SREEKANTH.K.TM.Sc. AGRICULTURAL ECONOMICS

PAJANCOA & RI

PATENTS AND COPYRIGHTS

A patent is a set of exclusive rights granted by a sovereign state to an inventor or assignee for a limited period of time in exchange for detailed public disclosure of an invention.

An invention is a solution to a specific technological problem and is a product or a process.

It empowers the owner of an invention to prevent others from manufacturing, using, importing or selling the patented invention.

PATENTS

WHAT CAN BE PATENTED

• In order to be patentable , an

invention must pass four tests;

1. The invention must fall into one of

the five “statutory classes’:

Processes, Machines , Manufactures

Compositions of matter, and New

uses of any of the above

2. The invention must be “useful”

3. The invention must be “novel”

4. The invention must be “nonobvious’

• Both product and process patent provided

• Term of patent – 20 years

• Examination on request

• Both pre-grant and post-grant opposition

• Fast track mechanism for disposal of appeals

• Provision for protection of bio-diversity and traditional

knowledge

• Publication of applications after 18 months with facility

for early publication

• Substantially reduced time-lines

FEATURES OF PATENT

• Elaborate definition of invention

• No product patents for substances intended for use as food,

drugs and medicines including the product of chemical

processes

• Codification of certain inventions as non-patentable

• Mandatory furnishing of information regarding foreign

application

Patent System Should…

Benefit the public interest;

Enhance the freedom to operate;

Reduce the costs of negotiating licenses with many

partied for many patents.

Evolution

• Italy• Rights were set by rulers to encourage the creation of

more luxuries.

500 B.C.

Evolution 1623

• The British Parliament passed the Statute of Monopolies.

1790

• The United States enacted the first Patent Law.

1791

• France promulgated its Patent Law.

Holland, Sweden, Spain, Germany, Mexico, India, Brazil and Japan respectively established their own patent systems by enacting patent law in 1809, 1819, 1826, 1877, 1840,1859, 1859, 1885.

i) Utility patents

It can be granted to anyone who invents or discovers any

new and useful process, machine, manufacture or composition of

matter, or any new and useful improvement thereof.

Utility period is of 20 years.

TYPES OF PATENTS

i) Utility patents ii) Design patents iii) Plant Patents

ii) Design patents

It can be granted to any one who invents a new, original

ornamental design for an article of manufacture.

A design patent protects the ornamental design of the article.

A design patent has duration of 14 years from the date of filing.

iii) Plant patents

Plant patent can be granted to any one who invents or discovers

and reproduces a new variety of plant.

A plant patent has a term of 20 years from the date of filing.

A patent gives you the ability to take legal action to try to stop

others from copying, manufacturing, selling, and importing your

invention without your permission.

The existence of your patent may be enough on its own to stop

others from trying to exploit your invention.

If it does not, the patent gives you the right to take a legal action

under civil law to try to stop them exploiting your invention.

BENEFITS OF PATENT PROTECTION

The patent also allows

sell the invention and all the intellectual property (IP) rights

license the invention to someone else but retain all the IP rights

discuss the invention with others in order to set up a business

based around the invention.

The public also benefit from your patent because we publish it

after 18 months. Others can then gain advance knowledge of

technological developments which they will eventually be able to

use freely once the patent ceases.

COPYRIGHT

WHAT IS COPYRIGHT

Copyright is a form of protection given to authors/creators of original works.

This property right can be sold or transferred to others.

• Copyright is a form of intellectual property that gives the author

of an original work exclusive right for a certain time period in

relation to that work.

• Copyright applies to any expressible form of an idea or

information that is substantive and discrete and fixed in a

medium.

• Copyright is described under the umbrella of intellectual

property along with patents and trademarks.

Copyright is a set of exclusive rights granted to the author or

creator of an original work, including the right to copy,

distribute and adapt the work.

Right to be credited for the work.

To determine who may adapt the work.

Who may financially benefit from it.

Need of Copyright

Literary Works

Musical Works

Dramatic Works

Choreographic Work

Pictorial, Graphic, and

Sculptural Works

Motion Pictures and AV

Sound Recordings

Architectural Works

Computer work

Work on the Web

Business work

What can be copyright

COPYRIGHT PROTECTION

Copyright covers both published and unpublished works. 

Copyright protection is automatic at the moment the work is created and fixed in a tangible form that it is perceptible.

NON-COPYRIGHTABLE WORKS

Not everything is protected by copyright law. 

Copyright does not protect facts, ideas, systems, or methods of operation.

Copyright protects original works of authorship, while a patent

protects inventions or discoveries.

They want to provide “universal access” to research, education and

culture.

Copyright was created long before the emergence of the Internet,

and can make it hard to legally perform actions we take for granted

on the network: copy, paste, edit source, and post to the Web.

Copyright VS. Patent

The default setting of copyright law requires all of these actions

to have explicit permission, granted in advance, whether you’re

an artist, teacher, scientist, librarian, policymaker, or just a

regular user.

In order for Creative Commons to achieve the vision of

universal access. They provide a free, public, and standardized

infrastructure that creates a balance between the reality of the

Internet and the reality of copyright laws.

The general rule is that copyright lasts for 60 years.

In the case of original literary, dramatic, musical and

artistic works the 60-year period is counted from the date

of publication.

Term of protection of copyright

First Act in 1914, followed by the Copyright Act 1957.

1957 Act: adopted many English provisions, introduced new

ideas and concepts.

Indian Copyright Act

Valid from 21 January 1958

Created Copyright Office and Copyright Board

Introduced civil and criminal remedies against infringement

Definition of categories in which copyright actually subsists

International copyright

Copyright Act 1957 – Main Features