Protecting Innovation

Protecting Innovation
Technology and Innovation

Contents
1 Start-Up Intellectual Property Initiative
2 Facilitator’s Function
3 Copyrights
4 Software Innovations
5 Copyright related to innovation
6 Patents
7 Reasons for using Patents
8 Trademark
9 Trademark - Negativity
10 What Do Trademarks Protect?
11 Design Rights
12 Design Registration
13 Rights conferred by registration

Start-Up Intellectual Property
Initiative
the scheme
of Start-Up
Intellectual
Property
Protection
("SIPP")
Facilitators
shall be
empanelled
for this
purpose
enables the
Start-Ups to
protect their
IPRs
© 2017. All Rights Reserved.

Facilitator’s Function
Providing general advisory on different IPRs & information on protecting and
promoting IPRs in other countries on a no charge basis
Providing assistance in filing and disposal of the IP applications
related to patents, trademarks and design under relevant Acts
Drafting specifications for inventions of Start-Ups
Appearing on behalf of Start-Ups at hearings, contesting
opposition and ensuring final disposal of the IP applications
Preparing and filing responses to examinations reports and other
queries, notices or letters by the IP office.

Copyrights
What?
• Copyright is the right which protects the expression of an
idea. The right exists on creation of work. The copyright is
for any literary work, musical work, dramatics works,
choreographic works, pictorial, graphic and sculptural
works, cinematography work, performance etc.
Tenure
• The tenure of copyright is till the life of an author and 60
years after the death of the author. It is not mandatory to
register your copyright but it is always advisable to register
your copyrightable subject matter and get a certificate from
the Copyright Registry.
Ref
• http://nif.org.in/faq

Software Innovations
Further, Section 2(ffc) of the Act defines 'Computer program' as a
set of instructions expressed in words, codes, schemes or in any
other form, including a machine readable medium, capable of
causing a computer to perform a particular task or achieve a
particular result. Hence, software program can certainly be
protected under Copyright law.
An example of software program registered as copyright in
India is the copyright granted to the Hindi to Punjabi
Machine Translation Software developed by Dr. Vishal Goyal
and Dr. G.S.Lehal, from the Punjabi University Patiala
Copyright protection extends for author's lifetime plus 60 years. Hence,
protecting software program under copyright law (which in any case is
automatic) may arrear to be attractive. However, it has to be noted that
copyright protects expression of an idea and not the idea itself. Hence, in
the case of software programs, it is the software program that is
protected, and not the functionality of the software programs.
Hence, it may not be a good idea to rely solely on copyright law
to protect software related invention. One may wish to explore
the option of protecting software related inventions using patents.

Copyright relation to innovation
Copyright protection can be used
to promote the creation of new
works by giving authors control
over the expressions of such
works, so they can profit from
them. This type of IP protection
may be useful for tracing
developments in some highly
innovative sectors like software,
but also in creative industries
(Tang, 1999). Moreover, the
development of digital devices has
raised new opportunities for
providing innovative services
based on the use of copyright-
protected materials.
As it protects only the expression,
copyright offers narrower rights
than, e.g. patents. In the case of
software copyright protects the
source code but not the inventions
it implements
Protects
expressions
but not ideas

Patents
• An exclusive right granted by a country to an inventor, allowing
the inventor to exclude others from making, using or selling his
or her invention in that country during the life of the patent.
• It does NOT give the inventor the right to use or "practice" the
invention, and thus the right is subject to any prior rights that
others may have to related inventions.
• For example, if you have a patent on a “vessel to hold coffee”
and I have a patent on a “handle for a vessel”, then I can
prevent you from putting a handle on a coffee cup and you can
prevent me from attaching a cup to my handle.
• A patent is issued to the individual inventor and not to a
company, although it is typical practice to have employees
assign inventions to their employer.
• Patent protection is available for any product, process or design
that meets certain requirements of novelty, non obviousness
and utility.

Patents
• In the United States, a patent application must be filed with the
Patent & Trademark Office no later than one year after a
description of the invention is published or publicly disclosed or
the invention is first put on sale or made available for commercial
use.
• In some countries, the "first to file" a patent will prevail in a
dispute among inventors, whereas in the United States the "first
to invent" wins--if the patent application is filed within the one
year period.
• Although foreign patent filings may be made individually in each
foreign country, they are usually made under one of two
international treaties: the Patent Cooperation Treaty or the
European Patent Convention.
• Unfortunately, patent applications aren't published or made
available by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office until at least 18
months after filing. As a result, there is no direct way of knowing
what patents your competitors may be in the process of
obtaining.

