Intellectual Property Rights

Intellectual property is the intangible property that is the result of creativity and intellect. IPR is the rights that secure and protect these intangible assets through different modes of IP protection like patents, copyright, trademark, industrial designs, geographical indications, the layout design of integrated circuits, undisclosed information (trade secrets) and new plant varieties.

A trademark is assigned to a word or logo for securing one’s brand and copyright grants you the protection for your original creative content such as books, music, videos, songs or even software. The patent is for securing new inventions and inventive processes that are novel, has some utility and an inventive step.

There are no mandatory requirements for the businesses to registered under IPR law. However, the registration grants the owner exclusive rights over their properties and legal protection by stopping others from using it without the owner’s approval. This is the main reason to obtain registration under Intellectual Property law.

Once obtained the registration, the owners can assign (transfer) the right of using the trademark or copyrighted content or the patent at consideration. The assignment can be absolute or partial and can be limited to a specified term.

No, registrations of Company Names, Business Names or Domain Names are not similar to trademark registration as they don’t secure your trademark or brand name from public use. Trademark registration gives the exclusive right to the trademark owner to exclude anyone else from using the same or similar brand name.

A patentee must draft all the details about the patent in a document, so once the patent expires the public can use it and benefit from it. And also use it with the patent holder’s permission when it is still secured. The most essential requirement of obtaining a patent is disclosure of the invention.

The copyright can be transferred in the following way :
1) for the entire world or for a specific country or territory; or
2)for the full term of copyright or part thereof; or
3) relating to all the rights comprising the copyright or only part of such rights.

The term of the patent is counted from the date when the patent application is filed. If the provisional application is filed, it becomes the date but if complete specification is filed first, it becomes the filing date.