This document provides an overview of fundamentals of intellectual property rights. It covers the introduction to IPR, rationale for protection, history and evolution of IPR, and outlines various forms of IPR including patents, copyrights, trademarks, industrial designs, and geographical indications. The document discusses IPR as intangible property rights granted by law, outlines salient features of IPR including being non-rivalrous and non-exclusive. It covers economic benefits of IPR such as promoting innovation, investment and economic growth. The history section traces IPR practices from ancient times through development of modern systems and establishment of organizations like WIPO.

1. Fundamentals of Intellectual
Property Rights
Dr. B. Kumar
Sr. Technical Officer(3)
Planning, Monitoring & Coordination

2. Lecture covers:
• Introduction to IPR
• Rationale for IPR Protection
• History and Evolution of IPR
• Brief Outline of various forms of IPR
– Patent
– Copyright
– Trademark
– Industrial Designs
– Geographical Indication
– Trade Secrets

3. Intellectual Property Rights
❖ Property means the relation between the property holder and every
member of the society in relation to a tangible or intangible object.
❖ Law confers upon the property-holder a bundle of entitlements (rights).
❖ Right to possess the thing which he/she owns
❖ Right to use and enjoy the thing owned
❖ Right to consume, destroy or alienate the thing
❖ Intellectual property means the legal rights which result from intellectual
activity in the industrial, scientific, literary and artistic fields (WIPO)
• Primary focus of property jurisprudence has shifted from tangibles
to Intangibles
• Intellectual Property emerged as new Wea lth of the nations.

4. IPR –Salient Features
❖ Intangible: Intellectual property does not protect the physical object
that went into creation, but protects the intellectual creation that
underlie the physical object
❖ Non-rivalrous Consumption [One party's use does not interfere
with another party's use]
❖ Two individuals cannot eat the same apple at the same time. When
one derives the benefit of eating an apple (real property) the other
person simply cannot enjoy the same apple.
❖ On the other hand a piece of music can be listened
(consumed) by many without interfering with each other.
❖ Once the work has been released to the public an unlimited number
of people may consume the work without using it up.

5. IPR –Salient Features (Contd..)
❖ Non-exclusive
❖ Once some information is revealed there is no way to exclude
others from using and deriving benefit from the information so
disclosed.
❖ The classic example of the national defense best illustrates the
non excludability principle. Taxpayers pay for the national
defense, there is no way to exclude no-taxpayers from the
benefits of that defense system.
Physical Property Intellectual Property
Protected by Possession Creations of mind, such as an idea for an
invention or a piece of music, cannot like
physical objects, be protected against others'
use. Once the IPR is available for the public, its
creator can no longer exercise control over it.

6. IPR - Rationale
• Intellectual Property is otherwise Government 's
assignment of private property rights.
• By granting a bundle of private property rights, the Govt.
provide a legal entitlement for an intellectual property
owner to exclude others from enjoying certain benefits of
her creation.
• This creates:
– Incentive to invest (R&D)
– Incentive to create (Encouraging Creative Minds)
– Incentive to disclose and disseminate

7. Economic Benefits of IPR
Promoting innovation
• Innovation benefits the community by creating new and improved goods
and services that meet social needs. For eg. diagnostic tests or
treatments, which improve community health.
• Patents promote innovation through the grant of limited monopolies, as a
reward to inventors for the time, effort and ingenuity invested in creating
new products and processes.
• The potential for financial returns adds an incentive to the traditional
rewards of scientific innovation. Without the incentive provided by
patents, private investors may be reluctant to invest
Investment and economic growth
• Patent may help companies to grow by capitalising on the market
potential of its inventions. Profits generated by patent exploitation can be
invested in further research and development, which may stimulate
commercial and industrial growth.

