Evolution and

Development of IPRs

SUBMITTED BY:
ABHISHEK GARG
CM13202
 International Regime of IPRs

1. Relating to Industrial Property

2. Relating to Patents
3. Relating to Trademarks
4. Relating to Copyrights
5. Relating to Geographical Indication
6. Relating to Industrial Designs
 1. Relating to Industrial Property
 Industrial revolution gave impetus to invention and creative people like
scientists, artists and writers felt the need of legal protection of their
intellectual creativity.
 Paris Convention (20 March, 1883) was held which included 30 articles
dealing with various aspects of Patents, designs, trademarks, etc. and their
protection.
 It set-up an institutional framework by providing administrative organs like
Union, Assembly, the Executive Committee and the International Bureau
which collectively consists of more than 140 members to form the Union for
protection of industrial property.
 Guiding Principles

 National treatment which requires that every member state should grant the
same protection to nationals of other member states as it would to its own.
 Right to priority which confers on any member of the Union, which has filed
an application for a patent in countries. If filed within the grace period, the
original date becomes the effective filing date in all the member countries.
Trademarks and industrial designs enjoy 6 months right to priority whereas
Utility models enjoyed 12 months time.
 Uniform rules must be observed by all member states, which means that
although the convention regards the protection of industrial property rights as a
matter of domestic legislation, it provides minimum protection for industrial
property rights i.e. for failure to work patents and on condition of forfeiture of
a patent.
 2. Relating to Patents
• International Convention for protection of New Varieties of Plants,
1968 (revised in 1991).
 This convention provides special title of protection of a patent to breeders of
new plant variety. The objective is to address a long standing problem in
patent law. As the patent system has not yet developed the mechanism to
provide protection to plant breeders, this convention encourages a unique
law to provide monopoly rights to the breeders of new variety of plants.
 The convention has 42 articles dealing with protection of rights, rights of
priority and related aspects and covers all generic and sexually produced
plants of botanical variety.
 Minimum period for protection for all plants is 15 years and for vines,
forests, fruits and ornamental trees is 18 years.
 2. Relating to Patents
• Patent Co-operation Treaty (PCT), 1970.
 The objective of PCT is to seek co-operation of states and simplification of
procedure in filing patent application in states which are party to the
agreement
 It was concluded on 19th June, 1970 and came into force on 24 Jan, 1978.
 PCT enables and entitles the nationals or domiciliaries of a contracting state
to file an international application for patent protection.
 The applicant must indicate the member state where he wishes to obtain
protection and a claim for priority is to be stated in the same.
 2. Relating to Patents
• Budapest Treaty on International Recognition of Deposit of Micro-
organism for purposes of Patent Procedure, 1980.
 The objective of this treaty is to resolve the problem resulting from lack of
uniformity in national requirement for micro-organisms deposit.
 Requirement of disclosure of invention to patent office poses difficulty in
the case of micro-organisms, through this treaty series of International
Depository Authority (IDA) have been established where micro-organisms
can be deposited for the purpose of claiming patent.
 3. Relating to Trademark
• Madrid Agreement, 1891.
 It was initially enforced on 14 April, 1891 and since then has been revised
five times. The last revision took place in Stockholm on 14 July, 1967.
 The main objective of this agreement is to simplify the procedure for the
filing of trademarks and service marks in different countries. It provides a
system of international registration of an approved trademark or service
mark by a single application through the International Bureau of WIPO. It
thus, helps the trademark holder in avoiding multi-country trademark filing
and to enable this they must have obtained registration in country of origin.
 International registration is published by International Bureau of WIPO and
a copy of which is sent to each member country in which protection is
sought by trademark holder.
 The international registration remains effective for 20 years.
 Other Trademark Agreements

 The Nice Agreement Concerning the International Classification of Goods and

Service for the Purpose of Registration of Marks, 1957.
 The Vienna Agreement established on International Classification of
Figurative Element of Marks, 1973.
 Trademark Law Treaty for Harmonization of Trademark Registration System
concluded in Geneva in 1994.

