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Intellectual property rights, like the name suggests, are the exclusive rights that are awarded to a person for the use and products of their intellect. Intellect in a tangible form alone can be awarded such rights. It is essential to remember that intellectual property rights are not associated with thoughts or ideas that do not have a tangible format. Thereby, an idea for a book, an innovative thought for a process are a few such things that are not covered under the ambit of Intellectual Property rights. 

In India, the laws that encapsulate intellectual property and its associated rights are - 

1. Copyright Act, 1957;

2. Designs Act, 2000; 

3. Geographical Indications of Goods (Registration and Protection) Act, 1999;

4. Patents Act, 1970;

5. Protection of Plant Varieties and Farmers’ Rights Act, 2001;

6. Trade Mark Act, 1999.

Copyright Law - 

Any original literary work like an article or any dramatic work like a book or a drama are some of the examples of text which are covered under the protection of the copyright law. The Copyright Act along with text also gives protection to original musical or artistic works, cinematograph films, and even sound recordings. 

Design Law - 

The Design Act gives protection to features that pertain to any two or three dimensional form such as shape, pattern, ornament or composition of lines or colours or any configuration. The application of such features may be done by using any process including manual, chemical or mechanical, separate or combined. The ultimate result, in the form of the finished article appears to be appealing or can be judged solely by the eye.  

Geographical Indication of Goods Law - 

We have all heard of “Darjeeling tea”, “Assam tea”, “Banarasi silk sarees” and many such products that are associated with the name of a place. The place in all the cases is the place of the origin of the said product. The Geographical Indications of Goods (Registration and Protection) Act awards protection to such goods that have an association with a geographical area. The reason why these products are given protection under the law is because the uniqueness of the product is derived from the geography of the place of origin. For example - tea is grown in many parts of India, however, Darjeeling tea is unique because of the geographical features that are unique only to Darjeeling. 

Patent Law - 

Patent law awards protection to innovations. Innovation means any process, product or a step that is new or “novel” and that it is something that is not obvious. For patent protection, innovation is not the only requirement, it also has to be useful and practical as well. It is important to remember that patent protection cannot be given to a natural process. Patents also cannot be awarded to any process, product or a step that would be contrary to the public policy, for instance, a bomb may meet all the criteria for awarding of a patent but since it is against public policy, patent protection will not be granted. 

Protection of Plant Varieties and Farmers’ Rights - 

The protection of plant varieties is an important law as it provides protection to existing varieties of plants but also encourages development of new varieties of plants by providing protection to such new varieties. This law provides protection to the work of farmers and plant breeders as they conserve, improve and are the ones who are responsible for the creation of new varieties of plants. 

Trade Mark Law - 

Trade mark Act covers under its ambit a variety of trade related intellectual property rights. The trade names, service marks and trade dress. For protection under this Act, the mark in question must be capable of being represented graphically and should be able to distinguish a product of one brand or company from another brand or company. 

It is pertinent to remember that under each of the abovementioned Acts, the subject-matter is unique. Any unique intellectual property can be granted protection only under one of the above Acts. In practical situations, it is often not easy to know which of the Intellectual Property Acts would be ideal for the subject-matter under consideration and for that reason, legal advice in all cases is advisable. 

To consult lawyers with expertise in IPR, reach out to us Intellectual Property Law Lawyers in India.