8. Economic Benefits of IPR
Resource use and knowledge sharing
• Patents promote knowledge sharing by requiring the details of the
patented invention to be placed in the public domain in return for the
exclusive right to exploit the invention. In the absence of this
exchange, inventors might protect the details of new inventions
through secrecy. The disclosure requirements of the patent system
are based on the idea that ‘scientific and technical openness benefits
the progress of society more than do confidentiality and secrecy
• By encouraging knowledge sharing, patents reduce the duplication of
research effort and encourage researchers to build on existing
inventions. Researchers may study a patented product and find ways
to improve upon it. Access to patented inventions may also facilitate
research that would not otherwise be possible. For example, access
to a patented research tool may enable vital research into the causes
of a genetic disorder and lead to the creation of a genetic test or
treatment. This research may not have occurred if the tool had
remained secret.

9. Intellectual Property Protection:
essential for economic growth
Intellectual
Property
Technology
Transfer
Innovation
Revenue
generation Public use
Revenue

10. IP Types

11. History of Intellectual Property Rights (Contd..)
Ancient
Times
Ancient Greece city of Sybaris (6th BCE) granted one year exclusivity for bakers to
make their culinary invention. Even in ancient times, marks were used to indicate
ownership or manufacturer of certain products as discovered in the Bison painted on the
walls of the Lascaux Caves in the Middle East (circa 3500 B.C.) and stamps or marking
found on bricks or pottery in ancient Egypt, Greece, Rome and China.
1226 first trademark laws, known as Bakers Marking Law, was introduced in England in 1226
1331 issue of letters patent by the Crown in England to inventor John Kempe and his company
1449 Henry VI granted an English patent for invention to Flemish-born John
of Utynam which gave him a 20-year monopoly for a method of making stained glass,
required for the windows that had not been previously known in England.
1421 Patent awarded to Filippo Brunelleschi, Italy (engineer) for manufacture of a barge with
hoisting gear used to transport marble along the river.
1474 Statute of Venice
• First known patent law that granted inventors exclusive rights to their inventions.
• All elements of modern patent system viz. novelty, proof of usefulness, and a
requirement that the patentee describe and explain the invention.
• Period of protection was 10 years.
1555 Concept of publishing the description of an invention in a patent introduced (France)

12. The first Copyright Act Statute of Anne (1710) enacted by the British Parliament gave
renewable 14-year protection to authors for their original works.(copyright). Rights vested with
the Author not on the publishers
• First modern patent system that encouraged intellectual property to stimulate invention
which paved way for Industrial revolution in England introduced in 16th century
• English Crown granted letters patent for monopolies to favoured persons (who were
prepared to pay to the Crown).
• Monopoly was given to all sorts of common goods including common salt.
Statute of Monopolies Act (1629) restrict the power of the sovereign in granting monopolies.
• Inventions had to be "new to attain a monopoly, granted only for a limited period of time(14
years).
• Foundation for development of patent law in England.
• Written word license i.e. Copyright introduced that allows authors to protect their published
work
History of Intellectual Property Rights (Contd..)
• The US Congress passed “An Act to promote the progress of useful Arts” in 1790
• First US patent was granted on July 31, 1790 to Samuel Hopkins of Philadelphia for a method
of producing potash (potassium carbonate), an essential ingredient used in making soap,
glass, and gunpowder.
• A company named Averill Paints got the first modern trademark in the USA in 1870.

13. Powerful associations of producers that trained craftspeople,
• control over production,
• regulated competition and prices,
• restricted the entry of new people into the trade.
Granted monopoly right to produce and trade in specific products by the rulers,
therefore difficult for new merchants to set up business in towns
Cartel
• Group of independent market participants who collude with each other in order to
improve their profits and dominate the market. Usually associations in the same
sphere of business, and thus an alliance of rivals.
• Guilds in the European Middle Ages, associations of craftsmen or merchants of the
same trade, cartels in the mining industry of the late Middle Ages, salt syndicate
inn France and Naples
• Oldest form of IP protection.
• In ancient Rome, trade secret laws established legal consequences for a person who
induced another’s employee (or slave) to divulge secrets relating to the master’s
commercial affairs.
• Practiced extensively in Medieval European guilds.
TRADE
GUILDS
CARTEL
TRADE
SECRET
History of Intellectual Property Rights (Contd..)

