Intellectual Property Ip - Intellectual Property Law

Intellectual Property

Overview of the Unit

1. What is Intellectual Property?

2. Origins of Intellectual Property Rights

3. Justifications

Overview of the Unit

Unit Guides and further information on Blackboard:

LAWD20043 (UG)

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

World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO) Intellectual Property Rights are:

• Property rights/rights conferring legal protection over…

• …intangible products

• Real Property

• Land

• Buildings

• Tools/devices

• The ideas expressed in a book (but not the physical book itself) – it can come in very abstract things.

• Music, paintings

• Computer programs

• Chemical compounds

• Gene sequences

-the main types of IP we’d be paying attention to.

• Simply put, a copyright is the rights that creators have over their artistic work(could be literary or anything, basically the cultural creations)

• Patents are the rights granted for an invention by the government(limited monopoly) to the inventor in return for disclosing their(technical) invention information. The inventor is allowed/has the right to control the way in which their patented invention is exploited for a 20-year period.

• A trademark is a sign that is supposed to distinguish the goods/services of one enterprise from the others.

IP in a mobile phone

-the name nokia is a trademark, the product may be a trademark, the starup tone of the nokia phone could be a trademark. The technology in mobile phones are the main generators of patents. This could be a design right as well. There are also trade secrets, the company just decided to keep it secret.

-it is considered as extremely valuable for so many companies, actually for some companies, that is all they own.

“A crucial point about legal protection of intellectual property is that it turns intangible assets into exclusive property rights, albeit for a limited period of time. It enables your SME to claim ownership over its intangible assets and exploit them to their maximum potential. In short, IP protection makes intangible assets … into valuable exclusive assets that can often be traded in the market place.”

-it allows them to create ownership of their intangible assets – the law has given them the right to do so for a given period of time.

-it can also be very expensive to breach intellectual property.

-patents can sell for huge amounts of money.

• Coca-Cola: Brand worth EUR 27 000 million according to various market research firms. TRADE MARK

• Apple iPod: More than 100 million units sold. TRADE MARK, REGISTERED DESIGNS, PATENTS (user interface)

• Harry Potter: Author J.K. Rowling converted her imagination to the equivalent of 42 thousand kilos of gold – true intellectual property magic (she earned approximately EUR 750 Million from her COPYRIGHT).

• Instant camera: Kodak had to pay EUR 550 million to Polaroid for having illegally used Polaroid’s PATENTED inventions.

• DNA copying process: Nobel Prize-winning technology was patented, PATENT sold for EUR 190 million.

Origins of patent laws

• 15c: emergence of early forms of patent protection in Europe by means of privileges (England) and statute (Venice)

• 18c-19c: Patent laws spread to France (1791), the US (1793), Austria (1810), Russia (1812), Prussia (1815), Belgium & Netherlands (1817), Spain (1820), Bavaria (1825), Sardinia (1826), the Vatican (1833), Sweden (1834), Wurttemberg 91836), Portugal (1837), Saxonia (1843)

• 20c: Codification, rationalization and regional and international harmonization

  • See Machlup, F. & Penrose, E. (1950) "The patent controversy in the nineteenth century." The Journal of Economic History 10(1): 1-29, at p. 3

-the laws have been around for 500 years or so(the patent laws). The idea of granting patent was to ensure that they give people benefits/feel good about creating or having ideas.

• 18c: Statute of Anne. UK (1710), Edict on Privileges, France (1777), US Constitution (1787)

• 19c:

  • Extension of copyright laws to works of literature, art, paintings, and music

  • Emergence of International standards (Berne Convention, 1886)

• 20c – Codification, Rationalization and further regional and international harmonization

-copyright started out as a printers monopoly. A way of printers to stop others from starting a printing company but nowadays it has aimed at protecting authors.

-there has been a rise in copyright laws across Europe and a harmonising of these laws internationally. It started off as national laws but there are still some quirky differences between the copyright national laws everywhere. Even though they may look the same between states, there are some differences.

• Arguably the oldest of the IP rights, tracing their origins to ancient times – Egypt, China

• 13-16c – merchant marks used by traders and merchants throughout Europe – origin & quality

  • England – Bakers marking law (1266)

  • England – Silversmiths required to mark their wares (1363) -this is because silverware can be easily faked out.

  • First legal case in England to mention the use of a trademark as a badge of origin: Southern v How (1617) Popham’s Reports 143.

• 19c - France: first comprehensive trademark system 1857, USA 1870, Germany 1875, GB 1875. -there are competitive advantages to the countries at that time because traders would be more likely to trade in your country because they know nobody would counterfeit it.

  • The first registered trademark in the UK was that of the beer company Bass & Co. Applied for on 1 January 1876, it is still valid.

• Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property (1883)

-origin and quality are defining characteristics of trademarks....