Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) in India

Intellectual Property Rights are rights given to a person to protect the works of his/her own intellect from being used by others. In short the aim of IPR laws in any country is to protect the bright minds of today to be “ robbed” of their work. The laws are different in different countries and the strictness and implementation of these laws also differ. Some common types of intellectual property rights (IPR) are trademarks, copyrights, design rights and patents.

TRADEMARK :

A trademark is a unique sign, design or recognizable word which can be used to protect the goods and services of a firm or an individual. A company name can also be protected by trademark to ensure no one else uses that name on their own products. For example, the company name “ Nike” or “ Apple” are all trademarked. But before adopting a trademark, one should research whether the name in question has been already trademarked or not.

COPYRIGHTS :

Copyrights are also on the same lines as trademark. It deals with the original work of the person in question. It could be anything from literary content, music, film, dramatics or even sound recordings. Copyright's importance has increased manifold in these last few years, with the emergence of interactive websites for one's firm and company. It is important for the company to copyright the layout of the website and some websites also copyright the pictures on their websites.

DESIGN RIGHTS :

These rights are in regard to the design of a product or the structure in itself. The design could be a 2D or a 3D design. It is very important for an innovative firm or an individual to file for design rights because if not, then any other firm or individual could steal your design and sue the same. One such famous case is pending in courts between tech giants Apple and Samsung. The design rights are only given for a particular number of years and thus it is also very important to reapply for design rights when it is due.

PATENT :

Patent rights are given only to inventors and these rights are exclusive rights. Once you have a patent, you could ensure that any other person does not sell your product. Again, the patent rights are given for a particular number of years, standing at 20 years right now in India.