14. World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO)
• World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO) is one of the specialized
agencies established by UN.
• Headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland, WIPO currently has 193 member
states.
• Activities include hosting forums to discuss and shape international IP rules
and policies, providing global services that register and protect IP in different
countries, resolving transboundary IP disputes, helping connect IP systems
through uniform standards and infrastructure.
• serving as a general reference database on all IP matters includes providing
reports and statistics on the state of IP protection or innovation both globally
and in specific countries
• WIPO administers 26 international treaties that concern a wide variety of
intellectual property issues, ranging from the protection of audiovisual works
to establishing international patent classification

15. The Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property (1883)
The Paris Convention, adopted in 1883, applies to industrial property in the widest sense, including patents,
trademarks, industrial designs, utility models, service marks, trade names, geographical indications and the
repression of unfair competition. This international agreement was the first major step taken to help
creators ensure that their intellectual works were protected in other countries.
The Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works (1886)
protection of works and the rights of their authors. It provides creators such as authors, musicians, poets,
painters etc. with the means to control how their works are used, by whom, and on what terms.
The WIPO Copyright Treaty (WCT)
The WIPO Copyright Treaty (WCT) is a special agreement under the Berne Convention which deals with the
protection of works and the rights of their authors in the digital environment. In addition to the rights
recognized by the Berne Convention, they are granted certain economic rights. The Treaty also deals with
two subject matters to be protected by copyright: (i) computer programs, whatever the mode or form of
their expression; and (ii) compilations of data or other material ("databases").
The Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) (1970)
The Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) is an international patent law treaty, that provides a unified procedure
for filing patent applications to protect inventions in each of its contracting states. A patent application filed
under the PCT is called an international application, or PCT application. A PCT application does not itself
result in the grant of a patent, since there is no such thing as an "international patent“. The PCT procedure
essentially leads to a standard national or regional patent application, which may be granted or rejected
according to applicable law, in each jurisdiction in which a patent is desired.
INTERNATIONAL CONVENTIONS/TREATIES

16. The Madrid Agreement Concerning the International Registration of Marks and the Protocol
Relating to the Madrid Agreement (1989)
• International Registration of Marks is governed by the Madrid Agreement,
• system makes it possible to protect a mark in a large number of countries by obtaining an international
registration that has effect in each of the designated Contracting Parties.
The WIPO Performances and Phonograms Treaty (WPPT)
the rights of two kinds of beneficiaries, particularly in the digital environment: (i) performers (actors,
singers, musicians, etc.); and (ii) producers of phonograms (persons or legal entities that take the
initiative and have the responsibility for the fixation of sounds).
Budapest Treaty of 1980
It made possible patenting for microorganisms. Claimant is required to deposit his invention on micro-
organisms with an Authority – ‘International depository of Micro-Organisms’ under WIPO. He shall make
all the adequate disclosures.
The International Convention for the Protection of New Varieties of Plants (1961)
• adopted in Paris in 1961 and revised in 1972, 1978 and 1991.
• IPR protection of new varieties of plants. encourage Plant breeders the development of new varieties
of plants for the benefit of society
INTERNATIONAL CONVENTIONS/TREATIES (Contd..)

17. ▪ International patent law treaty that provides a unified procedure for filing patent
applications to protect inventions in member countries.
▪ patent “filing” system, not a patent “granting” system. No“PCT patent” or “international
patent”
▪ International phase comprising:
• filing of the international application
• international search and written opinion of the ISA
• international publication and
• international preliminary examination
• a national/regional phase before designated Offices
▪ The decision on granting patents is taken exclusively by National or
Regional Offices in the national phase
THE PCT SYSTEM
❖ One set of formality
requirements
❖ Cost of filing national phase applications deferred
(11-30 months) time for the inventors to test the
market or to attract new business partners.
❖ International search,
publication and preliminary
examination
❖ PCT users benefit from an assessment (informal
feedback on the patentability of their technology)
ADVANTAGES OF PCT FILING

