| Frequenty Asked Questions |
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1. What does Intellectual
Property Right mean? |
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2. What are the
main types of Intellectual Property Rights? |
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3. Is registration of IP important? |
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4. What is a
Patent? |
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5. What is the geographic scope of
a Patent? |
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6. Why should an
invention be protected? |
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7. Can only totally new invention
be protected? |
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8. Why is
knowing Patent Laws important as we are not filing
Patents? |
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9. What is
Copyright? |
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10. Can an idea be
Copyrighted? |
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11. Is a Computer Program
Copyrightable? |
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12. What is a
Trademark? |
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13. What is the TRIPS
Agreement? |
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14. What could be
the consequences of infringement? |
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1. What does Intellectual Property
Right mean? |
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Intellectual property right can be defined as the right
given to people over the creation of their minds. It usually gives
the creator an exclusive right over the use of his/her creations for
a certain period of time.
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2. What are the main types of
Intellectual Property Rights? |
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Patent, Copyright, Trademark, Service mark, Industrial
Designs, Layout Designs for Integrated Circuits, Trade Secrets,
Geographical Indications, Protection of Plant Varieties and
Traditional Knowledge are the main types of Intellectual property
Rights.
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3. Is registration of IP
important? |
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Patents, Industrial Designs, Integrated Circuit
Designs, Geographical Indications and Trademarks have to be
registered in order to get protection. The registration includes a
description of what is being protected. Trade Secret is protected
automatically according to specified conditions. Hence it is not
required to be registered and disclosed. Copyright comes into
existence automatically as soon as work is complete but registration
is important to prove valid ownership and claim infringement relief.
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4. What is a Patent? |
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A patent is statutory grant by Govt for novel,
Industrially useful and non-obvious invention, which can be a
product or a process. The protection is granted for 20 years from
the date of filing patent
application.
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5. What is the geographic scope of a
Patent? |
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Patent rights are territorial in nature. An Indian
Patent protects the inventor's product or technology in India only.
Patents can also be obtained separately in most foreign countries by
pursuing in each of them separately or through PCT (Patent
Cooperation Treaty).
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6. Why should an invention be
protected? |
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If the invention is worth stealing, it is worth
protecting. The way to protect this is by legally obtaining a
patent, which prevents unauthorized exploitation of invention by
third party and also enables owner of patent to extract commercial
benefits by exploitation of invention.
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7. Can only totally new invention be
protected? |
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To qualify for patent protection, an invention does not
have to be totally new. It can be an improvement on existing
products or technology.
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8. Why is knowing Patent Laws
important as we are not filing Patents? |
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Knowing Patent Laws is important to make sure that you
are not infringing patent rights of any third party. Even if you use
part of a patented technology innocently without knowledge or any
intention to infringe, it may be considered as infringement in law.
Independent development is not a defense in case of a
patent.
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9. What is Copyright?
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Copyright is a form of protection provided by the laws
to the authors of "Original works of authorship", including
literary, dramatic, musical, artistic, cinematographic and sound
recording.
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10. Can an idea be
Copyrighted? |
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No, Copyright Law protects only expression of idea and
not the idea itself.
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11. Is a computer program
Copyrightable? |
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Computer program can be copyrighted as 'literary work'.
However visual display can be protected as artistic or audiovisual
work.
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12. What is a
Trademark? |
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A trademark is any word, name, symbol, device or any
combination used or intended to be used in commerce to identify and
distinguish the goods of one manufacturer or seller from goods
manufactured or sold by others and to indicate the source of the
goods.
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13. What is the TRIPS
Agreement? |
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TRIPS (Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property
Rights) is an agreement that sets the minimum standard for IPR
protection among the WTO (World Trade Organization). It was
negotiated at the end of the Uruguay Round of the General Agreement
on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) treaty in 1994. India provides
protection to Intellectual Property Rights in accordance with its
obligations under the TRIPS Agreement. The importance of
intellectual property in India is now well established at all
levels- statutory, administrative and judicial.
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14. What could be the
consequences of infringement? |
Owner of intellectual property can enforce his/her
rights in the form of:
- Civil remedies: Injunction, damages or account of profit
- Criminal remedies: Imprisonment, fine or both
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