Intellectual Property is a global subject. It’s theft, evergreening and exploitation has been the basic issue which has been encountered by trips WIPO and all other major world authorities. Intellectual property violation is a major crime and needs to be dealt with in all seriousness. Many multinational companies resolve by taking steps which are borderline infringing domestic or international laws for making some extra bucks and in the end, it is the customers whose interests are the most neglected.
Intellectual Property management has laid down some major rules which all the signatory to that treaty or convention needs to follow. Protection of Patent, Copyright, Trademark, Trade secrets, Traditional knowledge and all other proprietary information is required for the protection of the rights of the inventor. In the current scenario many are trying to exploit this protection and are trying to limit such invention to a certain number of people who in turn are exploiting it to its core and not sharing it with the public. The Trips Agreement has suggested every country should move from process patenting to product patenting.
Filing and Protection of Intellectual Property
Like all other segments of law, where there are specialised lawyers who give the right advice for specific matters. There are three mean segments under which intellectual property practice can be segregated. These are
- Protection
- Counselling
- Enforcement
These are the major areas in which your intellectual property lawyer will come to play its part.
Many counselling centres have opened all across the country to help ease out the problems which people are facing with regards to seeking protection and development of intellectual property in India. Many searches need to be conducted when it comes to granting a patent and these searches are conducted by Intellectual Property specialists. So, it is advised to take their guidance while filing for patent, trademark, copyright or any type of intellectual property.
The protection phase involves deterring others who do not own the right to use intellectual property. Here they will guide you what are the rights that a client possesses once an intellectual property is granted.
When it comes to enforcing rights, all your queries will be dealt with by a specialised IP lawyer because they are the only ones who are eligible to appear in front of the court. They will have your best interest in mind if you present your case with full disclosure and there is no active concealment of facts.
Intellectual Property theft and its overexploitation
India being a developing country is still keen on following the idea of process patenting rather than product patenting. The reason why Indian authorities are going towards this is because it helps in bringing down the price of the commodity and to make sure the public can make the most out of it. If any mention stays with any particular group of people for more than the designated time by following some tricks then the laws are failing to offer the world what it needs. This can be regarded as overexploitation of intellectual property. Whenever someone tries to illegally download any video from the Internet or is playing a song in any club without any prior permission of the inventor or the property holder then it is regarded as intellectual property theft. Laws have been strictly implemented and many committees have been formed for the formulation of good future laws. Hence the future of intellectual property in India is bright.
Intellectual Property duration
As per Indian laws, Copyright is protected for the lifetime of the inventor plus 70 years post his/her demise. After the expiration of this time, the property is available for public use. We cannot claim or ask for the renewal of Copyright. In case of Trademarks, the protection offered is for 10 years and companies and organisations can seek renewal of Trademark for as long as they want. The reason why Trademark is allowed to renew is because many companies identify their product with this and hence its renewal is justified. Patents in India are given 20 years of protection and after that, they are available for public use. Patents cannot be renewed unless there is a substantial change in the earlier invention, in which case a new patent application will have to be filed.
Conclusion
All the agreements and treaties are aimed at protecting inventors and also making sure the public is benefiting from such inventions. The authorities have to make sure that the commercial businesses are using such property for betterment and not exploiting it. The long wait time in granting protection can limit availability of such resources from the public. This may seriously hinder movement of human civilization.