Note: With the development of internet the domain name assumed great
importance and are being recognized as a part of Trademark, WIPO has
developed an international process of recommendations concerning the
intellectual property issues associated with internet domain names. The Internet
Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) has been formed to
manage these issues.
 4. Relating to Copyrights
• Berne Convention for Protection of Literary and Artistic Works,
1886.
 It contains 38 articles and more than 120 countries are members to this, thus
making it most significant international convention in the field of protecting
copyrights.
 It established Berne Union and was revised by Paris Revision in 1971.
 The scope of convention is very wide and includes within it literary and
artistic work produced in the literary, scientific and artistic domain
irrespective of mode of form of its expression.
 This provides a minimum term of protection of copyright as life plus 50
years or 50 years from publication of anonymous and pseudonymous works.
 Both published and unpublished works of authors are covered under this.
 4. Relating to Copyrights
• Universal Copyright Convention (UCC), 1952.
 The UCC was entered into by countries like USA, the then Soviet Union
and China as they did not join the Berne Convention. It was thus developed
as an alternative of Berne Convention.
 It is based on National Treatment and also the requirement of maintenance
of specific minimum legal safeguard by each contacting state.
 It was revised in 1971 at Paris on the demand of developing countries. A
special provision allow the developing countries to obtain compulsory
licence under certain conditions, to translate copyright works for teaching,
scholarship and research purposes.
 4. Relating to Copyrights
• Rome Convention, 1961.
 Objective of this convention was to protect the neighbouring rights of
performers, producers of phonograms and broadcasting organizations.
Concluded in 1961, it came into effect on 18 may, 1964.
 Protection is granted for 20 years computed from the end of the year when
the fixation was made on phonogram and performances incorporated
therein.
 Countries which are members of Berne Convention or the UCC can become
members of Rome Convention.
 Other Copyright Conventions

 WIPO Copyright Treaty, 1996 (concluded at Geneva on 20th Dec, 1996).

 WIPO Performance and Phonogram Treaty, 1996 (concluded at Geneva on 20th
Dec, 1996).
 Brussels Convention Relating to Distribution of Programme Carrying Signals
Transmitted by Satellite, 1974 (concluded on 21st May, 1974 at Brussels).
 Geneva Treaty on International Registration of Audio Visual Works, 1989
(concluded at Geneva on 20th Dec, 1996).
 Treaty on Intellectual Property in Respect of Integrated Circuit (concluded on
26th May, 1989).
5. Relating to Geographical Indications

• Madrid Agreement on Repression of False or Deceptive Indications

of Source of Goods, 1967.
 This agreement seeks to protect consumer interest against persons using
false or deceptive indications of goods. It provides for remedy of seizure or
import prohibition of all goods bearing false or deceptive indication.
• Lisbon Agreement for protection of appellations of origin and their
registration, 1979.
 This agreement intends to protect appellations of origin defined as,
geographical home of country, region or locality, which serves to design a
product origination therein having quality and characters exclusively or
essentially due to the geographical environment including natural and
human factors. Under this the contracting parties are required to protect
‘appellation of origin’ and country of origin registered with WIPO.
 6. Relating to Industrial Designs
• Hague Agreement concerning the International Deposit of
Industrial Design, 1925 (Revised at Hague in 1960).
 The primary purpose of this agreement as revised in 1960 is to facilitate the
international protection of industrial designs by providing a single deposit
with the WIPO so that possible infringement in other member countries may
be prevented.
 The international deposit once registered and published, will have same
effect in the contracting state as if registered under the national law.
 The protection is offered only when the industrial designs are deposited on
payment of the prescribed fee and is extended to initial term of 5 years and
is renewable every 5 years.
• Locarno Agreement on establishing an International Classification
for Industrial Design, 1968.
 This agreement aims to bring uniformity to the classification of industrial
designs to facilitate searches for novelty and priority.
 National Regime of IPRs

Acts for protecting IPRs in India:

1. The Copyright Act, 1957 (Amended in 1994, 1999 and 2012).
2. The Patent Act, 1970 (Amended in 1999, 2002 and 2005).
3. The Trademarks Act, 1999.
4. The Geographical Indications of Goods (Registration and Protection) Act,
1999.
5. The Designs Act, 2000.
6. The Semiconductor Integrated Circuits Layout Designs Act, 2000.
7. The Protection of Plant Varieties and Farmer’s Rights Act, 2001.
8. The Biological Diversity Act, 2002.
 IPR Policy in India

 India has recently adopted a comprehensive IPR policy to foster innovation,

cutting delays in clearing patents, trademarks and copyrights applications,
protection of traditional knowledge and encouraging entrepreneurship.
 The National IPR Policy approved on 14th May 2016, will bring IP Regime in
line with global standards and help improve its ranking in World Bank’s Ease
of Doing Business Index.
 It will cut the time taken on clearing the backlog of IPR applications from
current 5-7 years to 18 months by March 2018.
 It also puts a premium on enhancing access to health care, food security,
environmental protection and prevent film and music piracy.
 IPR policy has also tried to incorporate global best practices in the Indian
Context.
Thanks..!!!!!