Reasons for using Patents
• Exclusive rights - Patents provide the exclusive rights which usually allow
your SME to use and exploit the invention for twenty years from the date of
filing of the patent application.
• Strong market position - Through these exclusive rights, you are able to
prevent others from commercially using your patented invention, thereby
reducing competition and establishing yourself in the market as the pre-
eminent player.
• Higher returns on investments - Having invested a considerable amount of
money and time in developing innovative products, your SME could, under the
umbrella of these exclusive rights, commercialize the invention enabling your
SME to obtain higher returns on investments.
• Opportunity to license or sell the invention - If you chose not to exploit
the patent yourself, you may sell it or license the rights to commercialize it to
another enterprise which will be a source of income for your SME.

Reasons for using Patents
• Increase in negotiating power - If your SME is in the process of acquiring
the rights to use the patents of another enterprise, through a licensing
contract, your patent portfolio will enhance your bargaining power. That is to
say, your patents may prove to be of considerable interest to the enterprise
with whom you are negotiating and you could enter into a cross licensing
arrangement where, simply put, the patent rights could be exchanged between
your enterprise and the other.
• Positive image for your enterprise - Business partners, investors and
shareholders may perceive patent portfolios as a demonstration of the high
level of expertise, specialization and technological capacity within your
company. This may prove useful for raising funds, finding business partners
and raising your company's market value.

Plant Variety Protection
India's Protection of Plant Varieties and Farmers' Rights Act of
2001 is the most far-reaching legislation with regard to
establishing rights for farmers to save, use, exchange and sell
farm-saved seed.
The farmers are entitled to save, use, sow, re-sow, exchange, share
and sell farm produce, including seeds of varieties protected by plant
breeders' rights.
They are, however, not allowed to sell seeds of protected varieties as
branded packages.
The Act seeks to protect farmers from exaggerated claims by seed
companies regarding the performance of their registered varieties.
The breeder is obliged to disclose to farmers the performance of the
variety under given conditions. If the material fails to perform according
to this information, farmers may claim compensation from the breeding
company through the Authority set up to administer the Act.
It also seeks to ensure that these seeds are of good quality, or at least
that farmers are adequately informed about the quality of seed they
buy. In addition, safeguards are provided against innocent infringement
by farmers.

Trademark
A trademark is a word, phrase, symbol, and/or design that identifies
and distinguishes the source of the goods of one party from those of
others.
Trademarks are especially valuable for goods where status and quality
matters.
Trademarks identify the distinctive origin of a product, service or
company, guaranteeing quality and good will, reducing consumer
search costs. Yet innovating firms make extensive use of trademarks.
A trademark identifies the origin of a product, service or company,
distinguishing it from other products, services or companies.
A trademark holder also receives a legal monopoly on the use of the
mark for the designated commodity, and is protected against
infringement.
Unlike patents and copyrights, trademarks do not expire after a set
term of years.

Trademark
Trademarks can positively affect a firm’s incentives to innovate
in two manners-
• They provide direct incentives to engage in incremental
innovation, particularly product differentiation.
• And for both basic and incremental innovation, they can be
leveraged indirectly to supplement other appropriability
strategies.

Trademark - Negatives
Trademarked goods (like patented goods) are not only
vulnerable to competitive assaults, they are also highly
sensitive to consumer actions.
If the problem is not resolved immediately, and the solution is
not communicated widely to consumers, the damage might
take years to repair.

Trademark examples

What do Trademarks Protect?
• Trademarks protect consumers from being misled. They
ensure free competition by protecting the goodwill of the
entity that owns the mark. Unlike copyrights that deal with
the marketplace of expressive ideas, trademarks deal with
the marketplace of goods and services.
• Trademark symbols provide powerful source-identifying
cues that allow us to make value judgments about the
quality of certain goods before we sample them.
• One of several effective ways to protect a trademark is to
register it with the state or federal government.

Design Rights
• A registered design protects the visual appearance of a
product or item and gives you exclusive rights for that
appearance to the extent that, if necessary, there is a legal right
to stop an unauthorised party from producing or using your
design. Design rights protect the way a product looks.
• The Designs Act 2000 and the Designs Rules 2001
constitute the statutory and regulatory design laws in India.
They aim to balance the competing interests of rights
holders wishing to protect their designs against the public
interest in common shapes being kept available.
• Registration of designs in respect of any or all articles comprised
in a prescribed class is mandatory if protection is to be claimed.
The classification is based on the Locarno classification system.

Design Registration
Designs which are registrable should be-
• New or original – not published
• Significantly distinguishable from known designs or
combinations of known designs
• Devoid of scandalous or obscene matter

Rights conferred by registration
Apply the design to any
article in the class in which
it is registered
Right lasts for a 10-year
period, which can be
extended by five years
Is open to cancellation
proceedings by any
interested person on the
grounds that it is not
registrable and/or does not
qualify as a design

Protecting Innovation

Recommended

Recommended

More Related Content

What's hot

What's hot (20)

Viewers also liked

Viewers also liked (6)

Similar to Protecting Innovation

Similar to Protecting Innovation (20)

More from i4VC

More from i4VC (9)

Recently uploaded

Recently uploaded (17)

Protecting Innovation