Copyright: An important element of Intellectual Property Rights
When used in any market, intellectual property rights (IPR) have a specific economic value. IPRs are intangible property rights that grant ownership over intellectual property. IPR grants an innovator or creator the sole right to use their priceless work or innovation. IPR’s major goals are to compensate the inventor for their creativity and to safeguard their creation. IPR promotes and spurs the development of talented creators.
Intellectual property refers to any new idea, distinctive term, mark, logo, or design that is employed in commerce. One of the most significant categories of intellectual property is copyright. In India, copyright protection is provided by the Copyright Act of 1957, which grants copyright protection in the forms of economic and moral rights for the author. The classification of intellectual property, copyrights and related rights, the length of copyrights, and a few instances of copyright infringement are all explained in this article.
Intellectual Property And Their Classification
After the World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO) was founded in 1967, the phrase “intellectual property” acquired popularity [1-4]. In addition, WIPO joins the United Nations in 1974 as one of its agencies. The major goals of WIPO are to create a fair and open international intellectual property system and to control different IPR-related global policies.
Inventions, literary and artistic works, designs, symbols, names, and images are all examples of creations of the mind that fall under the umbrella term of intellectual property (IP), according to WIPO. Since intellectual property is legally protected, people can profit from their inventions or creations and earn recognition.
Intellectual Property Is Classified In Six Types:
1) Patent: An inventor who has a novel technical invention may be issued a patent by the relevant government agency [5]. In return for this privilege, the patent holder is required to disclose their idea to the general public. With the patent owner’s permission, others may utilise the invention. Any innovation must meet the primary three requirements of usefulness, novelty, and non-obviousness in order to receive a patent. The Patent Act explains the meaning of each of these phrases. A frivolous invention, an invention that violates natural laws, an invention that is unfair to the health of people, plants, or the environment, or an invention connected to atomic energy are not eligible for patent protection, according to Section 3 of the Indian Patent Act of 1970 [6].
2) Trademark:A trademark has been used since antiquity. A trademark can be a symbol or logo that sets one company’s products or services apart from those of other companies. A trademark aids a business in building its reputation and customer recognition. Customers frequently rely on trademarks and purchase goods without examining their quality [7-8]. According to the UK Trademarks Act of 1994, there are some requirements for trademark registration. Any mark that is distinctive and capable of differentiating goods and services may be registered as a trademark, according the Indian Trademark Act [9]. The original registration period for a trademark in India is 10 years, following which it must periodically be renewed.
3) Geographical Indications (GI):Some agricultural products have unique features that are impacted by the soil or climate of a particular location. Such goods are eligible for GI registration. The WIPO defines the term “GI” as including all currently used methods of protecting names, symbols, or locations as the source of a product [10]. Havana, Darjeeling tea, Arabian horses, Alphanso mangoes, Nagpur oranges, Basmati rice, and other well-known products are examples of GI. Under the Act of 1999 and the Rules of 2001, GI can be registered in India at Chennai. Ten years are allotted for GI before requiring renewal.
4) Industrial Designs:WIPO states that an industrial design might include an item’s decorative or aesthetic features. Design may include two-dimensional elements like patterns, lines, or colour or three-dimensional elements like an object’s shape or surface. One example of an industrial design that can be registered is the layout design of a semiconductor integrated circuit. An electronic industry design that complies with the TRIPS agreement is protected by the Indian Semiconductor Integrated Circuits Layout Design (SICLD) Act 2000 [11]. According to this act, any design that is unique and unmistakably identifiable can be registered for ten years. The Ministry of Information Technology’s Department of Information Technology carried out the implementation of this law.
5) Trade Secrets:Trade secrets are protected by intellectual property rights and can be bought, traded, or licenced. Any invention that is not patentable but is profitable to the company can be kept a trade secret. Any business information or secret derived from any data compliance or data bases, financial information, or other technological information or process, such as a recipe, idea, software, formula, map, or other can be held as a trade secret [12]. However, developing a trade secret requires years of study and expertise. Coca-Cola’s recipe is a well-known example of a trade secret. Different nations have various trade secret laws. Trade secrets are recognised by TRIPS under common law [13–14].
6) Copyright:Copyright safeguards a creator’s ownership of their original literary and artistic creations. The Right to Copy, which is only available to the creator or author, is referred to as copyright. Therefore, the Copyright Act considers anyone else who copies the original work to be infringing. The expression of an idea is protected by copyright, not the idea or content itself. The Patent Law, not the Copyright Act, is what protects the concept.
History of Copyright Act in India
In India, the copyright legislation was implemented in three stages. In 1911, the statute was enacted under the rule of the British. In 1914, this law’s second phase was introduced. It resembled the 1911 British Copyright Act in many ways. The criminal penalty for infringement was the main change in this statute. The third phase of this law, which incorporates the Berne Convention’s requirements, was implemented by independent India in 1957 after this one had been continuously updated. India still abides with the Copyright Act of 1957.
Copyright is exclusively recognised inside the boundaries of India, in accordance with the Indian Copyright Act of 1957 [16]. India has ratified the Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works, the Universal Copyright Convention, the Multilateral Convention for the Avoidance of Double Taxation of Copyright Royalties, and TRIPs in order to ensure its protection in other nations. Since 1995, India has undergone numerous changes in its intellectual property regime.
Copyright and related rights
When a piece of work of high quality is finished, its copyright is immediately granted. Because of this, copyright registration is not required. However, copyright registration offers the inventor a number of advantages. Copyright can serve as evidence and proof that a copyright is real and that its inventor is its true owner [17–18].