18. • International agreement established on 1st January 2005 at the end of Uruguay Round of GATT and
administered by the World Trade Organization, an international organization established to
supervise and liberalize trade introduced Intellectual property law into the international trading
system for the first time. It also provides the framework for implementation of an International
IPR regime.
• To reduce distortions and impediments to international trade, promote effective and adequate
protection of intellectual property rights, ensuring measures and procedures to enforce
intellectual property rights, prevention of barriers for enforcement, facilitating legitimate trade,
etc .
• Flexibility for Member countries - Allows the Member countries for themselves to determine
appropriate method of implementing the provisions of the Agreement within their own legal
system and practice.
• Protection and enforcement of Intellectual Property Rights that contribute to the promotion of
technological innovation and to the transfer and dissemination of technology, to the mutual
advantage of producers and users of technological knowledge and in a manner conducive to social
and economic welfare, and to a balance of rights and obligations.
• Adoption of TRIPS is a compulsory requirement of World Trade organization membership. Any
country seeking to obtain easy access to the numerous international market opened by WTO Trade
organization must enact the strict IPR laws mandated by TRIPs.
• Currently 164 parties to the Agreement(All WTO members)

19. Article 27.3 (b) of TRIPs
Allows governments to exclude some kinds of inventions from patenting, i.e. plants, animals
and “essentially” biological processes except
• micro-organisms, and non-biological and microbiological processes
• plant varieties either through patent protection or a system created specifically for the
purpose (“sui generis”), or a combination of the two.
• Doha Declaration (2001 ) affirms the right of WTO Members to make full use of the
safeguard provisions of the TRIPS Agreement in order to protect public health and
enhance access to medicines for poor countries and the TRIPS Agreement does not and
should not prevent Members from taking measures to protect public health".
• Use of compulsory licenses that enables a competent government authority to license the
use of a patented invention to a third party or government agency without the consent of
the patent-holder.
Public Health & Access
to Medicines

20. Timeline of Indian Patent Act
Legislation Salient Features
Act VI of 1856 first legislation related to Indian Patent
Act IX of 1857 Act VI repealed since it had been enacted without the approval of the British Crown
1859 • grant of exclusive privileges to useful inventions
• extension of priority period from 6 months to 12 months
1872 • protection relating to designs
• renamed as "The Patterns and Designs Protection Act" under Act XIII of 1872.
XVI of 1883 The Act of 1872 – amended to introduce -provision to protect novelty of the
invention, which prior to making application for their protection were disclosed in
the Exhibition of India
Act II of 1911 Indian Patents and Designs Act, 1911 which was amended in 1920, 1930 and 1950
1957 Justice N. Rajagopala Ayyangar Committee appointed to examine the question of
revision of the Patent Law and advise government accordingly.
1970 Patent Act passed
1972 Patent Rules published
1999
The Patents (Amendment) Act of 1999 brought into force retrospective since
January 1, 1995.
2002 The Patents (Amendment) Act 2002 took effect on May 20, 2003.
2005 The Patents (Reform act) Act of 2005 went into force on January 1, 2005.

21. ▪ The Patent system in India is administered by the Office of the Controller General of
Patents, Designs & Trade Marks (CGPDTM) under the Indian Patent Act 1970.
▪ Patent offices are situated in Delhi, Kolkata, Chennai and Mumbai.
▪ Patent Acts and Rules made in 1999, 2002, 2005, 2006 are necessitated by India's
obligation under TRIPS agreement.
Indian Patent System
• Both product and process patent provided
• Term of patent – 20 years
• Examination on request
• section 3 (d) by the amendment of the Patent Acts in 2005 in order to stop ever greening of
patents.
• introduction of pre-grant representation (opposition) in addition to the existing post-grant
opposition mechanism.
• Both pre-grant and post-grant opposition
• Fast track mechanism for disposal of appeals
• Publication of applications after 18 months with facility for early publication
• Substantially reduced time-lines
Amendments to Indian Patent Act in compliance with TRIPs

