Prison Radio in Faridabad

 January 28, 2021

Faridabad Jail Radio was launched by K. Selvaraj, IPS, Director General of Prisons, Haryana, Jai Kishan Chiller, Superintendent and Vartika Nanda.

This is in the series of the launch of prison radios by Tinka Tinka Foundation in different jails. 

Prison Radio in Panipat

 January 16, 2021.  

Panipat Jail Radio was released by Ranjit Singh, Jail Minister, Rajeev Arora, IAS, ACS, Home & Jail Department, Government of Haryana, K. Selvaraj, IPS, Director General of Prisons, Haryana, Vartika Nanda, Founder of Tinka Tinka Foundation and Devi Dayal, Superintendent Jail on January 16, 2021.  

Prison Radio in Haryana

Tinka Tinka Foundation initiated the process to start prison radio in different jails of Haryana. It started with the audition of inmates from three jails of Haryana and later on, helped to start prison radios in these jails. 

 

MLE: INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY RIGHTS

 INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY RIGHTS (IPR)

Disclaimer: The note/s given below is/ are a compilation of information taken from various sources. The references to the sources are provided at the end. The views expressed in the note/s are those of the concerned student/s/ intern/s.. The blogger or the compiler will not be responsible in any manner whatsoever regarding the authenticity of the information provided in the note/s. These notes are being compiled to help the students for educational purposes during Covid-19 pandemic.

IPR: An Overview

The general assumption about property is that it is something movable or immovable tangible thing, which is most of the time expensive one. However, as it is very much indicative from the word ‘intellectual’, the ‘intellectual property’ can be understood as the property created by mind like some ideas, inventions, literary or artistic creations etc which are intangible most of the time but can be converted into tangible things. We all know that the owners of movable or immovable tangible properties possess legal rights over their property and every country has laws to protect such properties of their citizens from any kind of encroachment or any illegal authority claimed over them.

            However, it is sad to know that till recently the creations of mind, the product of intellect of people were not considered as equivalent to the physical properties and that’s why there were no significant and sufficient laws to protect such properties. Perhaps it was so because of no monetary value associated with the intellectual properties.

It was only in 1995 that a significant step was taken and the Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights Agreement (TRIPS) was formed at the end of seven years of negotiations from 1986 to 1993, as part of the Uruguay Round of Multilateral Trade Negotiations of the GATT. The TRIPS Agreement came into force on the 1st of January 1995, with the establishment of the World Trade Organization (Puri & Varma, 2005).

It does not mean that there were no laws related to intellectual properties in India. Laws were there but they were not enough to protect the intellectual properties rights of the people. The people and government had not thought to protect their ancient knowledge by any specific law. Indians always believed in knowledge sharing and that’s why the medicinal uses of turmeric, basil, neem etc were in public domain since long and yet it was not protected under any law. It was only after the controversy of claims over the medicinal uses of turmeric and neem and claims over basmati rice by American companies that people in India became aware about their intellectual property rights and a need of strong laws were felt. Also the commercial interest of the people compelled many companies and individuals to protect their intellectual properties.

There are several definitions given to intellectual property. One of the best definitions of intellectual property was given by World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO):

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

Similarly, there are several definitions of intellectual property rights. One of the best definitions among them is given by World Trade Organisation (WTO):

“Ownership of ideas, including literary and artistic works (protected by copyright), inventions (protected by patents), signs for distinguishing goods of an enterprise (protected by trademarks) and other elements of industrial property.”

 

It is obvious from the above definition given by WTO that the intellectual property rights are mainly of three types:

1. Copyright
2. Patents
3. Trademarks

Some of the important features of IPR are as following:

1. Intellectual Property Rights are legal rights, which result from intellectual activity in industrial, scientific, literary & artistic fields. These rights Safeguard creators and other producers of intellectual goods & services by granting them certain rights to control the use of their creations or products. (WIPO, 2008). Protected IP rights like other property can be a matter of trade, which can be owned, sold or bought.
2. They allow creators, or owners, of patents, trademarks or copyrighted works to benefit from their own work or investment in a creation.(WIPO).
3. IPR are largely territorial or country specific rights except copyrights which is global in nature in the sense that it is immediately available in all the members of the Berne Convention. (Saha, n.d.)
4. Legal protection is granted to the owner or creator of the Intellectual property under different related acts. That means inventions, designs and other industrial innovations can be protected under Patent Act, trademarks can be protected under Trademark Act and Copyright Act covers literary works (such as novels, poems and plays), films, music, artistic works(e.g. drawings, paintings, photographs and sculptures) and architectural design.
5. The protection given under these Acts are for a definite period of time depending upon the law of the country.

