Benefits of Intellectual Property Rights in the Current Era

In today’s era, the incredible increase in Intellectual Protection applications witnessed in current years showing the growing significance of technology and innovation in the world economy and our daily lives. An individual has been granted with creativity and thoughts with which one has been producing different inventions, concepts, and products. IP (Intellectual Property) can be defined as a group of intangible assets that are owned by any person or an institution. The WIPO or World Intellectual Property Organisation defines Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) as “Creation of the Mind”; literary, inventions, and artistic work and symbols, names, and images used in commerce”. In early times, an individual’s intellectual property was a common property that was unprotected. Anybody could duplicate and use the intellectual properties of an individual. In the current web-based environment, there is a very high risk of creative or innovative ideas getting stolen without the author’s approval. To safeguard, offer security and boost the intrinsic value of such intangible properties, IPR laws were enacted. In this write-up, we discuss the benefits of Intellectual Property Rights.

Different Types of Intellectual Properties

Before we discuss the benefits of Intellectual Property Rights, let discuss the different types of intellectual properties:

1. Patent: It is an exclusive right issued to an inventor for their invention, which may be a process or a product that delivers a new way of doing something or provides a new technical solution to a problem. A Patent can be commercially exploited by way of license or assignment. Patents or assignment, to put it in simple words, means the sale of a Patent. It’s a complete transfer of ownership from the patentee to any other party based on an assignment agreement. Whereas a Patent License permits the other party to use the Patent in a controlled manner and aids the Patent owner to earn revenue while keeping the right of ownership of the Patent safe with them. The Patent Registration is valid for twenty years from the application filing date and is majorly controlled by the Patent Act of 1970.
2. Trademark: It is a mark, word, logo, or symbol that are lawfully registered or established by use as showing a company or a product that is able to distinguish the products or services of one company from those of other companies. The benefits of Intellectual Property Rights like Trademark Registration consists of the owner being the only and exclusive Trademark owner, creates goodwill for the company and trust among clients, aids clients to distinguish and know the products’ quality, safeguard the Trademark from getting violated and eventually aids the owner to earn revenue. Trademark Registration is authentic for ten years from the application date, and it can be renewed after ten years.
3. Copyright: It is a legitimate term used to explain the creators’ rights over their own artistic & literary works. Works such as paintings, films, databases, music, books, sculptures, databases, advertisements, maps, and technical drawings are all covered under the Copyright. The protection term of Copyright Registration is for the lifetime of the author plus 60 years.
4. Graphical Indication: It is a sign or name used on some products which correspond to the geographic location or product’s origin. The use of geographical indication may perform as a certification that the product possesses some qualities as per the conventional method.
5. Industrial Design: It means the features of pattern, ornament, configuration, the combination of colours or lines applied to a specific article, whether it is in a 2-D or 3-D form or both, by any industrial process or means, whether it may be chemical, combined, manual, mechanical, which in its completed article appeal to and are examined only by the eye.

What are the Benefits of Intellectual Property Rights?

Following are the benefits of Intellectual Property Rights:

• Boosts Business Growth: There are high possibilities that unprotected creative concepts or ideas can be used by opponents to take away market share and slow down business growth. Therefore, small & medium-sized businesses require shielding their exclusive products or services. In the beginning phase of a business, it can be very dangerous to lose a market share as it will outcome in damaging the business health in the long term.
• Easing the Marketing Process: Intellectual Property^[1] is a vital tool in creating recognition for your business. Intellectual Property can aid you to distinguish your products and services in the market from those of other seller’s & promote them to reach the targeted clients.
• Boost Export Business Opportunities: The level of competitiveness and efficiency in export markets can be boosted by Intellectual Property. An Intellectual Property Right owner may use designs & brands to market products and services overseas, seek franchising agreements with overseas corporations or export their patented owner products.
• Convert Creative Ideas into Profit-Making Assets: Intellectual Property Right boosts innovation & rewards entrepreneurs. Usually, ideas possess very little value of their own. In today’s era, Intellectual Property Rights has a great untapped capability of converting creative ideas into a profit-making machine. Intellectual Property Registration can aid you to turn ideas into commercially successful products & services. Licensing Intellectual Properties can lead to additional income and a stable stream of royalties that can enhance the business.
• Lift up Finance for your Business: This is one of the essential benefits of Intellectual Property Rights; Intellectual Property Assets can be commercialised and monetised through licensing, sale or using them as collateral for debt financing. Further, Intellectual Property can be used as an advantage when applying for Government or public funding, subsidies, loans, or grants.
• Robust IP Protects Families and Clients: Robust IP aids the clients to make a better choice regarding the safety, dependability, and effectiveness of their product purchases. Enforced Intellectual Property Rights make use of the quality and authenticity of products that clients expect from the producers. Ease of confidence and mind that clients demand and markets rely on can be encouraged with the aid of IPRs.

Conclusion

It is concluded from the benefits of Intellectual Property Rights, that it is rapidly growing worldwide and essential, and so all businesses & individual should register their Intellectual Properties which will aid them in earning extra income and can also save others from stealing their ideas & innovation. However, confront is that IP systems remain hugely national or regionally based. Another significant challenges faced by Intellectual Property is that those rights which are permitted in one jurisdiction may not be appropriate elsewhere. This increases the requirement for all the nations to have distressing laws for safeguarding IP. The Government needs to prepare proper IP Laws for the individuals and for the entities, which should neither be too severe nor too soft. The complete structure also requires to be improved by the Government for forging a long-term economic & social development of a nation. Therefore, it can be deduced that Intellectual Property Protection is vital in the modern era.

Read our article:How Will You Safeguard Your Intellectual Property Rights Under International Investment Law?