22. WHAT IS A PATENT ?
• An agreement between the government and an inventor
whereby, in exchange for the inventor's complete
disclosure of the invention, the government gives the
inventor the right to exclude others from using the
invention in certain ways.
• What is granted is not the right to make, use, offer for sale,
sell or import, but the right to stop others from making,
using, offering for sale, selling or importing the invention.
• is an asset if properly utilized, reaps monetary benefits for
its assignee for the next twenty years from the date of
filing the application.
A MONOPOLY RIGHT A NEGATIVE
RIGHT A TERRITORIAL RIGHT GRANTED
BY THE GOVT.
for DISCLOSURE OF INVENTION , TO
OWNER OR HIS ASSIGNEE, FOR LIMITED
PERIOD OF TIME
Patents are granted for inventions. An invention
means a new product or process involving an
inventive step and capable of industrial application.
• A process - for example, a process of
enzymatic catalysis or a process for the
isolation of a new microbe.
• A composition of matter - for example,
a new pharmaceutical drug or a new
enzyme.
• A machine - for example, an NMR
machine, spectrophotometer.
• An article of manufacture - for
example, a water clarifier or a specially
molded piece of plastic for
electrophoresis apparatus.
• Any new and useful improvement to
an invention that falls under any of
these categories.
Novelty: Must be new, Distinguishable from “Prior Art”
Inventive Step: means a feature of an invention that involves
technical advance as compared to the existing knowledge or
having economic significance or both and that makes the
invention not obvious to a person skilled in the art.
Industrial Application: Must be useful/should have utility, At
least one recognized, verifiable and practical end-use.

23. Invention 1: First ever circular top table
Is it new?
Is it useful?
Prior Art
Novelty, Inventive Step…..
Is the present invention novel?
• Yes, because the prior art has rectangular top but the present
invention has round top.
Is the present invention obvious?
• Yes, it is obvious for a person skilled in the art (in this case,
carpenter) to make a table top to any shape.

24. Invention 2: Prior Art 2
Circular top
Centre stand with
supports.
Is the Present Invention Novel?
Yes-1 Centre stand with 3 supports
Is the invention obvious?
No, because applications are
different
Prior Art 1 Prior Art 2

25. 25
✔A right given by the law to CREATORS of literary, dramatic, musical and artistic works and
PRODUCERS of cinematographic films and sound recordings.
✔A bundle of rights including, inter alia, rights of reproduction, communication to the public,
adaptation and translation of the work.
✔Unlike the case with patents, copyright protects the expressions and not the ideas. Ideas to
be put in tangible form for protection.
✔Copyright exists automatically upon the creation of an original work. No need to register.
✔Registration of copyright creates a presumption that copyright subsist in a work.
✔Prudent to display notice on all works. A copyright notice consists of the word copyright and
or the symbol ©, the year of creation of the work, the name of copyright owner viz. Copyright
© 2021 CSIR-CFTRI.
WHAT IS COPYRIGHT ?
What can be protected?
• novels, poems, plays;
• Reference works,
• newspapers,
• advertisements,
• Computer programs,
databases,
• Films,
• Musical compositions,
• choreography,
• paintings, drawings,
• photographs,
• sculpture, architecture,
• Maps and Technical
drawings
COPYRIGHT TENURE:
• for the lifetime of the author plus 60 years
If published within the lifetime of the author
of a literary, dramatic, musical or artistic work
• 60 years from the beginning of the calendar year
following the year in which the work was
published
in case of cinematographic films, records,
posthumous publication, anonymous
publication, works of government and
international agencies.