 Tracing the history of IPR in India

The history of IPR in India can be traced back to as early as 1957, when first time The Copyright Act was introduced for Indians with some modifications to the similar kind of act which was already existing and was borrowed from the  British but was very much similar to United Kingdom Copyright Act.  Actually the East India Company had already introduced the Copyright Act in India in 1847 out of its own interest but it was merely a reflection of Copyright Act of Great Britain which was already into existence for almost one century. In 1914, the then Indian legislature enacted a new Copyright Act which merely extended most portions of the United Kingdom Copyright Act of 1911 to India. Thus the modern Copyright Act of India has seen a long and complicated journey of 150 years. Today, the Copyright Act of 1957, the Copyright Rules, 1958 and the International Copyright Order, 1999 govern the copyright protection in India. (Adukia R.S., n.d.)

 

Just like the Copyright Act, the Patent law in India had also seen many dawn and dusks. From being introduced in 1856, it underwent amendments for eleven times in the years 1859, 1872, 1883, 1888, 1911, 1920, 1930, 1945, 1950, 1952, to the commencement of The Patents Act, 1970. (Ibid).Though even after 1970, many changes in the Patent Act have been done but this year is like a milestone in the history of IPR because this Act remained in force for almost 24 years till 1994 without any change. After that three amendments were done in the Act of 1970 in the years 2000, 2003 and finally in 2005 which is in force till date. The Act has now been radically amended to become fully compliant with the provisions of TRIPS (Saha, n.d.)

The Trademark Act of 1999 is culmination of sustained effort towards such an Act since 1860. A specific Indian Trademark Act was passed in 1940 which was replaced by Trademark and Merchandise Act, 1958 and finally Trademark Act 1999 was enforced by the Government of India in compliance with the TRIPS obligation on the recommendation of the World Trade Organisation.

 List of laws related to intellectual properties in India:

1. The Copyright Act, 1957, the Copyright Rules, 1958 and International Copyright Order, 1999.
2. The Patents Act, 1970, the Patents Rules, 2003, the Intellectual Property Appellate Board (Patents Procedure) Rules, 2010 and the Patents (Appeals and Applications to the Intellectual Property Appellate Board) Rules, 2011
3. The Trade Marks Act, 1999, the Trade Marks Rules, 2002, the Trade Marks (Applications and Appeals to the Intellectual Property Appellate Board) Rules, 2003 and the Intellectual Property Appellate Board (Procedure) Rules, 2003

Apart from these laws the following laws have been enacted to protect newly recognized species of intellectual property in India:

4.  The Geographical Indications of Goods (Registration and Protection) Act, 1999 and the Geographical Indications of Goods (Registration and Protection) Rules, 2002

5.    The Designs Act, 2000 and the Designs Rules, 2001

6.   The Semiconductors Integrated Circuits Layout-Design Act, 2000 and the Semiconductors Integrated Circuits Layout-Design Rules, 2001

7.    The Protection of Plant varieties and Farmers’ Rights Act, 2001 and The Protection of Plant varieties and Farmers Rights’ Rules, 2003

8.   The Biological Diversity Act, 2002 and the Biological Diversity Rules, 2004 Intellectual Property Rights (Imported Goods) Rules, 2007

(Adukia R.S., n.d.)

