Intellectual Property Law - Research Paper Example

?Intellectual property law Introduction Property is something which is owned by a person whereas intelligence is something which is inherited in a person. So, “Intellectual property (IP) refers to creations of the mind: inventions, literary and artistic works, and symbols, names, images, and designs used in commerce” (What is Intellectual Property?). Based on the nature, IP can be divided as Industrial property and Copyright. Patents, trademarks and designs, normally come under Industrial property whereas literary and artistic works come under Copyright. This paper analyses the History of intellectual property law, Types of Intellectual property law, Intellectual property law in Australia and My opinions about intellectual property law History of intellectual property law Intellectual property law emerged under the Elizabethan era in the form of royal favours granted by the King or the lord of the land to the introducers of new techniques. With mounting pressures by judicial criticism, intellectual property was regulated under common law and the Statute of Monopolies enacted in 1623 rendered illegal all monopolies except those for a defined term of years; this forms the basis of modern patent law (World Intellectual Property Organization, p.1). The exact origin of intellectual property law is still unknown. However, it is a fact that, terms like intellectual property was used during the initial half of seventeenth century in Britain. The history of intellectual property rights in the modern era started in Germany in 1867. North German Confederation is believed to be the first country which formulated intellectual property laws in the modern era. “The North German Confederation first used the term “intellectual property” in 1867, providing for legislative protection in its constitution”(Furst). Since then, intellectual laws evolved in different forms at different parts of the world. Different countries have different types of intellectual property laws. These laws are undergoing changes time to time when new problems arise. Types of Intellectual property law Copyright, Patents, Designs, Circuit layouts, Trademarks, Plant breeder’s rights, Trade secrets (confidential information) etc are some of the major areas in which intellectual property laws are applicable. Copyright is a form of protection provided to the authors of “original works” and includes such things as literary, dramatic, musical, artistic, and certain other intellectual creations, both published and unpublished. Copyright does not protect ideas. It only protects the specific and original expression of the idea (Pipers) For example, Windows is the operating system developed by Microsoft. It should be noted that plenty of people, including Bill Gates, worked on the development of Windows operating system. This product is protected with the help of copyright laws. It is illegal to use pirated copies of Windows on computers. Even in China, Microsoft succeeded in winning some cases with respect to copyright violation of its products. “A local court in Shanghai ruled that Dazhong Insurance must pay Microsoft 2.17 million yuan ($317,900) as compensation for using pirated Microsoft software, NetEase.com reported”(Stan) “Patents are used to protect new product, process, apparatus, and uses providing the invention is not obvious in light of what has been done before” (European Generic medicines Association). It should be noted that new products are developed only because of the huge efforts undertaken by somebody. Once a new product is developed, it is easy for others to copy it. In other words, leaders and followers are in the market. Leaders always generate new ideas and innovate new products whereas followers try to copy those ideas and innovations. In order to avoid such illegal copying, all new products and services developed by somebody can be protected with the help of patent laws. Patent rights are usually given only for a particular period of time. The owner of a patented product should disclose the innovation to the public in response to the revenues generated by the innovation. In April 2011, Apple filed for patent infringement, claiming that Samsung copied its iPhone and iPad designs. Courts all over the world have taken on this battle. Europe and Australia, for instance, have ordered preliminary injunctions barring Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 from shelves — just in time for the holiday season (Buck) Apple and Samsung are currently engaged in fierce battles to conquer the tablet market. It should be noted that Apple introduced the first touchscreen phone-iPhone- in the market and conquered the mobile phone market. Nokia, the market leader in mobile phone market lost their supremacy with the introduction of iPhone. Moreover, Apple