26. 26
o Reproduction of the work in any material form including the
storing of it in any medium by electronic means;
o Making and distributing copies of the work to the public;
o Performing the work in public;
o Preparing any cinematographic film or sound recording in
respect of the work;
o Translation of the work;
o Making any adaptation of the work.
o In case of computer programs, the rights also include the right
to sell or give on hire, or offer for sale or hire any copy of the
computer programme, regardless of whether such copy has
been sold or given on hire on earlier occasions
RIGHTS OF A COPYRIGHT HOLDER
RIGHT TO PATERNITY
to claim authorship of work
and to prevent all others from
claiming authorship of his
work
RIGHT TO INTEGRITY
to prevent distortion,
mutilation or other alterations
of his work, or any other
action in relation ot said work,
which would be prejudicial to
his honour or reputation
MORAL RIGHTS
❖ Limitation on the exclusive rights of
copyright holder.
❖Allows general public to do certain
uses of a copyrighted work, without
permission from copyrighted holder
FAIR USE PROVISIONS

27. Neighbouring or Related Rights
Neighboring rights are rights granted to other who are involved in the making the copyrighted public.
Protection offered by related rights is independent of any copyright protection that may exist in the
works being performed, recorded or broadcast.
▪ Rights of performers (actors, musicians,
singers, dancers or generally people who
perform in their performances;
Obtain consent of the performer prior to
recording broadcasting or delivering a live per
performance by cable as well as reproduced
recordings
▪ Rights of producers of sound recordings
in their recordings (cassette recordings,
compact discs, etc); and
Have legal rights in their recordings and have the
right to take action against unauthorized
copying, use or distribution
▪ Rights of broadcasting organizations in
their radio and television pogramme and
in internet broadcasts such as ‘podcasts’
Enjoy the right to control the rebroadcasting,
fixation (recording) and reproduction of their
broadcasts
Ownership of copyright
• Terms “authorship” and ownership” are often confused
• Author refers to the person who created the work as opposed to someone who contributed the idea of
the work
• The owner of the copyright in a work is the person who has the exclusive rights to exploit the work e.g.
to use, copy, sell and make derivative works usually the publisher
• Copyright generally rests with the author who created it and then automatically transferred to the
owner on certain conditions viz. a) if the work was created by an employee as apart of his job b) if the
work was commissioned or specially ordered.

28. WHAT IS A TRADEMARK ?
▪ a sign which can distinguish the goods and
services of one trader from those of another
▪ includes words, logos, colours, slogans, three-
dimensional shapes and sometimes sounds
and gestures
▪ used as a marketing tool
▪ To be registrable in India it must also be
capable of being represented graphically, that
is, in words and/or pictures
• should be DISTINCT i.e. capable of
distinguishing the goods of one person
from that of another person
• should NOT DESCRIBE the
characteristics of the goods or services
• should NOT BE DECEPTIVE or cause
confusion to the public
• should NOT BE SCANDALOUS or
obscene;
TERM/DURATION OF
TRADEMARK
• 10 years however may be
renewed subject to payment
of prescribed fees.
• Application for renewal must
be submitted within six
months from the expiry of the
last registration of the
Trademark

30. 30
30
TRADEMARK
CATEGORIES

31. 31
31
▪ Aesthetic layouts that are applied to articles viz.
handicrafts:, technical and medical instruments,
watches, jewellery, luxury Items, house wares,
electrical appliances, vehicles, architectural structures,
textile designs, etc.
▪ includes the shape, configuration, pattern, ornament
that is applied to an article
▪ must be new or original and non-functional
▪ technical features of the article to which it is applied
are not protected by the design registration.
▪ may be either two dimensional or three dimensional
Essential requirements for the registration of design:
a) should BE new or original,
b) should NOT BE previously published or used in any country before
the date of application for registration
c) should RELATE TO features of shape, configuration, pattern or
ornamentation applied or applicable to an article
d) should NOT INCLUDE any Trade Mark;
The TERM of a
REGISTERED DESIGN is
10 years from the date of
its registration or priority
date whichever is earlier.
Thereafter, it can be
renewed for a further
period of 5 years
INDUSTRIAL DESIGN
BENEFITS OF PROTECTION
▪ Prevents unauthorized copying or
imitation by third parties ensured fair
return on investment
▪ Without consent, Third parties can be
prevented by making, selling articles
bearing the copy of the protected
design.
▪ Industrial design protection is
conducive to fair completion and
honest trade practices, encourages
creativity in industrial and
manufacturing sector.
Industrial designs play a critical role in adding the commercial value and marketability of the product by
making it more attractive and appealing. Helps companies to differentiate their products from those of their
competitors and enhance their brand image of products.