 Main types of Intellectual Property Rights

It is already stated in the overview section that there are three main types of IPR: Copyrights, Patents and Trademarks. As per the very significant feature of IPRs, they allow creators, or owners, of patents, trademarks or copyrighted works to benefit from their own work or investment in a creation. These rights are outlined in Article 27 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which provides for the right to benefit from the protection of moral and material interests resulting from authorship of scientific, literary or artistic productions (WIPO). Let us discuss these types of IPR in detail:

Copyright

It is often heard to be said by people that ‘why shouldn’t I use it; is it your copyright?’ May be they don’t know all the provisions under this right, however from such statements it is clear that they have some understanding of this right. Before looking at the provisions of Copyright Act in Indian context, let us see how World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO) has described it:

Copyright law is a branch of that part of the law which deals with the rights of intellectual creators. Copyright law deals with particular forms of creativity, concerned primarily with mass communication. It is concerned also with virtually all forms and methods of public communication, not only printed publications but also such matters as sound and television broadcasting; films for public exhibition in cinemas, etc. and even computerized systems for the storage and retrieval of information. Copyright deals with the rights of intellectual creators in their creation. Most works, for example books, paintings or drawings, exist only once they are embodied in a physical object. But some of them exist without embodiment in a physical object. For example music or poems are works even if they are not, or even before they are, written down by a musical notation or words. Copyright law, however, protects only the form of expression of ideas, not the ideas themselves. The creativity protected by copyright law is creativity in the choice and arrangement of words, musical notes, colors, shapes and so on. Copyright law protects the owner of rights in artistic works against those who “copy”, that is to say those who take and use the form in which the original work was expressed by the author.

(WIPO, 2008)

 

In tandem with the description of Copyright Law given by WIPO, here in India too Copyright is a right given to the creator of an original literary or artistic work. Literary work also includes computer programs and software and is protected in India under copyright. The total term of protection for literary work is the author’s life plus sixty years.

As per Copyright Act, 1957,  "copyright" means the exclusive right subject to the provisions of this Act, to do or authorise the doing of any of the following acts in respect of a work or any substantial part thereof, namely:-

(a) in the case of a literary, dramatic or musical work, not being a computer programme, -

(i) to reproduce the work in any material form including the storing of it in any medium by electronic means;

(ii) to issue copies of the work to the public not being copies already in circulation;

(iii) to perform the work in public, or communicate it to the public;

(iv) to make any cinematograph film or sound recording in respect of the work;

(v) to make any translation of the work;

(vi) to make any adaptation of the work;

(vii) to do, in relation to a translation or an adaptation of the work, any of the acts specified in relation to the work in sub-clauses (i) to (vi);

(b) in the case of a computer programme,-

(i) to do any of the acts specified in clause (a);

“(ii) to sell or give on commercial rental or offer for sale or for commercial rental any copy of the computer programme: Provided that such commercial rental does not apply in respect of computer programmes where the programme itself is not the essential object of the rental.”

(c) in the case of an artistic work,-

(i) to reproduce the work in any material form including depiction in three dimensions of a two dimensional work or in two dimensions of a three dimensional work;

(ii) to communicate the work to the public;

(iii) to issue copies of the work to the public not being copies already in circulation;

(iv) to include the work in any cinematograph film;

(v) to make any adaptation of the work;

(vi) to do in relation to an adaptation of the work any of the acts specified in relation to the work in sub-clauses (i) to (iv);

(d) In the case of cinematograph film, -

(i) to make a copy of the film, including a photograph of any image forming part thereof;

(ii) to sell or give on hire, or offer for sale or hire, any copy of the film, regardless of whether such copy has been sold or given on hire on earlier occasions;

(iii) to communicate the film to the public;

(e) In the case of sound recording, -

(i) to make any other sound recording embodying it;

(ii) to sell or give on hire, or offer for sale or hire, any copy of the sound recording regardless of whether such copy has been sold or given on hire on earlier occasions;

(iii) to communicate the sound recording to the public.

(Source: Copyright Office, India.)

Thus in nutshell, it can be said that, “Copyright is the set of exclusive rights granted to the author or creator of an original work, including the right to copy, distribute and adapt the work. Copyright lasts for a certain time period after which the work is said to enter the public domain. Copyright ensures certain minimum safeguards of the rights of authors over their creations, thereby protecting and rewarding creativity.”

