Intellectual Property Rights

What is Intellectual Property?

Intellectual property (IP) refers to creations of the mind,
such as inventions; literary and artistic works; designs;
and symbols, names and images used in commerce.
IP is protected in law by,
example; patents, copyr
ght and trademarks,
which enable people to
earn recognition or
financial benefit from
what they invent or
create. By striking the
right balance between
the interests of
innovators and the
wider public interest, the IP system aims to foster an
environment in which creativity and innovation can
flourish

Fair Use
It is the exceptional case of copyright which allows
copying of a limited amount of materials in certain cases
without permission of the copyright owner.Even for this
use,whether a specific use is fair or not depends on
number of factors such as purpose,nature,amount and

effect.In 1978,Fair Use had

become law in United States.

Copyright
Copyright is a form of protection
provided to the authors of
"original works of authorship"
including literary, dramatic,
musical, artistic, and certain other
intellectual works, both published and unpublished.
The 1976 Copyright Act generally gives the owner of
copyright the exclusive right to reproduce the
copyrighted work, to prepare derivative works, to
distribute copies or phonorecords of the copyrighted
work, to perform the copyrighted work publicly, or to
display the copyrighted work publicly.
The copyright protects the form of expression rather than
the subject matter of the writing. For example, a
description of a machine could be copyrighted, but this
would only prevent others from copying the description; it
would not prevent others from writing a description of
their own or from making and using the machine.
Copyrights are registered by the Copyright Office of the
Library of Congress.

Trademark

A trademark is a word, name, symbol or device which is

used in trade with goods to indicate the source of the
goods and to distinguish them from the goods of others.
A servicemark is the same as a trademark except that it
identifies and distinguishes the source of a service rather
than a product. The terms "trademark" and "mark" are
commonly used to refer to both trademarks and
servicemarks.
Trademark rights may be used to prevent others from
using a confusingly similar mark, but not to prevent
others from making the same goods or from selling the
same goods or services under a clearly different mark.
Trademarks which are used in interstate or foreign
commerce may be registered with the Patent and
Trademark Office. The registration procedure for
trademarks and general information concerning
trademarks is described in a separate pamphlet entitled
"Basic Facts about Trademarks". The owner of a
trademark may pursue legal action against trademark
infringement. Most countries require formal registration of
a trademark as a precondition for pursuing this type of
action. The United States, Canada and other countries
also recognize common law trademark rights, which
means action can be taken to protect an unregistered
trademark if it is in use. Still common law trademarks
offer the holder in general less legal protection than
registered trademarks. The term trademark is also used
informally to refer to any distinguishing attribute by
which an individual is readily identified, such as the well-

known characteristics of celebrities. When a trademark is

used in relation to services rather than products, it may
sometimes be called a service mark, particularly in
the United States

Patent
A patent for an invention is the grant of a property right
to the inventor, issued by the Patent and Trademark
Office. The term of a new
patent is 20 years from the
date on which the
application for the patent
was filed in India or, in
special cases, from the date
an earlier related application
was filed, subject to the
payment of maintenance
fees. Indian patent grants
are effective only within the
India.
The right conferred by the patent grant is, in the
language of the statute and of the grant itself, "the right
to exclude others from making, using, offering for sale, or
selling" the invention in India or "importing" the invention
into India. What is granted is not the right to make, use,
offer for sale, sell or import, but the right to exclude
others from making, using, offering for sale, selling or
importing the invention.

Fair Use

It is the exceptional case of copyright which allows

copying of a limited amount of materials in certain cases
without permission of the copyright owner.Even for this
use,whether a specific use is fair or not depends on
number of factors such as purpose,nature,amount and
effect.In 1978,Fair Use had become law in United States.

Attribution
Attribution term is related to the originator(sender) who
sends the products to the other persons

Acknowledgment
Acknowledgment term is related to the receiver who
receives the product from the originator. Attribution of
the electronic record can be defined as: An electronic
record shall be attributed to the originator.
If it was sent by originator himself
If it was sent by person who had the authority to act
on behalf of the originator in respect of that
electronic record
If it was sent by information system programmed
by/on behalf of the originator to operate
automatically

Shareware
Shareware software is
distributed at low (or
sometimes no) cost, but
usually requires payment
and registration for full
legal use. Copies are
distributed on a trial basis.
You are free to test the
software, see if it matches
your needs, and decide
whether it's a good value. Order forms or advertisements
included in the program or on the distribution disk usually
tell you how to register the program and what fee is
required. Registered users of a shareware program will
typically receive a printed manual, an updated copy of
the software, often with additional features, and the legal
right to use the program in their home or business.
Shareware is not free software, since authors of
shareware programs expect payment from those who
intend to use the programs regularly. However, it does
have the advantage over standard commercial software
that you may thoroughly test a program to see if it's
useful before making a purchase.

Shareware is generally written by individuals or small

companies, and its quality and level of support vary
widely. In some cases, however, shareware packages are
actually more capable than corresponding commercial
software, and some commercial programs got their start
being marketed as shareware.
While shareware may be freely
copied, companies may not
charge fees for copies that
significantly exceed their
duplication and handling costs.
The authors of shareware
programs also retain their
copyright on the contents, and
you may not modify such
programs or distribute modified
copies.

Freeware
Freeware is also distributed at minimal cost, but in this
case the authors do not

expect payment for their work.

Typically, freeware programs are
small utilities or incomplete
programs that authors release for
their

potential benefit to others, but without support. The

author of a freeware program may still retain a copyright
on its contents and stipulate that others not modify the
program or charge significant fees for its use or
distribution.

Public domain software

Public domain software is not copyrighted. It is released
without any conditions upon its use, and may be used
without restriction. This type of software generally has
the lowest level of support available.