Tuesday, July 22, 2008

Introduction to Intellectual Property

During early days man started creating his own world by application of his brain or mind by imagination and creativity. With his imagination and creativity, he has been producing various articles or products for his needs, comfort and convenience. In early era , the creations and inventions fell in a public domain. Where anyone could copy these creations without any restriction, or payment. However, with the passage of time, the importance and value of these creations was realized. The commercial aspect started playing a significant roll in these creations. By end of twentieth Century, the things created and invented by the human mind were recognised as INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY of the owner. These were also known as intangible properties.

Intellectual Property rights are like any other property rights – they allow the creator, or owner, of a patent, trademark, or copyright to benefit from their own creation or work or investment. These rights are outlined in Article 27 of the Universal Declaration of human Rights, which sets forth the right benefit from the protection of moral and material interests resulting from authorship and any scientific, literary, or artistic production.

The Intellectual Property Rights were essentially recognized and accepted all over then world due to some very important reasons. Some of the reasons for accepting these rights are:-

a) To provide incentive to the individual for new creations
b) Providing due recognition to the creators and inventors
c) Ensuring material reward for Intellectual property
d) Ensuring the availability of the genuine and original products


Why do countries such as the United States, Japan, and The Netherlands protect inventions; literary and artistic works; and symbols, images, names, and designs used in commerce: the information and original expressions of creative individuals known as intellectual property (IP)? They do so because they know safeguarding these property rights fosters economic growth, provides incentives for technological innovation, and attracts investment that will create new jobs and opportunities for all their citizens.

The key forms of intellectual property are patents, copyrights, trademarks, and trade secrets, Industrial Design, Passing Off etc. Because intellectual property shares many of the characteristics of real and personal property, associated rights permit intellectual property to be treated as an asset that can be bought, sold, licensed, or even given away at no cost. IP laws enable owners, inventors, and creators to protect their property from unauthorized uses.

1 comment:

Unknown said...

It assured me that if I have an idea, i better work on it...maybe I can earn some money:)