 Patent

Again I would give an example from our day-to-day life that when somebody often says something, people say that this is his patent dialogue means that statement is created and used by him. Thus people have a fair idea of what patent is. Let us see how it is defined by various persons and organisations. According to The Law Lexicon (2001) “The word patent means the exclusive privilege granted by the sovereign authority to an inventor with respect to his invention”

Similar to this definition a more elaborated definition of patent is given by WIPO as follows:

 

A patent is a document, issued, upon application, by a government office (or a regional office acting for several countries), which describes an invention and creates a legal situation in which the patented invention can normally only be exploited (manufactured, used, sold, imported) with the authorization of the owner of the patent. “Invention” means a solution to a specific problem in the field of technology. An invention may relate to a product or a process. The protection conferred by the patent is limited in time (generally 20 years). Patents are frequently referred to as “monopolies”, but a patent does not give the right to the inventor or the owner of a patented invention to make, use or sell anything. Thus, while the owner is not given a statutory right to practice his invention, he is given a statutory right to prevent others from commercially exploiting his invention, which is frequently referred to as a right to exclude others from making, using or selling the invention. Simply put, a patent is the right granted by the State to an inventor to exclude others from commercially exploiting the invention for a limited period, in return for the disclosure of the invention, so that others may gain the benefit of the invention. The disclosure of the invention is thus an important consideration in any patent granting procedure.

(WIPO, 2008)

 

In compliance with TRIPS and WIPO, in India too “A Patent gives a monopoly right to a person who has invented a new and useful product or a new process of making a product or an improvement or modification of an existing product or process. It is a statutory grant conferring exclusive right to manufacture the patented product or manufacture a product according to the patented process for a limited period of time, that is, a period of 20 years.” (Puri & Varma, 2005). According to the Patent Act, 1970, Patentable inventions are new products or processes, involving inventive steps and capable of being made or used in an industry. It means the invention to be patentable should be technical in nature and should meet the following criteria –

• Novelty: The matter disclosed in the specification is not published in India or elsewhere before the date of filing of the patent application in India.
• Inventive Step: The invention is not obvious to a person skilled in the art in the light of the prior publication/knowledge/ document.
• Industrially applicable: Invention should possess utility, so that it can be made or used in an industry.

Whereas non-patentable inventions within the meaning of Section 3 of Patents Act, 1970 are:

(a) an invention which is frivolous or which claims anything obviously contrary to well established natural laws;

(b) an invention the primary or intended use or commercial exploitation of which could be contrary to public order or morality or which causes serious prejudice to human, animal or plant life or health or to the environment; (For e.g. process of making brown sugar will not be patented.)

(c) The mere discovery of a scientific principle or the formulation of an abstract theory (or discovery of any living thing or non-living substances occurring in nature);

(d) the mere discovery of a new form of a known substance which does not result in the enhancement of the known efficacy of that substance or the mere discovery of any new property or mere new use for a known substance or of the mere use of a known process, machine or apparatus unless such known process results in a new product or employs at least one new reactant;

(e) a substance obtained by a mere admixture resulting only in the aggregation of the properties of the components thereof or a process for producing such substance;

(f) the mere arrangement or re-arrangement or duplication of known devices each functioning independently of one another in a known way;

(g) a method of agriculture or horticulture; (For e.g. the method of terrace farming cannot be patented.)

(h) any process for the medicinal, surgical, curative, prophylactic, diagnostic, therapeutic or other treatment of human beings or any process for a similar treatment of animals to render them free of disease or to increase their economic value or that of their products; (For e.g. any new technique of hand surgery is not patentable)

(i) plants and animals in whole or any part thereof other than micro-organisms but including seeds, varieties and species and essentially biological processes for production or propagation of plants and animals;

(j) a mathematical or business method or a computer programme per se or algorithms;

(k) a literary, dramatic, musical or artistic work or any other aesthetic creation whatsoever including cinematographic works and television productions;

(I) a mere scheme or rule or method of performing mental act or method of playing game;

(m) a presentation of information;

(n) topography of integrated circuits;

(o) an invention which in effect, is traditional knowledge or which is an aggregation or duplication of known properties of traditionally known component or components.

(p) Inventions relating to atomic energy and the inventions prejudicial to the interest of security of India.