introduced iPads during the beginning of twenty first century . Both iphone and ipad helped Apple to conquer the tablet and smartphone market. However, Samsung did succeed in countering the challenges of Apple with the help of its Galaxy series of tablets and smartphones. At present, Samsung tabs and phones are moving much rapidly than Apple tabs. In order to counter the challenges from Samsung, Apple filed many law suits citing patent violation by Samsung. In their opinion, many of the Samsung tabs resemble Apples tabs in appearance and functioning. According to United States Patent and Trade Mark Office (USPTO) patent law, “the design patent protects only the appearance of an article, but not its structural or functional features” (Bellis). So, it is extremely difficult for the courts to take a decision while hearing the patent violation cases. Design means “the appearance of a product, in particular, the shape, texture, color, materials used, contours and ornamentation. To qualify as a new design, the overall impression should be different from any existing design”(Designs and design rights). For example, different car companies produce different models of cars. For example, if Toyota imitates the designs of Honda cars, Honda can file suits with respect to design violation. Same way, all the newly designed products, entering the consumer market is protected with the help of design protection laws. A trademark includes any word, name, symbol, or design, or any combination used, or intended to be used, in commerce to identify and distinguish the goods of one manufacturer or seller from goods manufactured or sold by others, and to indicate the source of the goods. In short, a trademark is a brand name (FirstGov). For example, the current and previous logos or trademarks of Apple Inc. are given below. (Edible Apple) These logos or trademarks are owned by Apple Inc. No other company can imitate these trademarks to sell their products or services. The exclusive rights of the above trademarks are belonging to Apple Inc. Same way all the other prominent companies in the world have their own trademarks or logos which protected by trademark laws. Circuit layout design laws are aimed to protect the intellectual property rights of IC layout designers. It should be noted that the designs of the printed circuit boards and IT equipment are extremely important in deciding the success and failures of an IT product in the market. Better circuit designs will help the IT equipment manufacturers to improve the quality of their products. For example, Samsung Galaxy S2 phone is the thinnest smartphone available in the market at present. Even iPhone cannot match Galaxy S2 with respect to low weight and low thickness in design. Efficient Circuit layout design helped Samsung to make Galaxy S2 light weighted. iPhone cannot imitate Galaxy’s Circuit layout design because of exclusive rights given to Galaxy with respect to the Circuit layout design laws. Efficient Circuit layout designs require enormous investment, in terms of time, effort, intelligence and money. “Plant Breeders' Rights offers legal protection for the investment plant breeders make in breeding and developing new varieties. This service is open to breeders of any species of plant; agricultural, horticultural and ornamental”(Fera). For example, in 1997, the patent of basmati rice was given to a US company Rice Tec. India one of the prominent producers of basmati rice protested strongly against this patent and Rise Tec forced to withdraw their claims on basmati rice patent. “Broadly speaking, any confidential business information which provides an enterprise a competitive edge may be considered a trade secret” (Wipo). For example, even the employees of Apple Company were unaware of the development of iPhones and iPads. Steve Jobs kept this trade secret away from the employees to avoid leakage of it. It should be noted that competitors may take counter measures once they came to know about the trade secrets in advance. All the companies have their own trade secrets which they don’t want their competitors to know. In 2005 Apple won a legal case that forced Bloggers to name the sources of information that pre-empted the launch of new Apple products. It was suspect that Apple's own employees had leaked confidential information about their new Asteroid product. The three individuals prosecuted, all owned Apple tribute sites, and were big fans of the company's products. The blogs had appeared on their sites, and they were forced to reveal their source. The ruling saw commercial confidentiality as more important as the right to speech of individuals (Marketing teacher). Intellectual property law in Australia Intellectual property law in Australia has changed dramatically in the last decade and continues to change. Developments in