32. GI is an indication, originating from a definite geographical territory. It is used to identify agricultural,
natural or manufactured goods produced, processed or prepared in that particular territory due to
which the product has special quality, reputation and/or other characteristics.
Registration of a GI has the following benefits:
• Legal protection: This enables to IP holder to
secure protection against infringement of the
registered GI;
• Exclusive rights: Prevents unauthorised use of a
registered GI by others and assures safety of
individuality;
• Demand: Boosts exports of the registered GI
products since they receive their individual
identification on every legal platform and also
invite media coverage;
• Economic Growth: Promotes economic prosperity
of producers of goods produced in a geographical
territory.
Any association of persons, producers, organi-
sation or authority established by or under the
law can apply for registration of a GI, provided:
• Applicant must represent the interest of the
producers;
• application should be in writing in the
prescribed form;
• application should be addressed to the
Registrar of Geographical Indications along
with prescribed fee.
A Trademark is a sign which is used in the course of trade and it distinguishes goods or services of one
enterprise from those of other enterprises, whereas a GI is an indication used to identify goods having
special characteristics originating from a definite geographical territory.
GEOGRAPHICAL INDICATIONS
TRADEMARK VS GEOGRAPHICAL INDICATIONS
An Authorised User who have been registered
their name and entered in the Register of GI as
registered proprietor for the GI has the exclusive
rights to the use of GI in relation to goods in
respect of which it is registered.

34. ✔ Trade secrets are intellectual property (IP) rights on confidential information which may be sold or
licensed. In general, to qualify as a trade secret, the information must be:
• commercially valuable because it is secret,
• be known only to a limited group of persons, and
• be subject to reasonable steps taken by the rightful holder of the information to keep it secret,
including the use of confidentiality agreements for business partners and employees.
✔ Trade secret information to be properly labelled ((e.g., Proprietary Information, Not for Public
Release)
❑ Trade secret is information which, if
disclosed, will cause real or significant harm
to the owner.
❑ The protection of information as trade
secrets doesn’t provide a statutory right as
there is no governmental intervention in the
form of a legislation.
❑ However, in certain situations it becomes
difficult to maintain secrecy of an
innovation as competitors could easily
reverse engineer or independently discover
it.
❖ Any type of information can be protected
as a trade secret, with the only criterion
being that the information has potential
economic worth and that the owner took
reasonable steps to keep it secret.
❖ Unlike patent protection which lasts for 20
years, Trade secrets can be maintained for
lifetime.
❖ Trade secret protection is far easier,
quicker and cheaper compared to Patent
provided owner taking reasonable efforts
to maintain secrecy.
TRADE SECRETS
PROS CONS

36. IPR - Benefits
• Grant of patent rights enables a producer to recover the fixed costs
he has incurred in R&D of a product or process embodying a new
invention.
• The producer incurs a huge costs towards development of the
product even before any commercial application can be made.
• In a world without patent there will be no legal rule that would
prevent competitors from freely making and selling (free riding)
• Because of this cost advantage the market price of the product will
fall to a point at which the producer will not be able to recover his
fixed costs.
• At the first glance it appears that the public would benefit from such
an world without patent where low-priced medicine will be available.
In reality the public will be harmed as pharma companies will stop
producing new medicines for lack of economic incentive.
• This stifles development of new product and process.

37. IPR - Benefits
• In the absence of patent protection for the invention,
Companies will try to keep the invention secret.
• This will reduce the stock of knowledge available to
society as a whole and stifle "invent around" the patented
invention
• Patent law prevents this secrecy by requiring as a
condition of the grant of a patent, that the patent
application disclose the steps constituting the invention in
sufficient detail so as to enable a person knowledgeable in
the relevant technology to manufacture the patented
product himself.
• Patent Law may be considered as a response to Trade
Secret Law.