(Source: Intellectual Property Office, India)

 Trademarks

Trademarks can be in the form of letters, numerical or words or signs, symbols, drawings, three dimensional shapes, music or audio, fragrances, colors; anything which identifies any good or service. It helps consumers in identifying the authentic goods and services. It protects the owner’s right to exclusively use the trademark or authorise other person to use it in lieu of payment. According to WIPO (2008), “A trademark is any sign that individualizes the goods of a given enterprise and distinguishes them from the goods of its competitors.” This definition mentions about two aspects of trademarks, which also can be referred as the functions of the trademarks. These aspects are – “Individualisation of goods which provides authenticity and identity to the product” and “It helps in distinguishing the products of one enterprise from the other enterprise”.  Though these two are different aspects of trademarks, they are also interdependent and that’s why WIPO suggests looking at them together for all practical purposes. Individualisation of goods and services for consumer by using trademarks does not mean that the consumers must be informed about the actual person who has manufactured it or who is trading it. It only has to create trust of the consumer into the enterprise. In compliance with the definition given by WIPO, in India too, the Trademarks Act, 1999 explains,

Trade mark means a mark capable of being represented graphically and which is capable of distinguishing the goods or services of one person from those of others and may include shape of goods, their packaging and combination of colours; and—

(i)      in relation to Chapter XII (other than section 107), a registered trade mark or a mark used in relation to goods or services for the purpose of indicating or so as to indicate a connection in the course of trade between the goods or services, as the case may be, and some person having the right as proprietor to use the mark; and

(ii)    in relation to other provisions of this Act, a mark used or proposed to be used in relation to goods or services for the purpose of indicating or so as to indicate a connection in the course of trade between the goods or services, as the case may be, and some person having the right, either as proprietor or by way of permitted user, to use the mark whether with or without any indication of the identity of that person, and includes a certification trade mark or collective mark;

(Source: Ministry of Law, India)

This explanation gives rise to two key features of Trademark: Trademark must be distinctive and trademark must be used in commerce. There are mainly four types of trademarks - Trademark, Servicemark, Collectivemark, Certification Mark. The Trade Marks Act, 1999 (TMA) protects the trademarks and their infringement can be challenged by a passing off or/and infringement action. The Act protects a trade mark for goods or services, on the basis of either use or registration or on basis of both elements.

Geographical Indication of Goods

There are many products which are known by their geographical origin, whether by name or by symbols; like “Champagne,” “Cognac,” “Roquefort,” “Chianti,” “Pilsen,” “Porto,” “Sheffield,” “Havana,” “Tequila,” “Darjeeling”—are some well-known examples of such names with which the products of certain nature and quality are associated. According to WIPO (2008), “the term is intended to be used in its widest possible meaning. It embraces all existing means of protection of such names and symbols, regardless of whether they indicate that the qualities of a given product are due to its geographical origin (such as appellations of origin), or they merely indicate the place of origin of a product (such as indications of source). This definition also covers symbols, because geographical indications are not only constituted by names, such as the name of a town, a region or a country (“direct geographical indications”), but may also consist of symbols. Such symbols may be capable of indicating the origin of goods without literally naming its place of origin. Examples for such indirect geographical indications are the Eiffel Tower for Paris, the Matterhorn for Switzerland or the Tower Bridge for London.”

In compliance with WIPO, the Geographical Indications of Goods (registration and protection) Act, 1999 explains:

 

“geographical indication”, in relation to goods, means an indication which identifies such goods as agricultural goods, natural goods or manufactured goods as originating, or manufactured in the territory of a country, or a region or locality in that territory, where a given quality, reputation or other characteristic of such goods is essentially attributable to its geographical origin and in case where such goods are manufactured goods one of the activities of either the production or of processing or preparation of the goods concerned takes place in such territory, region or locality, as the case may be. Explanation.—For the purposes of this clause, any name which is not the name of a country, region or locality of that country shall also be considered as the geographical indication if it relates to a specific geographical area and is used upon or in relation to particular goods originating from that country, region or locality, as the case may be;

(Source: Ministry of Law, India)

Some examples of Indian Geographical Indications are - Solapur Chaddar, Solapur Terry Towel, Basmati Rice, Darjeeling Tea, Kanchipuram Silk Saree, Alphanso Mango, Nagpur Orange etc. 

