights which are required for promoting effective and adequate protection of intellectual property rights with a view to reduce disruptions to international trade. The obligations under the TRIPS (Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights) relate to the provision of a minimum standard of protection within the member countries’ legal systems and practices. The Agreement provides for norms and standards in respect of the following areas of intellectual property (list is inclusive):
Patents:
Patent, is a legal document granted by the government, which gives to the inventor the exclusive right such as the right to make, use and sell an invention for a number of years (specified). Patents are also available for improvements that are significant on previously invented items.
The patent system encourages inventors to advance the state of technology by way of awarding special rights. The inventions which cannot be patented are books, movies, and works of art, but for such items protection is available under the law of copyright. Patent law is one of the branches of the field of intellectual property rights, which also includes trademark and copyright law.
Trade Marks:
A trademark can be any word, sign, symbol or graphic that is applied to the company, goods or services to distinguish from those of the competitors. It includes words, logos, images, slogans, shapes and colors, or a combination of all of the above.
Trademarks acts as a business asset which is valuable and helps in restricting others from copying or otherwise taking advantage of the goodwill in the owner’s brand or company name. Unregistered trademarks offer limited protection, which is the reason that it is generally recommended to register trademark rights. A registered trademark needs to be renewed at regular periods.
Copyrights
Ownership on the things you create is covered under copyright such as a painting, a photograph, a poem or a novel. It is under the copyright law itself that ownership is assured. There are several rights, which are owned by the owner exclusively. Following are the rights under copyright:
- The right to reproduce the work
- To prepare derivative works
- To distribute copies
- To perform the work
- And to display the work publicly
These rights will be there with the owner unless one willingly gives them up