technology, the rise of the internet, the globalisation of trade and the increasing importance of 'superbrands' or trademarks with global appeal have all impacted on the laws surrounding intellectual property. Furthermore, globalisation has resulted in greater pressure to expand the rights of intellectual property owners as they endeavour to capture the potential benefits of ownership in an increasingly affluent and integrated world economy (Davison et al.) In Australia, intellectual property laws evolved only at the beginning of twentieth century. The history of intellectual property laws in Australia can be classified into five different categories; “uncritical adoption of UK statutory models (1901-30), modification of UK models for local conditions (1935-55), more autonomous policy and legislation (1956-84), the immediate past (1984-96) and the digital era (1997- )” (Arnold). All types of intellectual property laws are currently enforced strictly in Australia. For example, the 1989 Australian Circuit Layouts Act protects "eligible layouts", that is, original circuit layouts made by an Australian citizen, an Australian corporation or first commercially exploited in Australia (Australian government attorney general’s department). IP Australia is an independent governmental agency responsible for enforcing intellectual property laws in Australia. This agency formulates different laws with respect to patents, trademarks and designs time to time so that intellectual properties are well protected in Australia all the time. My opinions about intellectual property law In my opinion, intellectual property laws are necessary to prevent the unauthorised usage of products and services developed as a result of the efforts made by some people. It is necessary to give something in return to the hard work undertaken by new product and service developers. In the absence of IP laws, nobody will take more interests in developing new products and services. For example, if the technology is readily available free of charge, people will go for that. On the other hand, if the technology is unavailable free of charge, people will try to develop new technologies. Thus, research and developments will be enhanced a lot because of IP laws. IP laws will enhance creativity. It should be noted that people will respect those people who brings or develops creative ideas. For example, Steve Jobs is believed to be the father of tablets. He is widely respected as the most charismatic technocrat in recent times. He was successful in capturing the minds of millions because of his contributions to the technology world. In the absence of IP laws, none of Job’s creative ideas would have any respect from the technology world. Conclusions The exact origin of intellectual property laws is still debatable. Based on the available information, one can conclude that intellectual property laws were in place in UK in the seventeenth century. The term intellectual property was first used in Germany during the latter half of nineteenth century. Since then, different types of intellectual property laws such as Copyright, Patents, Designs, Circuit layouts, Trademarks, Plant breeder’s rights, Trade secrets (confidential information) etc were evolved out periodically. IP laws are necessary to avoid the stealing of one’s ideas and creativity without giving something in return to the creator. Works Cited Arnold, Bruce. “Caslon Analytics: Intellectual Property”. 2008. Web. 03 May 2012. Australian government attorney general’s department. “Circuit Layouts Act 1989”. Web. 03 May 2012. Bellis, Mary. 2012. “USPTO - Definition of the USPTO”. Web. 03 May 2012. Buck, Stephanie. 2011. “Apple vs. Samsung: The Patent Wars, Explained”. Web. 03 May 2012. Davison, Mark J., Monotti, Ann L & Wiseman, Leanne. “Australian Intellectual Property Law”. Web. 03 May 2012. Designs and Design Rights”. 2004. Web. 03 May 2012. European Generic medicines Association. “Intellectual Property Rights”. 2004. Web. 03 May 2012. Edible Apple. “The Evolution and History of the Apple Logo”. 2009. [Web. 03 May 2012. FirstGov. “All About Trademarks”. Web. 03 May 2012. Furst, Bruce. “Intellectual Property: A Brief History By Bruce Furst”. 2011. Web. 03 May 2012. Fera. “Plant Breeders' Rights”. 2011. Web. 03 May 2012. Pipers. What is Copyright?”. 2011. Web. 03 May 2012. Stan. “Microsoft Successful in Windows Copyright Suit in Shanghai”. 2010. Web. 03 May 2012. Marketing teacher. 2010. “SWOT Analysis Apple”. Web. 03 May 2012. http://www.marketingteacher.com/SWOT/apple_swot.htm “What is Intellectual Property?”. Web. 03 May 2012. World Intellectual Property Organization. “An Explanatory Note Concerning The Origins Of The United Kingdom Intellectual Property Legal Regime”. Web. 03 May 2012. Wipo Program Activities. “What is a Trade Secret?” Web. 03 May 2012. Read More