Designs

The concept of protection for designs whether industrial or ornamental emerged as a result of industrial revolution, mass production, increasing competition among enterprises and globalisation. After globalisation, the competition among enterprises increased severely; which forced every enterprise to make its own identity and along with other factors of identity, designing is also an important factor. This is the reason that a separate protection laws for design, or ornamentation was felt and it was introduced at a global as well as national level. According to WIPO, “Industrial design refers to the creative activity of achieving a formal or ornamental appearance for mass-produced items that, within the available cost constraints, satisfies both the need for the item to appeal visually to potential consumers, and the need for the item to perform its intended function efficiently.”

Here in India, as per the Design Act, 2000, the definition was given as”

“design” means only the features of shape, configuration, pattern, ornament or composition of lines or colours applied to any article whether in two dimensional or three dimensional or in both forms, by any industrial process or means, whether manual, mechanical or chemical, separate or combined, which in the finished article appeal to and are judged solely by the eye; but does not include any mode or principle of construction or anything which is in substance a mere

mechanical device, and does not include any trade mark as defined in clause (v) of sub-section (1) of section 2 of the Trade and Merchandise Marks Act, 1958 or property mark as defined in section 479 of the Indian Penal Code or any artistic work as defined in clause (c) of section 2 of the Copyright Act, 1957.

(Source: Intellectual Property Office, India)

A unique design for any product not only attracts the consumers but also the producing company acquires much more praise, which it can’t afford to lose. It not only enhances its prestige and reputation but also provides a thrust for economic gain. These designs can be pertaining to a wide variety of products of different industries like handicrafts, medical instruments, watches, jewellery, house wares, electrical appliances, vehicles and architectural structures anything. It is majorly for aesthetic purpose.

Semiconductor Integrated Circuits Layout-Design

The layout of transistors on the semiconductor integrated circuit or topography of transistors on the integrated circuit determines the size of the integrated circuit as well as its processing power. That is why the layout design of transistors constitutes such an important and unique form of intellectual property fundamentally different from other forms of intellectual property like copyrights, patents, trademarks and industrial design (Adukia R.S., n.d.). As per the Semiconductor Integrated Circuits Layout-Design Act, 2000 in India:
 
“layout-design” means a layout of transistors and other circuitry elements and includes lead wires connecting such elements and expressed in any manner in a semiconductor integrated circuit;
“semiconductor integrated circuit” means a product having transistors and other circuitry elements which are inseparably formed on a semiconductor material or an insulating material or inside the semiconductor material and designed to perform an electronic circuitry function;
(Source: Ministry of Law, India)

 Protection of Plant Varieties and Farmers Rights

India; primarily being an agrarian economy; intended to recognise and protect the rights of the farmers  keeping in mind their contribution towards conserving and improving the plant varieties which is essential for agricultural development of the country.  This was also essential to facilitate the growth of seed industry in India and boost the research and development in agriculture. With these visions; an Act was passed “to provide for the establishment of an effective system for protection of plant varieties, the rights of farmers and plant breeders and to encourage the development of new varieties of plants” in 2001. It was called “the Protection of Plant Varieties and Farmers’ Rights Act, 2001” and was implemented in 52^nd year of Republic of India. As per this Act:

         “variety”, means a plant grouping except micro-organism             within a single botanical taxon of the lowest known rank,             which can be—

(i) defined by the expression of the characteristics resulting from a given genotype of that plant grouping;

(ii) distinguished from any other plant grouping by expression of at least one of the said characteristics; and

(iii) considered as a unit with regard to its suitability for being propagated, which remains unchanged after such propagation,

and includes propagating material of such variety, extant variety, transgenic variety, farmers’ variety and essentially derived variety.

(Source: Ministry of Law, India)

 

Such an Act was essential for protecting and encouraging the rights of the farmers; who strive to increase the varieties of plants and put their effort to develop new plants and the quality of seeds.

