Intellectual Property Rights

What is Intellectual Property?

Intellectual property (IP) refers to creations of the mind: inventions, literary and artistic works, and symbols, names, images, and designs used in commerce.

WHY IS I.P. IMPORTANT?

protects important assets from theft, exploitation or abuse identifies contributions by the Company or inventor to the field secures monetary compensation for the Company (and sometimes the inventor) Sometimes all a company has to leverage is its IP

What Are IPRs?

Legal ability to exclude others from using a designated piece of created information; Temporary provision of market power within a specific territory; Rights are limited for purposes of economic and social policy.

What are IPRs?

A set of property rights which protect creations of the mind They give the owner the exclusive right to exploit the intellectual property which is protected and to authorise others to do so a property right:

the

right to prevent others from enjoying the property the right to exploit the property

Nature of IP rights

National rights Territory specific Intangible assets Can be registered or unregistered Can be exploited in two different ways:

Owned Licensed

Why Protect IPRs?

Society has an interest in knowledge creation and dissemination. Markets for knowledge and information are subject to failure. - Invention and creation are costly and face uncertainty. - Appropriability problems - Difficulties in selling information - Problems in signaling origin and quality

Objective Of IPR

Objectives of IPRs: - Stimulate invention, innovation, creation; - Promote use of new knowledge; - Disseminate new knowledge to others; - Provide certainty about products

TYPER OF IPR

Patents Trademarks Copyrights Unfair Competition

Trade Secrets

Industrial Designs GI Utility Models Traditional Knowledge (?) Plant Variety Protection

Why are IPRs important?

IPRs allow control over technology, signs and creations Original Purpose: to stimulate innovation and creativity by compensating the creator/innovator for their intellectual efforts Lately: incentive to investment / change in market players --big multinationals

Options available to the IPR Holder

Exploit the IPR himself License the IPR to another party (s) with mutually negotiated benefit sharing arrangements Cross License for mutually independent working and / or collaborative working Assign the IPR to another party (s) for an appropriate return Barter rights Establish a franchise system involving other parties Take action against those who infringe his rights Let the rights selectively lapse in certain countries

Beware !!!!