Biological Diversity

India; being a country of rich biodiversity; possesses very rare traditional knowledge which can lead it to use biological resources as assets. Since the world has realised the importance of environment and biodiversity, it has been remained a constant effort to protect the biodiversity anywhere in the world and with this commitment United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity was organised at Rio De Janeiro on 5^th June, 1992 and India became one of the signatory of this convention.  By signing this convention, India and other signatories got sovereign rights over their biological resources. Such rights were considered necessary “to provide for conservation, sustainable utilisation and equitable sharing of the benefits arising out of utilisation of genetic resources and also to give effect to the said Convention.” Such concerns formed the ground for India to pass an Act “to provide for conservation of biological diversity, sustainable use of its components and fair and equitable sharing of the benefits arising out of the use of biological resources, knowledge and for matters connected therewith or incidental thereto” in 2002. It was called the Biological Diversity Act, 2002 and was enacted by Parliament in the 53^rd year of the Republic of India. As per this Act:

 “biological diversity” means the variability among living organisms from all sources and the ecological complexes of which they are part and includes diversity within species or between species and of eco-systems;

 “biological resources” means plants, animals and micro-organisms or parts thereof, their genetic material and by-products (excluding value added products) with actual or potential use or value, but does not include human genetic material;

(Source: Ministry of Law, India)

 Not only because India was party to the Convention on Biological Diversity, but also to safeguard and conserve our rich biological diversity, sustainable use of their components and to be able to share their knowledge with others without losing proprietorship over them, such an Act was essential for India.

The Need for Protection

Same as necessity is the mother of invention; new inventions in any field are necessity for the growth of human civilisations. It is necessary to protect the human capacity to create or invent new things from being exploited by any other person or organisation without the permission of the creator or inventor. Such protection in the form of legal rights would encourage people for further innovation without any fear of exploitation. These inventions or creations may lead the country towards economic growth and prosperity of its people. In return, the company or people responsible for such inventions are rewarded by providing legal rights over their inventions so that no one can use it without their permission. Thus the protection of intellectual properties can balance the interests of the innovators and the public interest at the same time by satisfying their humane expectations and providing a conducive environment for creativity and invention which can be used in larger interest of the human beings.

            Apart from the broad views on need of protection of intellectual properties, some crude realities are that the society has moved from agrarian to industrialisation to globalisation and so the form of competitions also moved beyond fair values. In today’s highly competitive world, where one side consumers are having a number of choices and they are considered as kings of the market, other side they themselves fell prey to the unfair competition prevailing in the market and get cheated. In such scenario, not only fair companies and products need legal protection but consumers also need to be protected from such unfair competition among the companies in the market. In free market system which is led by competitions, unfair means are bound to be used. These cannot be checked by self regulation and a strong legal system is essential to prevent the creator, inventor as well as consumers from any kind of exploitation.

 References:

1. Adukia R.S.( n.d.). Handbook on Intellectual Property Rights in India. New Delhi.
2. Biological Diversity Act, 2002(Source: Ministry of Law, India)
3. Copyright Act, 1957 (Source: Copyright Office, India.)
4. Design Act, 2000 (Source: Intellectual Property Office, India)
5. Geographical Indications of Goods (registration and protection) Act, 1999(Source: Ministry of Law, India)
6. Patent Act, 1970(Source: Intellectual Property Office, India)
7. Protection of Plant Varieties and Farmers’ Rights Act, 2001(Source: Ministry of Law, India)
8. Puri, M & Varma, A. 2005. Intellectual Property Conventions and Indian Law. Working Paper. Indian Council for Research on International Economic Relations, New Delhi.
9. Saha, R. (n.d.). Management of Intellectual Property Rights in India. New Delhi.
10. Semiconductor Integrated Circuits Layout-Design Act, 2000 (Source: Ministry of Law, India)
11. Trademarks Act, 1999(Source: Ministry of Law, India)
12. World Intellectual Property Handbook. 2008. WIPO Publications.

Important websites visited:

www.ipindia.nic.in - Intellectual Property Office, India

www.patentoffice.nic.in – Patent office, India

http://copyright.gov.in/ - Copyright Office, India

www.wipo.int – World Intellectual Property Organisation

http://www.wto.org – World Trade Organisation

#Media Laws and Ethics